Posted in: Interview, Movies, Netflix | Tagged: havoc

Havoc Star Yeo Yann Yann on Gareth Evans, Playing Against Type & More

Yeo Yann Yann (American Born Chinese) spoke to Bleeding Cool about embracing her action side in Netflix's Havoc, Tom Hardy, and more.

Yeo Yann Yann is always looking for new ways to challenge herself in her work. The Malaysian-born actress came up through the South and East Asian entertainment industry, making her debut in the MediaCorp series Lost Soul in 1999. As she became more active, she had memorable roles in Ilo Ilo (2013), Wet Season (2019), both with writer-director Anthony Chen, and the Prime Video Indian TV series Modern Love Mumbai. She's garnered crossover attention with her more recent works in the 2023 Disney+ series American Born Chinese and the Netflix action crime drama Havoc. The Gareth Evans thriller follows a gang of thieves as they're being pursued by a group of narcotics squad detectives. Yeo spoke to Bleeding Cool about playing against type in a more physical role, the stunt and gun training she went through, and making new friends among the cast and crew during the COVID pandemic.

Havoc Star Yeo Yann Yann on Embracing Her Action Challenges

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'Havoc?'

Gareth Evans. I've never been in a full-scale action film before, so when I was approached, I was like, "Wow! Why not?! I'll give it a try."

What's it like working with Gareth as a creative, and how does he compare to others you've worked with before?

He's amazing. When I first read the script, the complexity of the actions was crazy. It took me a while to read the script for the first time. I had to make a ton of notes to understand what his writing is like. When the film came out, I couldn't piece the [action] together in my head with the havoc that happens in the action. How did he do that?

How does 'Havoc' compare to your other work?

The biggest difference was that we did it during Covid [laughs]. That's already tough. I had gun training, which I've never done before. It was cool to know the new technology in terms of guns being used during filming. With the bullets, there's only recoil. There's no sound or boots coming out, which is amazing. The first thought in my head was "The sound people will love you." The sound department loved us, because there's only recoil. There's no audible disturbance. There is nothing. There's only recoil and what else? I did some stunt training, and this is a genre that I've never tried before, so I'm totally excited about it. I'm also not sure how well it would be before I started filming on set, and then Gareth was reassuring about Tsui's mother's role, that it is coming out from a grieving mother's perspective, who's driven to create and start all this chaos.

Did you develop a backstory with Jeremy to help get into your role better to play his character's mother?

Sadly, we didn't have a chance to have any scenes together. When I first saw him, he was in a morgue [laughs], but I really enjoyed his performance when he started. It's like, "Wow, he's very cool!"

Did you get a chance to talk to Tom [Hardy], Jessie [Mei Li], or everyone else during filming and get to know your co-stars?

Of course! We filmed all of 'Havoc' in Wales, and then when we were there, we had so much fun hanging out. I gathered everyone for a dim sum lunch; we watched films together with Forest Whitaker. A whole big group of us had dinner, watched a film, and had coffee, which was great. Even though we were enemies in the film, we behaved more like a big family outside.

What was the biggest surprise for you when you were doing the stunt training? Were you scared initially, or did you roll with it?

No, I wasn't scared. I've always been an athletic person, I always like to exercise, and I do my stretches vigorously, so I'm fine. I enjoyed it very much, but sadly, in this film, I don't have much as far as action sequences. Maybe one day, I will try doing even more.

Havoc, which also stars Justin Cornwell, Quelin Sepulveda, Luis Guzmán, and Timothy Olyphant, is available on Netflix.

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