The Rescue star Eddie Peng on how he nearly died shooting the action film and the unsung heroes of the Chinese Coast Guard
- Getting tangled up in a wire underwater with no one to help was just one of the challenges Peng came up against during filming of Dante Lam’s new blockbuster
- He says he wanted to reveal the emotional lives of the movie’s sea rescue crew, a group who never know whether their next operation will be their last
Pairing Hong Kong action film director Dante Lam Chiu-yin with Taiwanese heartthrob Eddie Peng Yu-yan has so far proved a sure-fire way to reap box-office gold, a fact borne out by the ever-rising earnings of their past collaborations.
Their first film together, the 2013 boxing drama Unbeatable, brought in 120 million yuan (US$15.5 million), while 2015’s cycling film To the Fore racked up 150 million yuan. Their third collaboration, 2016’s Operation Mekong, earned a whopping 1.2 billion yuan.
Their latest film, The Rescue, about the work of a sea rescue crew within the Chinese Coast Guard, beat Hollywood blockbuster Wonder Woman 1984 to be the mainland’s Christmas box office champion after both opened on the same day on December 18: The Rescue took in 485 million yuan domestically compared with Wonder Woman 1984’s 167 million yuan.
In a recent interview with the South China Morning Post, Peng says that it was great fun working with Lam for the fourth time.
“Lam got the idea for The Rescue when he was making Operation Mekong,” the actor says. “Many people might think he is very demanding and it’s dangerous to do [the stunts he asks you to do]. But as long as you believe in the director and yourself, you will be able to overcome your fear [of doing them].”
How to face fear is one of the themes of the film. As part of his research, Lam interviewed three members from the Chinese Coast Guard about their mental state during rescue and salvage missions.
