We talk to Korean pop sensation Rain over sushi

Rain is a Ninja Assassin
We talk to Korean pop sensation Rain over sushi.
by Fred Topel
Nov 25, 2009

We first interviewed Korean pop sensation Rain two Comic Cons ago for Ninja Assassin. The film is finally out this weekend and we got to catch up with Rain over sushi. How cool is that? Sushi with Rain. Overlooking the Hollywood hills, Rain enjoyed the fruits of his hard work, and his relative privacy in the states, in a one on one interview.

Crave Online: You don't have follow the ninja diet anymore.

Rain: Yeah. Just I want chocolate and junk food, French fries. Do you know Japanese bento and Korean food? So sweet, so delicious.

Crave Online: What was your favorite sequence in the film?

Rain: My favorite is the rooftop sequence and the final fighting scenes.

Crave Online: What makes ninjas unique to other martial arts?

Rain: It's so unique because it's so bloody. I killed a lot.

Crave Online: What will attract audiences to learn about the mystery of ninjas?

Rain: Just shadow and darkness. It's so different than other action movies.

Crave Online: How do you make it so we can see what you do in the darkness?

Rain: There's just red or black. When I was doing stunts, I couldn't see the enemy. For that reason, I have lots of cuts. The only difficulty I probably had was doing stunts because I couldn't see the enemies fully because of the darkness. I just got some cuts on my body. That's the only difficulty I had.

Crave Online: You got some real injuries?

Rain: Yeah, my face was cut, my body was cut.

Crave Online: You're so charismatic as a singer, did you have to strip away your personality to be a ninja?

Rain: Yes, I was just focused on my character. I am Raizo, I am Raizo, I am Raizo, always. I hypnotized myself to believe I’m Raizo.

Crave Online: Can you really do pushups on a bed of nails?

Rain: Ah, that was a green box. It's CG. There's just safety wires but for that scene, I just practiced standing upside down for a few months. It was hard.

Crave Online: The chain looks awesome but is it really a a useful weapon?

Rain: Yeah, better than a sword. One of the difficulties we had during shooting using the chain was because I had to do it once with the laser, once with the real chain and once also for another cut just to have the whole thing. So every shot I had to do three times.

Crave Online: Is it hard to fight with prosthetic wounds on?

Rain: Right, they're so sticky. During stunts, the prosthetics would fall off. They would have to stop and try again.

Crave Online: Tell us about the laundry room fight.

Rain: That's the easy part. That was so easy, just no acrobatics, no wires, just the easy part.

Crave Online: How about your sword and chain katas?

Rain: All the scenes in my room that you see were choreographed on the set that day. So all the training that I've done and choreography I've done previously for eight months was preparing me to be able to improv all the choreographies on the set.

Crave Online: What was difficult about the bathroom fight?

Rain: Yeah, that was real. A real fighting sequence. My opponent was so big, he could actually lift me up and throw me. That's why it was difficult.

Crave Online: Did you get banged up for real?

Rain: Mm hmm.

Crave Online: What was challenging about the rooftop sequence?

Rain: That moment it was so freezing because it was raining. Wow, so freezing and also that scene as well I had to shoot three times for every cut because I had to shoot it once with the laser, once with the real chain and all that.

Crave Online: What about the fire at the end?

Rain: It was very dangerous because there's real flame. It was so hard.

Crave Online: How comfortable are you with English dialogue?

Rain: I did my best and I also am working on English. I do my best.

Crave Online: Is it easy after you memorize the lines?

Rain: I had a coach, an English coach. He helped me. I had a dialogue coach. We're a good team.

Crave Online: Can you be your own bodyguard now?

Rain: No, I don't need a bodyguard.

Crave Online: Don't you have security for the crowds?

Rain: Right. Yes, no problem.

Crave Online: Have you been in a real fight?

Rain: Yes, before this film, when I was growing up, I had a lot of fights between my friends and me. My tooth was gone, a lot of fights.

Crave Online: Are you still the most influential person in the world?

Rain: Time magazine? Not now. I'll do my best in the future ahead.

Crave Online: How would you like to influence the world this year?

Rain: I don't know. Just keep working hard.

Crave Online: What's going on with your music?

Rain: I want to focus on Ninja Assassin for now. After this film, I will release in the U.S. market.

Crave Online: Will you sing in English?

Rain: Yeah.

Crave Online: Have you written songs yet?

Rain: Not yet.

Crave Online: Will that make it difficult for you?

Rain: I'm a singer. I just sing.

Crave Online: You're doing Vegas at Christmas. Is that all your Korean music?

Rain: Yeah, sometimes singing English, sometimes Korean, sometimes Chinese, sometimes Japanese.

Crave Online: Do you know the set list?

Rain: Yeah, yeah. I Do, that's my song. I Do, Rainism, It's Raining. I have a lot of songs.

Crave Online: Who will open for you?

Rain: I don't have guests. Just me.

Crave Online: Wow, what a show. Do you spend any time in Las Vegas when you perform?

Rain: Yeah, that's my third time. I will enjoy it.

Source: www.craveonline.com