Sidekicking it with Dolph Lundgren (Legendary - The Shocate 3D)

When I arrived at the Hot Pot restaurant, Scott Adkins and the other actors were already fiddling with chopsticks and brain storming how exactly to go about cooking their own food. Splashing raw meat and vegetables around in a steaming broth of Sichuan super spice was new to them. I made a bold effort to introduce myself and then listened attentively to all the names of the producers, actors and assistants. As I sat down, all those names were forgotten except for Scott and James Lance who I was now sitting next to. I'm usually good with names but the moment had overwhelmed me. At least Dolph Lundgren hadn't arrived yet and I therefore had some time to mentally orientate myself. I was soon to be playing his sidekick and I was hoping to create a good first impression. I saw what he did to Rocky and it wasn't pretty.Everything was happening so fast. It was Wednesday night and I had only officially been cast the day before. That gave me just enough time to read the script once and slightly familiarize myself with the character, 'Chuck', who is sketched as follows: '40's, short, solid, no-nonsense American, adds the muscle'. I thought to myself, what kind of future would a character named 'Chuck' have in a Dolph Lundgren movie?'Chuck' - not exactly '40's, short, solid and adding the muscle' but certainly with a real flair for fashion. He wears this outfit to the mall too. Sure enough, as I read on, it became plain that 'Chuck' would not be riding off into the sunset. He was especially chosen to provide the super dino-reptile with a good healthy meal. I would have more aptly been named 'Dinner' or since this creature is so gargantuan perhaps 'After Dinner Mint'.Preparing to be the super dino-reptile's 'after dinner mint'I was busy telling James Lance about my life here in Beijing when Dolph arrived with his stuntman, Tony and manager, Barry. I stood to shake and his hand swallowed mine in his. At 6 foot 5, with long, ripped arms, a shock of blonde hair and a jaw so sharp you could cut kevlar, he surely is an awesome specimen of the male gender. We sat down, Barry next to me and Dolph next to him. The three of us shared some trite banter about Beijing and how they were adapting to the food, traffic, pollution etc. Dolph appeared to really like China and I learnt that this was his second time here having shot a movie called 'Diamond Dogs' a few years back. I really wanted to talk to him more but I didn't know what to say. The problem was that I'm not a massive fan of martial arts, which he of course is, and I hadn't seen most of his movies. This somehow didn't leave us much else to talk about. So, I returned to James and did my best to appear cool with my excellent use of chopsticks and hot pot know-how. Although he didn't say it, I'm sure he was very impressed.James Lance looking a tad worse-for-wear after Chuck rifle-butt's him in the face.The movie we were getting ready to shoot is called 'Legendary - The Shocate'. It's a strange title and doesn't convey much about the story. So, here goes: the Shocate is a huge reptile from the dinosaur era that managed to survive in a remote lake in China. When a construction company starts building nearby, the Shocate suddenly develops a taste for Chinese food. As more workers disappear, Harker who is a trophy hunter played by Dolph, is called in to neutralize the threat so that construction can continue. He heads up a five-man team with the short, solid Chuck playing his deputy or so Chucky Cheese avidly believes. The five-man 'goon platoon' - me, Dolph, Ivan Kotik, Paul Clark, David JenkinsIn contention to find the Shocate, is a team of scientists lead by Travis (Scott Adkins). They are not out for blood, but are hoping to capture it and place it in a cryptozoological zoo. The two teams start surveying the lake and at this point, have no idea what they're looking for or how big it is. But soon enough, the creature arises from the murky depths and it's size and appetite become horrifyingly clear. (evil laugh comes here)Yep, that sure is one scary super-dino reptile! (it's a 3D movie so post production therefore needs about 9 months to get the creature realistic enough to make the audience crap their pants. Chuck certainly does when he first sees it.)Rehearsing outside - Eric Styles, Scott Adkins, meIt was now Thursday and the cast and crew had gathered at the China Film Group studios in Huairou, about 50km north of Beijing. We did a read through of the script and then the two teams, Travis's and Harker's, good and evil, ying and yang or girls and boys as I liked to call them, split up for rehearsal. Chuck, not known for his keen insight or savvy social skills, doesn't have many lines in the movie. He has about twenty and appears in just as many scenes. I was therefore going to be running just two scenes of about five lines each. Both of them with Dolph. Director Eric Styles told us what he wanted and then the two us, script in hand, tried to breath life into Harker and Chuck. The first scene was simple enough but the second one was more complex because Chuck has just screwed up in royal fashion. Harker vents his rage by verbally ripping Chuck a second asshole. Hopefully just verbally. Dolph had a different take on the lines. Because he's meant to be mad, he kept grabbing my neck as if to throttle me. Even after Eric told him that his physicality was threatening enough and no violence would be necessary, his first impulse to grab me remained and he had to be reminded a few times that a stern excoriation would suffice for the bumbling and terrified Chuck. I remember thinking that with all the action movies Dolph has shot, maybe he struggled to act if he wasn't killing someone at the same time. First rehearsal with Dolph - I felt totally out of my element. After only getting cast on Tuesday, it was now Thursday. Rehearsing with the Universal Soldier was intimidating.I left the studios feeling frustrated and disappointed. This Harker-Chuck scene is a major turning point in the movie and I knew I wasn't anywhere near capturing Chuck's emotional state. Chuck has just seen the creature up close and personal (terror). One of the goon's is eaten and Chuck flees the scene without trying to save him (guilt/cowardice). He's just reported back to Harker and is now being accused of absolute incompetence (terror/despair/failure). I couldn't trace all these feelings in myself and in all honesty, I thought I was going to get kicked off the show without even having shot anything.I decided to send Eric a text that went something like this: 'Hi Eric, I know that I didn't make the best choices today in rehearsal. But not to worry because I take direction very well and will do all I can to bring about the Chuck that you envision.' Within five minutes he had called me and told me that he was totally satisfied with the rehearsal and really liked what I was bringing to the character. He also said he looked forward to working with me. I breathed a massive sigh of relief. A huge weight was lifted off my shoulders and thought to myself: 'Murray, maybe you can actually pull this off.'Opening ceremonyHarker's cabin - Dolph and I shooting the first scene of the movie.My big scene where Dolph rips me a second asshole - because of my cowardice, one of the goon platoon gets eaten. When I report back to Harker, I lie to him but he already knows the truth. In response he says: "You're a liar, a coward and a failure." Alas, Chuck can't seem to do anything right. By the way, when Harker is not trophy hunting dinosaurs, he moonlights as a motivational speaker. Get his latest book off Amazon - 'The Winner in You'.Hunting the creature in an all too flimsy speedboat - between takes, I told Dolph that we had all been discussing what are favorite Dolph Lundgren movies were. Then I asked him what his favorite Dolph Lundgren movie was. His reply, 'I don't watch 'em.'We shot for two months, mostly in the Huairou area but also in Yi county and the Miyun reservoir. Dolph could only give the movie two weeks and so we shot all his scenes first. He had an appointment in Malaysia where he would be fighting zombies in 'Battle of the Damned'. I think Meryl Streep is playing the leading lady.So ended my most meaningful and exciting acting experience. My favorite moment? Sitting next to Dolph watching the playback of our scene together. As it ended, we took off our 3D glasses and he looked at me and said, 'Good job!' Thanks Dolph. That meant a lot to me.Watching the playback with Dolph - terror-stricken Chuck attempts to lie to Harker.