In the hours since Monday’s exclusive, Ranjeet S. Marwa’s forthcoming action thriller, Blood Rush, now has Cecep Arif Rahman on board to join the cast. In addition, co-star Sunny Pang also took to social media to confirm the addition of actress and martial artist Grace Teo in a public post.
Monday saw the enlistment of celebrated director Timo Tjahjanto (The Night Comes For Us, Killers) as production consultant on the upcoming action thriller which shoots later this year. Marwa announced the film officially in late 2019 as City On Fire originally reported on the project in January.
Zack Lee (The Raid 2, Headshot, The Night Comes For Us) takes his latest lead acting turn with Blood Rush, playing Max Wayan, a widower whose secretive life in an underworld cult turns out to be more than he bargained for, putting him on a violent path of redemption. Blood Rush is the latest project stirring under Marwa’s independent Rocket Sky High label.
The cast further includes Singaporean actor Sunny Pang (Headshot, The Night Comes For Us, Kill-Fist), Yayan Ruhian (The Raid 1 & 2, Wira, Hit And Run), Nathan Jones (Tom Yum Goong, Jet Li’s Fearless, Mad Max: Fury Road) and featuring fight choreography by Nick Khan. Actor Nicholas Vince (Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellrasier II) is also circling a key role.
“I tried for months to get Cecep on board, but his schedule was busy as expected for someone of his talent.” Marwa says. “Finally after meeting him today he confirmed his involvement in the film.”
Rahman reunites with Ruhian, both Indonesian locals who share screen DNA presenting their villainous screenfighting prowess under the stewardship of filmmaker Gareth Evans, most notably for The Raid franchise. Both were last reported and confirmed to join Pedring Lopez for a sequel to last year’s hit, Maria, which is currently on hold due to scheduling.
Apart from sharing the screen with Ruhian for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and action adventure Wiro Sableng 212, Rahman’s select credits also include 3: Alif, Lam, Mim, teen action thriller Juara, Kellie Madison’s conceptual short action proof, The Gate, and Joko Anwar’s superhero epic, Gundala, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year.
Originally Malaysia-born, Teo resides in Singapore where she’s progressing her career in entertainment, trained in theater and drama, as well as a variety of martial arts styles and stunt skillsets. She is currently a student of Pang’s own stunt company, Ronin Action Group, and of multi-faceted film production company 16:9 Productions.
Teo’s recent credits include Jaze Phua’s web comedy, The Rule Breakers, and Toggle app series such as Ghost AR, Emerald Hill and action drama, The Driver starring Kaiser Chuang. 2020 will also see her appear in upcoming feature releases, Derrick Lui’s Oversteer from Salon Films (HK) Ltd., and J.D. Chua’s Circle Line from Taipei Films Pte. Ltd. (MM2).