JuJu Chan On ‘Savage Dog,’ Martial Arts, Scott Adkins [Video Exclusive]

Actress and martial artist Juju Chan had just one complaint about her role as Isabella in Jesse V. Johnson‘s martial arts film Savage Dog – she doesn’t get to fight. “Of course, I have an itch when I was watching [the fights],” she told uInterview exclusively,  “I was like ‘I want to punch and kick.’ So I did, I was kicking and punching on the sides when they [Chan’s co-stars] are doing theirs. So I did fight behind the scenes.”

JuJu Chan Video Exclusive

Savage Dog takes place in the late 1950s in Indochina. It explores the fighting tournaments held for the entertainment of the wealthy in the notorious Den-Dhin-Chan Labor Camp, and the European prisoner who has become a champion in the scuzzy ring, former boxer Martin Tillman (Scott Adkins). The story truly begins when Tillman is due to be released and the corrupt men running the prison, see how profitable the gambling on Tillman’s matches is, rather than have him stay in place.

JuJu Chan, who is known for her role in Netflix’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword Of Destiny, plays opposite of Adkins as his love interest, Isabelle. Although she has no fighting sequences in the martial arts film, Isabelle is anything but weak. The actress described Isabelle as “the emotional drive in the film. But she’s a very strong emotional character. She has a strong character. Strong in her own will and her personality.”

Filming with her co-star Adkins was an easy experience. She was also impressed by the artistry of his fighting skills. “Honestly, I admire his skills and his kicks are amazing, his spinning kicks,” she told uInterview. “Coming from a Tae Kwon Do background myself I really love his amazing skills, and it would be great to be able to perform with him in our next project.”

Fans who missed her martial arts performances in this film will be excited to know that Chan performs fighting sequences in her upcoming project. “It’s called Made in Kowloon,” she said. “In that one, I play a villain role, and I have a really big fight scene with Max Zheng the actor in ‘SPL II’ and ‘Grandmaster,’ and opposite to Anderson Silver, the great UFC fighter.”