SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Cung Le has been too busy lately with make-believe fighting to climb into the steel cage for the real stuff.
That's what happens when a guy's action-film career is taking off. Le, a Vietnam emigre who grew up in San Jose, has made a name for himself among Hollywood casting directors as someone to call when you need to fill a martial arts role.
"It's been a real promising year for my acting career," said Le, 37. "I'm just trying to mix in a fight here and there until I can't do it anymore."
The transition into acting seems to have caught even Le by surprise. He fled Saigon with his mother after the communist takeover of Vietnam in 1975 and they settled in San Jose. Le drifted toward martial arts as a youth -- at first just so he could defend himself from bullies.
He developed into a champion competitor who has jumped onto the growing MMA bandwagon. But in the past two years he also has appeared in five movies.
It's no surprise that he's usually typecast as someone who knows how to use his fists and feet.
The highest profile film was a trapped-on-a-spaceship sci-fi movie called "Pandorum" that starred Dennis Quaid and Ben Foster. The movie didn't make much of a dent at the box office when it was released in September, but Le is proud of a role where he was asked to do more than just hit people.
"It was physical, but it also required a lot of dialogue," said Le, whose character spoke Vietnamese. "It's just so unbelievable doing scenes with accomplished actors like Ben Foster. I'm just trying to learn everything I can."
A small part in "Fighting" also has led to a close friendship with Channing Tatum, one of the hot young actors in Hollywood.
"It's such a great experience not only working with these people, but becoming friends with them as well," he added.
When another movie's production schedule was pushed back into 2010, a window opened for Le to return to the Strikeforce cage. He has been in serious training at his Milpitas gym for two months.
"I know he's pursuing acting, but he'll always be a fighter," said trainer Javier Mendez.
Comments