A couple of years back, we reported that Donnie Yen—one of the greatest action stars of all time, and a legend in the world of Hong Kong filmmaking—was signing on for a role in the upcoming John Wick: Chapter 4. Now, a recent interview Yen gave to GQ revealed that the Ip Man star had a couple of conditions for his appearance opposite Keanu Reeves, including alterations to the name and look of his character, now called Caine.
“The name was Shang or Chang,” Yen says. “Why does he always have to be called Shang or Chang? Why can’t he have a normal name? Why do you have to be so generic? Then the wardrobe again—oh, mandarin collars. Why is everything so generic? This is a John Wick movie. Everybody’s supposed to be cool and fashionable. Why can’t he look cool and fashionable?” Yen (who raised similar objections during his brief sojourn in the Star Wars universe with Rogue One) brought his issues to director Chad Stahelski, who, he says, was totally receptive to his concerns. “I had a very respectful experience working on John Wick,” Yen says in the interview. “Overall, I enjoyed making the film.”
Elsewhere in the profile, Yen talks about his own feelings about a Hollywood moment that finally seems to be catching up to the greatness of Asian performers. Unsurprisingly, he has positive things to say about his old friend and occasional co-star, Michelle Yeoh, currently up for Best Actress for Everything Everywhere All At Once: “There will always be more people like Michelle. People who continue to keep thinking and to go forward no matter what the negativity or setback.”
John Wick: Chapter 4 arrives in theaters on March 24; Yen appears in the film as an old friend of Reeves’ Wick, who is, of course, also an assassin, because everyone in the John Wick universe is some kind of assassin.
