A STREET FIGHTER IN-TRAINING: A One-On-One With Rising Action Star MIKE MOH

Three years ago, actor and martial artist Joey Ansah launched a phenomenal effort in adaptating a shortfilm suitable to showcase a conceptual look into what should go into a properly designed live-action vision with the 2010 online release of Street Fighter: Legacy. This year, Ansah‘s newest theatrical series venture, Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist, delves right into the multi-generational expansion of the narrative introduced in the 2010 shortfilm, with lead actor and co-writer/creator Christian Howard, and fellow lead actor and today’s subject for interview, Mike Moh.

With post-production underway since wrapping late in the summer, and in the process of developing my writing group for the site, I sought to Eric “Shamm” Watson (@Shamm523), martial artist and multi-faceted stunt professional who had a chance to meet Moh once upon a time. And considering the good rapport they developed off-and-on over the last several years, I thought it would be a great opportunity to invite Watson to author an interview with Moh for Film Combat Syndicate to discuss his growing body of work. Thankfully, they both accepted. Enjoy!

Eric Shamm Watson (FCSyndicate): Today, we are honored to have a terrific martial arts that has been able to turn his gifts into a career. He is a Korean-American world champion taekwondo competitor who holds a 4th degree black belt with the American Taekwondo Association (ATA). I am talking about Mike Moh, But please hold your applause till after the interview.

Mike Moh: Hey, Eric. I don’t know if you remember me, but I believe we met years ago at the XMA HQ.

ESW (FCSyndicate): Of course I remember you. I was wondering if you were going to remember me, Lol! Thanks for doing this interview… so let’s begin.

Let’s start with this question first: What made you actually pack your family up and move to Los Angeles?

MM: In 2007, my wife and I drove to Los Angeles from St. Paul Minnesota to start a new adventure. We had an amazing time living in Los Angeles but after we had our two kids we wanted to move to a more family-friendly place and bought a house in Madison, Wisconsin. I now act out of Chicago and am represented by the wonderful people at Gray Talent Agency.

ESW (FCSyndicate): Do you consider yourself and actor or a stuntman?

MM: That’s a great question. I am an actor with martial arts stunt ability. How’s that for a specific answer? Lol

ESM (FCSyndicate): I think that’s a great answer. I would consider myself to be in the same boat, but not as talented as you are. In fact if you feel like putting some of that talent in a bottle and sharing it with me, I would be much obliged. *laughs*

So, what was it like being chosen by the man, the myth, the legend… Jackie Chan himself to do the movie Robin B Hood?

MM: Being chosen by Jackie Chan to work in one of his films was a life-changing event for me. The role was not big by any means, but without that opportunity I would have never been brave enough to start acting.

ESW (FCSyndicate): That leads me into my next question. You were on a CW show called Kamen Rider with Matt Mullins. What was your experience like on that show?

MM: Kamen Rider was a blast to work on. I still keep in touch with a lot of the cast and crew from that show. That show came at the perfect time for me. I had just moved to LA and Matt Mullins helped me get an audition for the show. It was my first professional acting gig and got me my SAG (Screen Actors Guild) card.

ESW (FCSyndicate): Very cool. I remember it took me 3 years to get my SAG Card. After I got my SAG card, I started doing stunt work. Talking about stunt work, how does your wife feel about you doing stunt work?

MM: She’s fine with me performing martial arts stunts and fights. I don’t do anything really crazy like car hits or fire burns. She’d freak out for sure.

ESW (FCSyndicate): I know this is a generic question, but I’m going to throw it out there anyway. What would you say are your five favorite martial arts films?

MM: They change week to week! In no particular order, I’ll say The Matrix, Best Of The Best, the original Ninja Turtles movie (1990), Rumble In The Bronx, and I’ll go out on a limb and say 3 Ninjas since I watched that movie a million times as a kid.

ESW (FCSyndicate): That is a great list. All of those movies are at least in my top 20 for sure. So here is a question for you and it might be hard to answer, but here it goes. With everything you have done so far, would you at this point in your life and career consider yourself famous?

MM: No. But to my son I’m a pretty big deal so that’s pretty cool!

ESW (FCSyndicate): I think that’s pretty cool as well. Well maybe he won’t be the only person that will see you as a big deal. That actually brings me to the BIG QUESTION. Drum roll please… *silence* …okay, no drum roll. *clearing throat* Let’s talk Street Fighter: Assassins Fist. What was your initial reaction when you got the call to partake in this project? I mean, not only are you in it, but you play Ryu!

Mike Moh smiles for the camera with actor, Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist co-star, Hal Yamanouchi.

MM: I was extremely excited. I tried to play it cool, but I don’t think I pulled that off.

ESW (FCSyndicate): Well you are doing a great job at playing it cool-signs of a terrific actor. And as for not pulling it off, I’ve seen your demo reel so I’m sure you pulled it off just fine.

So how heavily involved were you in the games over the years?

