Actor Byron Mann Made Sure Skyscraper Got the “Chinese Stuff Right”

 
By Louis Chan
AsAmNews National Correspondent
 
At 50, Byron Mann is a straight shooter.
 
The Hong Kong-born American actor plays Inspector Wu in Skyscraper which opens today across the country.
 
Set in Hong Kong, Skyscraper stars Dwayne Johnson as Will Sawyer, an FBI agent who is framed for a fire at the tallest high rise in the city.
 
It’s perhaps Mann’s highest profile role of his career.
 
“I think this is a very big movie. This is a summer movie,” he told AsAmNews during a phone interview.

 
Mann has had roles in AMC’s Hells on Wheels, Netflix’ Altered Carbon and Paramount’s The Big Short. Yet he says his career isn’t part of a grand plan.
 
“It’s not by design. It’s very hard for actors to plan their career,” he said. “You have to take it step by step. The adage is true. You’re kind of as good as the last movie. I’m trying to have fun with it.”
 
Don’t get him wrong. Mann takes his job seriously.
 
“When I first got the role, I sat down with the Rawson Thurber, the director. What do you think of getting the aspect of Hong Kong police right,” he asked Thurber. “He’s all for it. I want the Hong Kong audience to come out of the theater to say, wow, we got it right.”
 
At the actor’s suggestion, Thurber brought on a Hong Kong police detective as a consultant. Mann’s effort paid off. After the Hong Kong premier last weekend, he says the audience left a bit surprised.
 
“‘Wow, you guys really got the Chinese stuff right,'” he recalls the audience telling him. “It’s almost like they didn’t expect it. To have that kind of reaction is a comfort to me. We took great pains to make it right.”
 
Mann attended the University of Southern California School of Law and even passed the California bar. The acting bug began to bite him long before he graduated. He finished his law degree while simultaneously pursuing acting. He says it helped that he was in Los Angeles while his parents were in Hong Kong. He admits they didn’t know what he was doing, calling his road from law to acting a “slow death thing.”
 
He now lives part of the year in Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Beijing and Vancouver. He acknowledges his cosmopolitan lifestyle is a benefit in today’s market.
 
“I can work in all these places. So that’s good. I understand these characters. If it’s a guy from China. I understand . If he’s from Hong Kong.
I think that’s where the growth is (Asian market) Not just in the film business, anything. The last 20 years going forward. You can talk to a car manufacturer, they can tell you the growth is in Asia. You don’t have to be a genius to figure that all.”
 
The bottom line he says that ultimately the roles go to the best actors.
 
“I think it maybe started, remember that year-Oscar so White. There was a reaction in the film industry and Hollywood. We see that in television now. It doesn’t matter what color. You can be a green guy, as long as you’re the best actor. I’m seeing that more.”
 
Skyscraper also features Hannah Quinlivan, Tzi Ma, and Chin Han.
 
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