THE PROTÉGÉ star Maggie Q talks representation & stalks bad guys

by Screenmancer Staff

Last night at a Gold House event at Landmark Theaters in Los Angeles, action star Maggie Q of Lionsgate release THE PROTÉGÉ which opens Aug. 20, shared her insights on the new thriller and Asian-American representation with Entertainment Weekly’s Lacey Vorrasi-Banis. Gold House is a non-profit that “forges the inclusive unity, representation, and success of Asians and Pacific Islanders.” (Link included below.)

Here are some selected excerpts from their conversation:

MAGGIE Q: “They shut the country down as we were running out of [Romania]… and then we got to London. And we got what we needed to get in London. It was kind of like COVID was chasing us in every country. We weren’t allowed to go to Asia.”

LACEY VORRASI-BANIS: “One thing I loved about your fight scenes? You just kept ratcheting things higher and higher… Which scene was most challenging?”

MAGGIE Q: “I think it was the fight with Michael. You’re boxed in. And you’re very sweaty… there’s a lot of pressure. Shooting fights takes so long. You’re shooting like 12 to 14 to 15 hour days. To make it look like high energy the whole time is like hard, like you’re dying.”

LACEY VORRASI-BANIS: “Did you do all your fight scenes?”

MAGGIE Q: “Yeah… but there were a couple things I didn’t do… for insurance reasons. When I was in my 20’s in Hollywood, I was like really stupid. JJ Abrams held me down once, like ‘no, you can’t do this!’” [Her stunt double who did that scene ended up breaking ankle.]

LACEY VORRASI-BANIS: “With this role, you are one of the first Southeast Asian action stars in a Summer Blockbuster.”

MAGGIE Q: “Oh, thanks. I didn’t know that.”

LACEY VORRASI-BANIS: “Yes.”

Maggie goes on to add that Asian-Americans are “the most underrepresented” in Hollywood films without question. Perhaps THE PROTÉGÉ can begin to tip the balance for more leading roles.

In this new movie rom Lionsgate, Maggie Q “is the world’s most skilled contract killer” after she is saved as a girl, and trained, by “legendary assassin Moody (Samuel L. Jackson).” Moody’s shock murder leads her to “enigmatic killer (Michael Keaton) whose attraction to her goes way beyond cat and mouse.”

Watch Action Star Maggie Q get her fight on in THE PROTÉGÉ

Stars: Michael Keaton, Maggie Q, and Samuel L. Jackson, with Robert Patrick

Directed by: Martin Campbell

Produced by: Arthur Sarkissian, Moshe Diamant, Rob Van Norden, Yariv Lerner, Chris Milburn

Executive Producers : Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Jeffrey Greenstein, Jonathan Yunger, Boaz Davidson, Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman, Luke Daniels, Kyle Stroud, Balan Melarkode, Euzebio Munhoz Junior, Claiton R. Fernandes, Vladimir D. Fernandes, Simon Williams, Daniel Negret, Bruno Wu, Gareth West, Andrei Boncea, and Dragos Buliga

Lionsgate and Millennium Media present, in association with Ingenious Media, a Millennium Media / Fourteen Films / I Road production, in association with Campbell Grobman Films / Ingenious Media.

Visit the film here, and there’s an awesome Gibson Guitar sweepstakes affiliated with THE PROTÉGÉ, so click to enter. Gold House is a non-profit organization supporting Asians and Pacific Islanders, find out more here.

Don’t miss Maggie Q vs Birdman Michael Keaton Aug. 20 in THE PROTÉGÉ from Lionsgate.

#TheProtégé 

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