Lawrence Kao talks Netflix’s Fistful of Vengeance and Wu Assassins, and drawing from his own life for his next project

Lawrence Kao has gone from competing on America’s Best Dance Crew to producing a movie that he has spent five years writing and is partially based on his life

He talks about shooting Netflix film Fistful of Vengeance in Bangkok during the pandemic, how he fell into acting and why he’s learning to trust in the universe

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Lawrence Kao, who stars in Wu Assassins and its movie follow-up Fistful of Vengeance, will next produce a movie based partly on his adolescence in California. Photo: Jeff Rattanong

Published: 11:15am, 17 Apr 2022

A quick glance at the titles of Lawrence Kao’s two most recent projects – drama series Wu Assassins and its follow-up film Fistful of Vengeance – might give a certain impression.

“It’s a simple story, and what it’s about is in the title,” says 36-year-old Kao of Fistful of Vengeance, which dropped on Netflix in February. “My mum texted me and the first thing she said was, ‘Too much blood’. I replied, ‘Thanks for watching’.”

Fistful of Vengeance, which was shot in Bangkok, Thailand, is perhaps the biggest project to date for the Los Angeles-based actor, dancer and choreographer.

Kao reprises his role from 2019’s Wu Assassins as Tommy – a man who bands together with two friends to avenge the death of a loved one – and he calls it “a story of brotherhood”.

“After that first season, Netflix decided to continue the story not as a series, but as a movie, and pitched this idea of creating a franchise with these characters,’ says Kao. “They wrote it so you don’t have to watch the first season to understand the film.”