The transcript below is from the video “He Fights Like Bruce Lee (Movie Fighter Andrew Koji)” by OLD COMBAT CINEMA.
COMBAT CINEMA:
Hi friends. Andrew Hiroaki Koji was born on November 10, 1987 in England. He is a British actor, martial artist and stuntman. Best known for his role as Asama in the China Gang Warrior series and his role in the upcoming superhero film Snake Eyes Cobra Throw. Koji was born in Epsom, Surrey. His father is Japanese and his mother is English. Because of his mixed origin, Koji is classified as a mixed ethnic group. He made his first steps in the film industry as a teenager, making short films.
COMBAT CINEMA:
At 18, he moved to Thailand while continuing to practice martial arts and doing small jobs in the film industry. He then moved to Japan in search of work, where he was able to work in front of the camera before returning to England to study acting in London. Over time, he began to receive larger roles in theater and television in England. Mixed backgrounds were not particularly beneficial, according to Koji. Opportunities for East Asian actors at that time were and remain very limited, although the situation is changing for the better. Koji dropped out of college at the age of 19 to focus entirely on acting. He devoted a lot of time to a career in martial arts. By the age of twenty, Koji was studying and competing in taekwondo, and was also training wushu at the Shaolin Temple in England.
COMBAT CINEMA:
Although he wrote and produced his own films, Koji also worked as a stunt double and performed dangerous stunts. Despite the relative success, Koji was disappointed by the lack of major roles, which changed in 2017 when he auditioned for the lead role on the series Warrior. The premiere of the first season took place in April 2019, and the second part in October 2020. In August 2019, he landed the role of Storm Shadow in the upcoming Cobra Toss Snake Eyes, as well as the new thriller by David Leitch High Speed Train. According to his acting profile on the website, Koji’s skills include acrobatics, improvisation, and military training. He is engaged in such sports as kickboxing, kung fu and taekwondo. He actively goes to workouts and keeps himself in great shape. We are looking forward to his next roles on the big screens. We like and subscribe to the channel so as not to miss the next video.
Andrew Koji:
“Stepping into the Bruce Lee thing, it was interesting because I wasn’t a huge Bruce Lee guy growing up. I did see Asian cinema growing up, and then I went to more Western cinema and then I got drawn into acting. For me, it was more like this role has come into my life, and I’ve been offered this role for…it must be for a reason, and I’ve got to step up to that now. So for me, it was more like, this guy, Bruce Lee, this legend, this icon of a person, it was strange, because I’m thinking this guy helped turn my life around…from beyond the grave.”
“The idea was to get my kicks a lot better, to get a Bruce Lee style, really snapping, beautiful, effortless kind of kicks, which is…very difficult. If you look at him, he doesn’t do that flashy, jumping moves that a lot of people do nowadays, but his basics are absolutely out of this world. Like his basic front snapping kicks…the control and accuracy he’s got is amazing.”
Andrew Koji:
“Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” “He taught me to keep going even when I wanted to quit.”
“Doing nunchucks for screen is different than in real life,””You have to be flashier, and some of the more practical nunchucks moves don’t look good on screen.”
“When you are learning the nunchucks, you just gotta accept that you’re going to smack yourself a lot.”
“The main change is that my parents can relax now,” “They were worrying for a long time that I was an actor, which is a tough job if things aren’t going your way. Now, I can treat them to dinner, pay for them this and that. I’m now more at peace knowing that they’re not worrying about me.”
