It’s not everyday you get to meet boxing champion Manny Pacquiao. Although if you live somewhere in California, you are likely to bump into at least one individual who gets to taste just a little bit of that celebrity quite regularly. His name is Tommy Leng, actor, nine-year athlete, six-year veteran screenfighter, stuntman and member of the highly acclaimed cinematic action performance and independent filmmaking team, EMC Monkeys.
In light of the instavideo above, shot during the broadcast of Saturday night’s match between Pacquiao and Brandon Rios at Buffalo Wild Wings in Lakewood, California, I found the footage as another candid look into a day in the life of an actor and stuntman that I thought you all might enjoy. So we spoke for a little bit.
Tommy Leng: Everyday and all the time, got mobbed at Comic Con 2011 and 2012 for GoPro slugs, in Las Vegas it’s game over for me left and right, photos! When I am at work or shopping people look at me, and even when I workout at the gym people come up to me and ask me “Are you really Manny?”
FCSyndicate: I reckon this is fun for you!
TL: Yes it is but sometime I get nervous when the crowd builds beyond what I can handle. One time in Las Vegas, the crowd just got insane and security had to escort me off the premise at Encore Beach. At that time, I didn’t have the EMC crew to back me up, it was my other friends from high school instead, only they didn’t know what to do either.
TL: I never get tired of it, but I never tried to look like him before. It just happened by random luck.
TL: It’s like family, and like any other family we go through our ups and downs and then we are back up again. Being with the team has provided me the ability to level my stunts skills, acrobatic skills, choreo and fighting skills. At the same, it provided me with a brotherhood of people that I can rely on to help me in a time of need. If anything, I owe a lot to them for building my confidence and believe in the skills that I now have to excel further in whatever I am doing, and even having fun while doing so.
TL: Right now our future plans are to continue filming more content for YouTube. Some of the team members are busy working on film projects with different productions, but our biggest thing is to release “EMC 101”, a video that introduces the current team members to highlight our individual traits and personalities, with an action video that each of us has to perform from start to finish.
TL: No problem, and thank you so much for your support.
