As one of the founding members of the rap super group, Wu Tang Clan, its befitting that RZA’s directorial debut would come in the form of a Kung Fu movie. After all, Wu Tang is responsible for educating a whole generation about old school Kung-Fu movies including, “Five Deadly Venoms,” “Wu-Tang” and “Shaolin.”
The multi-talented producer, rapper, actor and now director took on a huge challenge when he sat down six years ago and began working on the script for his vision of the perfect Kung Fu movie – “The Man With The Iron Fist.” RZA is finally going to see his vision come to fruition, when the movie hits theaters nation wide on November 2nd – but all of his success did not come without much sacrifice and dedication.
“I spent 150 days in China [shooting the movie] so I became very very homesick and very lonely, said RZA” from the Corner Stone offices in NYC on October 2nd. “I basically had to lose myself in work. I had no girlfriend and no communication.”
“I spent 12-18 hours working and all that work went into this film,” said RZA.
Man With The Iron Fist stars RZA as a blacksmith in China who must fight to defend his village. Oscar winner Russell Crowe and Lucy Lu also star in the film, which one would imagine to be a daunting task for a first time director – but not for RZA; who explains how this is only the beginning for his career as a director.
“If it goes according to my plan, as it does sometimes – yeah I will definitely be directing more films. This to me is like “Enter the 36 Chambers” – the first. That means I still have Tical, I still got Cuban Linx, I still Got Supreme Clientel, I still got Return To The 36 Chambers, Liquid Swords, I still have that creativity in me, but in a film way.”
But will RZA put the mic down completely for a career in film?
“I think if we have success with this movie, I’m going to put myself behind the camera, that’s my career. And if not, I got some more lyrics for your ass.”
Check out the interview below with RZA, where he speaks on his dedication in making his directorial debut in “Man With The Iron Fists”. RZA also speaks on showing Kanye West the scene where his song “White Dress” would be featured in the film and RZA’s reaction to whether or not the song is really about Kim Kardashian: