By Erin Chew
Director Jonathan Eusebio (Fall Guy, Black Panther) directed Love Hurts which stars Oscar Winning actor Ke Huy Quan ( Everything Everywhere All at Once, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) and Daniel Wu (American Born Chinese, Warcraft) among many other talented and culturally diverse actors.
Coming from a stunt and action coordinator and acting background, which are usually invisible roles, but crucial in any awesome action scene – the skills and experience Eusebio learned over decades in this industry, helped him direct his debut film from pre-production to distribution.
It was these experiences in stunt and action work which helped him understand how to intertwine thematically dramatic scenes with the awesome martial arts action seen in Love Hurts.
“My many decades of coordinating and performing action scenes, has truly helped me compartmentalize how thematic scenes can combine with the action and martial arts. I guess it is all about the process of sequencing all these different scenes so the film can flow fluid and organic”, Eusebio discussed in a recent interview with AsAmNews.
“Love Hurts” is about Marvin Gable (Quan), a realtor working successfully in the Milwaukee suburbs. One day he receives a crimson envelope from Rose (Oscar winner Ariana DeBose – West Side Story, Argylle), a former life partner-in-crime with whom he thought was dead.
Now, Marvin is thrust back into a world of ruthless hitmen, filled with double-crosses and open houses turned into deadly war zones. With his brother Knuckles (Wu), a volatile crime lord, hunting him, Marvin must confront the choices that haunt him and the past he never truly buried.
An exciting, yet disturbing Valentine’s Day film – one which will fulfill audiences with both dramatic, heart fluttering and action-packed scenes – something for everyone. In addition, Love Hurts joins the array of recent Hollywood films which have highlighted Asian men in a positive light, breaking off decades of negative and harmful stereotypes. Interestingly, Quan has had a foot in both Hollywood time period camps, having to play the awkward, butt of the joke and sexless Asian character in the 1985 film The Goonies, to now being the poster boy and the primary protagonist in Love Hurts.
It has taken Asian male actors like Quan around forty years to finally be able to play characters where they are badass and leading men. In Love Hurts, this can be taken to another level where both Quan and Wu are middle aged Asian men who are playing heroes, foes and everything else in between.
This was a major talking point with Eusebio, who himself is a middle-aged Filipino American man. He discussed how he was proud to be able to work in a film which shows the awesomeness of Asian men, but more importantly it is one which reflects who he and many Asian men of his and an older generation actually look like.
“Isn’t this the true definition of diversity? I mean yeah, we have seen all the recent representations of Asian men as young and hot romantic leads as well as hot and well-built superheroes – we seldom see Asian leading men who are more middle aged. Even though I went into directing this film, not intentionally thinking about the ages and the ethnicities of those cast for each character, I feel it is my own lived experiences and my own sensitivities which lead me to cast the characters as they are”.
“I grew up being told directly and indirectly that Americans who looked like me would never be leading roles and heroes in major Hollywood films, so I guess directing “Love Hurts” is a rebuttal to all that. It is important that audiences can see Asian men represented in all different roles and I hope I have done this movement justice”, Eusebio stated.
The only term which can describe this casting of Quan and Wu is that this is progress. In his directorial debut, Eusebio has managed to open up another layer in the push for better representation of Asian men in film and television by showing that middle aged Asian men are leading men, and not just playing the parent or the insignificant supporting character.
Eusebio mentioned that in all his years of experience in the industry he has now checked off a major goal. However, with all major strides and change he still felt giddy being a huge fan of the works by both Quan and Wu. For him, having the opportunity to work with these great Asian American actors was an honor, privilege and he learned so much from all their years of experiences in front of the screen.
“Oh my gosh, I am going to use the term fan-girilng, because that was how I felt being able to work with both Ke and Daniel. Knowing that this was my debut as a film director, I was guided by them- not by say instructions but just by seeing them work their craft and magic on-screen and with our casual conversations before and during the filming process”, Eusebio expressed.
“They were both supportive and patient with me and that meant so much because I am directing a film with two very experienced actors, whose repertoire was diverse and flexible. They could interchange action scenes to emotional scenes in an instant and you don’t get that way unless you have a lifetime of experience”.
Love Hurts has been released in theaters across the USA, so if you are looking for an interesting film to watch for Valentine’s Day, this would be a great pick!
AsAmNews is published by the non-profit, Asian American Media Inc.
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