When making a martial arts movie, would you get a good actor that can not fight, or would you get a martial artist who is mediocre at acting?

I recently watched “The Raid”, and I was talking about the action scenes for days.
That doesn’t happen with well acted movies with lame action.

Everyone must know how to fight. We don’t watch for the ‘acting’, but the ‘action’.
I’ve watched a million in languages I don’t know and they’re still so fun to watch!

”...would you get a good actor that can not fight, or would you get a martial artist who is mediocre at acting?

Either way, you get a mediocre movie.

@zenvelo Jean Claude Van Damme isn’t the best actor, but he’s been practicing since he was ten years old so very fun to watch fight. I guess it’s in the eye of the beholder.

You get the actor to do the acting and the fighter as a double for the fight scenes.

Ideally, a martial artist who isn’t bad at acting. I’m happy watching the likes of Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li, Jackie Chang, or Bruce Lee.

@filmfann The Raid 2 is even better.

Totally depends on the movie. If the movie is plot driven like Crouching Tiger I say hire an actor and get stunt people for the complicated moves. If it’s just a Kung-Fu movie like the Bruce Lee movies and the like, then you need the action.

Go with the actor, because with movies we’re really talking about entertainment.

Questions like this come up a lot on various websites over the years – especially since creation of Mixed Martial Arts Federation in 2012. The buzz mostly involves how realistic the martial arts shown in movies is compared to actual street fighting or true self defense. Most of the critiques come from two main groups: Sports professionals competing at MMA or other levels, and combat veterans who’ve served in the military or worked with security contractors. The overall assessment has been pretty much the same – martial arts shown in movies is stylized make believe. Even when performed by a trained fighter, the techniques used aren’t credible and anyone attemping to use them in a life or death struggle would probably be killed in seconds.

But it’s Hollywood reality that makes films good or bad, and the martial arts specialists who succeed are the ones who learn to be decent actors. So find a performer who can make it all look pretty.

I go with the good actors and send them to a martial arts boot camp with talented fight choreographers and doubles when necessary.

And then, of course, there is Michelle Yeoh

Or Cynthia Rothrock

It’s a movie. You don’t need a Mafia boss to film the Godfather or a real-life psycho for Silence of the Lambs, you just need actors. Using martial arts experts won’t make the fight scenes much more real anyway as it is all choreographed.

I’m guessing the bigger part of the audience that enjoys those types of films care more about the fighting skill. For me personally, I go with good actors, but I don’t like people fighting. I still watch some of those movies though for the story line.

I’m ignorant – why do people go to see Mixed Martial Arts films in the first place.

It is for the plot?

Is it for the actors?

Is it for the fighting itself?

What do audiences pay money to see?

I’d use CGI and make anime.

@elbanditoroso I can only speak for myself but I find many martial artists very beautiful to watch. Many show such effortless yet deadly fluidity, which is poetry in motion for me.

Being it is a movie, I would vote going for the good/great actor

I know it’s not martial arts but is boxing:
Raging Bull – Robert De Niro

^^Agree.

If I’m directing the movie I would prefer a real fighter and get him or her an acting coach. If I’m a financier I would go for an actor who could be more bankable. I want my profit more than verisimilitude.