He most recently co-starred with Vin
Diesel in the blockbuster hit “Fast Five” and appeared on “The Fast and the
Furious: Tokyo Drift” and “Fast & Furious.” Now, Asian-American actor Sung
Kang joins Sylvester Stallone in a quest for revenge in Buena Vista
International's hard-hitting action-thriller “Bullet to the Head.”
Directed
by Walter Hill (“Streets of Fire,” “48 Hrs.”), the film is based on the French
graphic novel Du Plomb Dans La Tête. Stallone stars as Jimmy Bobo, a New
Orleans hitman who forms an alliance with Washington D.C. detective Taylor Kwon
(Sung Kang) to bring down the killer of their respective partners.
As
the man on the right side of the law in this pairing, Kang observes, “They’re
like oil and water: no matter how hard you try to shake them together, they are
constantly splitting apart.”
Continues
the actor, “My character figures out that there’s a connection between the
deaths of our former partners. Taylor lives by this real rigid code of honor
and a moral integrity that’s been ingrained in him. He wants the entity behind
the hits, so he’s willing to team up with Jimmy to chase down the bad guys,
even though he knows Jimmy is a criminal himself.”
Taylor
is willing to compromise on his values for the sake of the greater good, but
there’s still a limit to how far he’ll bend. Stallone adds, “Jimmy is
confronted with something he’s never been confronted with before—a betrayal
from within and a complete reliance upon a detective who hates his guts. Not
exactly a strong support system.”
Kang
asserts, “Generationally, they’re completely different; morally, they’re
completely different; and ethnically, they’re completely different. Jimmy Bobo
comes from a time where there was no political correctness, so he’s the type of
guy that just says what’s on his mind.”
Producer
Kevin King-Templeton offers, “There’s just a great juxtaposition between the
two characters. Jimmy is bombastic and like a bull in a china shop; he’s tough
as nails but, at the same time, wears his heart on his sleeve. Taylor Kwon is
more reserved, although once he teams up with Jimmy he does begin to adopt more
of the hit man mentality. He’s always been a by-the-book cop, but Jimmy’s
underworld approach begins to rub off on him.”
Adding
to the discord between Jimmy Bobo and his new “partner” is the fact that the
hit man is a bit of an anachronism. “He doesn’t even know how to use a smart
phone,” says Stallone, “and that makes him a great foil for Taylor.”
Coming
into the project, Kang says that he was excited about the opportunity to work
with both Stallone and director Walter Hill. “I pretty much grew up watching
Sylvester Stallone movies. One of the first movies my father took me to was
‘Rocky.’ So getting to work with him was a pretty amazing experience,
definitely one of those things on my bucket list,” he smiles. “And from the
get-go, Walter Hill was so open to ideas; he was such an ally for me as an
actor in that respect.”
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| Photo courtesy of Columbia Pictures |
Kang
was previously featured in “Ninja Assassin,” directed by James McTeigue and Len
Wiseman’s action hit “Live Free or Die Hard.” His other film credits include
roles in Denzel Washington’s “Antwone Fisher” and Michael Bay’s “Pearl Harbor.”
Originally
from Gainesville, Georgia, Kang began acting at the Los Angeles-based
experimental theater group F.A.T.E. (Friends Artist Theater Ensemble).
“Bullet to the Head” is distributed by
Buena Vista International through Columbia Pictures.
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