MM: Street Fighter 2 on the SNES was a mainstay. I didn’t play again until the original SF4. After getting the role I started to play the more recent revisions of the game.

ESW (FCSyndicate): Look at that. You get the role and you start doing research into your character. Again, a sign of a true acting professional. If I were wearing a hat, I would tip it off to you.

So there was a featurette that was released over the summer showing you bulking up a bit to physically fit the role of Ryu. That being said, how would you describe your dietary/workout regiment?

MM: I started at 140 pounds. During filming I weighed between 168-172 pounds. Leading up to filming, I ate anything and everything to bulk up. And then two months before filming, I was super disciplined in my eating to shed fat.

ESW (FCSyndicate): You are a better man than me. I would die without my hamburgers, pizza and hot dogs.

So moving onto a question that doesn’t make me feel so out of shape, let’s talk about acting. Acting-wise, how would you describe your interpretation of Ryu for Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist?

MM: Ken & Ryu are polar opposites, and Christian Howard and I wanted to portray that. I played Ryu as a focused and disciplined pupil of Gouken that would do whatever it takes to improve his skill. He is also a bit of a country bumpkin and isn’t very worldly, so everything that he experiences outside of the dojo is like a different planet to him.

ESW (FCSyndicate): And for our readers that may not know, Christian Howard is an actor/stuntman from the UK who plays the character, Ken Masters. So now that our readers are all caught up, what was your experience like in working with Joey Ansah & Christian Howard on this series?

MM: I love working with those guys. They are passionate about their work and we have a lot of fun together as well. The entire main cast became very close in a short amount of time. A high pressure shoot with no room for error definitely bonded us!

(Picture-L to R: Togo Igawa, Joey Ansah, Mike Moh and Christian Howard)

ESW (FCSyndicate): Let me take a minute to give our readers a little info on Joey Ansah. He is the director and one of the writers and actors in this project. He is also the fight choreographer and he also plays Akuma (the embodiment of the Asatsuken’s ascension into pure evil that consumes the character, Gouki, played by actor Gaku Space). Talk about a man who is wearing a bunch of hats!

Now that they know who we are talking about, what can you tell the fans about what Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist will look like compared to previous incarnations of Street Fighter?

MM: Simple. It will actually look and feel like Street Fighter.

ESW (FCSyndicate): Indeed, that was simple and yet very accurate. If it’s anything like Christian’s & Joey’s first Street Fighter film “Legacy” the fans are in for something special. Where would you like to see this series go if it succeeds in the eyes of the fans?

MM: It would be great to do a second season and then who knows maybe a big-budget feature!

ESW (FCSyndicate): Can we expect to see Mike Moh back as Ryu if the series does well?

MM: I would love to continue telling Ryu’s story, but it’s not my decision.

ESW (FCSyndicate): If Mike Moh got into a brawl and needed a Street Fighter character to have his back, which character would it be and why?

MM: Ken. We have a bromance.

ESW (FCSyndicate): *laugh* Okay, again, fair enough. Last question and then I will let you go. What lies next for the very talented Mike Moh?

MM: I’m busy teaching and training martial arts and continuing to improve my physique and abilities for the next role that comes my way whatever it may be!

ESW (FCSyndicate): Well, from me, the editor in chief and all our readers, I would like to thank you for taking the time out of your busy day to chat with us. Here we have a martial artist who is still teaching, an actor, a stuntman, a husband and father. Some people can’t do one job and we have been very fortunate to have someone who has at least 5 jobs that I can count take the time out of his day and spend it with us. Thank you.

To our readers, you can view the Street Fighter: Assassins Fist featurette in the second embed above. It really is worth checking out in case you skipped it. For those of you that are interested in seeing Joey and Chrstian’s first street fight short, that can be viewed in the last embed above.

Thank you guys for reading and be sure to keep checking in as we will keep bring you news on the topics that interest us and hopefully you as well. 

I want to thank Mike Moh for sharing his story with Film Combat Syndicate while fans await pending news about Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist. Moreover, I want to thank Eric “Shamm” Watson (pictured right) for going out of his way to invest his time and energy into a valiant effort for his first stint as a contributor for FCSyndicate. Clearly he enjoyed talking to Moh as much as I enjoyed reviewing and editing this interview, and I hope Watson comes back to share further insight with his career in action cinema, and to talk exclusively with even more professionals in his field.

Watson currently appears in Frank Lin’s current digitally released musical action thriller, Battle B-Boy, and will soon appear in The Z-Team’s long-awaited first-ever martial arts feature film, The Price Of Success. To inquire with Watson personally, email him at Shammgodwatson@gmail.com. And if you liked this interview, please share it with friends.

Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist is a production of Assassin’s Fist Limited, and is expected to launch on multiple platforms in 2014, including online as a series, as well as a feature-length chapterized movie.

Follow Mike Moh on Twitter, and be sure to subscribe to the official Facebook page for Street Fighter: Assassin’s Fist for further exclusive info.