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Grégoire Canlorbe

Kamel Krifa

A conversation with Brad Thornton, for Bulletproof Action

A conversation with Brad Thornton, for Bulletproof Action

by Grégoire Canlorbe · Déc 10, 2022

Brad Thornton is an American actor, martial artist, producer, and entertainment attorney. He tackles any challenge that presents itself, from leaping off a 250-foot railroad trellis to documenting the plight of the homeless to trekking across the High Sierras in search of tranquility and the perfect fishing hole.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: From Kickboxer IV: The Aggressor to Interstellar Civil War, you’ve been an action actor for the great Albert Pyun. Please tell us about this collaboration. What did you learn alongside Mr. Pyun?

  Brad Thornton: I learned a lot working with Albert. We first met during the audition process in Kickboxer 4. I remember there were like five auditions: three acting auditions and a couple of physical martial arts technique auditions. And at the beginning—this was my really first feature film where it was a lead role—and the producers, they weren’t really seeing Albert’s vision. They wanted to continue to go with Sasha Mitchell and stuff like that. And Albert wanted to give me an opportunity also to have some fun. So he kind of rewrote the Kickboxer 4 script to include my character. We got to do some of the fun stuff and this and that, and whatever. It was a blast to do. Working with him has really shown me a lot about just how quickly you can shoot an indie film. I remember on Kickboxer 4, one of our stunt scenes or whatever—a testament to the fighter I was working with, a stunt guy. We basically went through the moves about 15 minutes before we did the stunt. He said, “Okay, I’m going to come in and kick you here, I’m going to knee you here.” Then, he says, “Okay, I’m going to flip over you.”—when I grab him like this. I said, “Okay, well, when you flip over me, what about at the top of your thing, I flip over you? Then, we both land like that and just slam, slam.” And that’s the fight that ended up in that one scene. We did it in like 15 minutes, and Albert shot it in two takes, and then, we moved on. It was great.

  And then, in our latest Interstellar Civil War, which we did predominantly on a green screen, it was crazy. We shot this one scene for, like, one take. It felt like 30 minutes. There were so many pages to do and stuff like that. And then, that was it. That was the print. We moved on. Not even one for safety—do another take or whatever for safety. And it was really exciting in that manner, it was like play. You really have to come prepared and ready and stuff like that. But also, where Albert is at currently, which he’s been very public with regards to his health and stuff like that and some of the challenges ahead of him with regards to dementia and Alzheimer’s: one, I understand that ’cause I helped out my grandfather who had Alzheimer’s and stuff towards the end of his life. An Albert has always been a hero to me. He gave me my first shot at that film and stuff like that. So, working with him now and stuff and where he’s at is just an amazing experience for a testament to his passion for making films, for doing it his way, and to be able to create a niche of fans that are so true, and that’s worldwide—and that’s a testament to him and his creativity and his passion. I’ve got a lot of love for him.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Lando Smith, your character in Kickboxer IV, is just as charismatic and deep as those other key protagonists of the saga that are David Sloane and Xian Chow. How did you find the inspiration for your portrayal of Lando?

  Brad Thornton: That was the beginning, really, of my acting, and I wasn’t really solid on my technique, yet. So, I really drew upon just myself in that manner, and I tried to learn the lines and apply the intentions and stuff like that, but I really just tried to be present and real. You know? But I think along the way, my acting technique and the craft of acting have changed a lot, and I really love and I feel very blessed by it. I’ve trained with Iris Klein. She’s one of my coaches in LA. I began training with her mother, Janet Alhanti. And I trained at the Tom Todoroff Conservatory out of New York. And all that training has helped me hone in on my technique as an actor. So, I think that my inspiration back then, and even still today—I think you have to draw upon yourself. You know? What would you do in that imaginary situation, and how would you act and really make the lines your own? That goes a lot into the preparation and stuff. Yeah, so, I felt like I was more winging it way back then because I really didn’t have a process, per se. I just learned the lines, and I tried to be real, and that was my inspiration on that. You know? And the character was fun! It was an undercover DEA.

  I got to do the fight scenes and a sex scene. Crazy for my first film. Albert is so great. He’s really great to work with as an actor. He wants to create a safe environment. I remember one scene where we improvised almost the entire scene. It was a blast!

Grégoire Canlorbe: Kickboxer IV is arguably the most sexualized installment in the saga. What stood behind this artistic decision?

Brad Thornton: I think Albert has always been on the edge, and I think that as for any filmmaker, the reality is that sex sells worldwide in that aspect. If you have a film that does have some sex scenes and then, has some martial arts fighting from all different types of martial arts and an underlying story that’s interesting and stuff like that—that’s all these winning combinations for any film that has a worldwide market, that can be translated into many different languages. By today’s standards, anyway, I think it’s pretty tame.

Brad Thornton in Kickboxer IV and other works

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Please tell us about your collaboration with the man who’s been bearing the Kickboxer sequels on his shoulders—Sasha Mitchell.

  Brad Thornton: Sasha is great. He was very gracious, and we had a really good time shooting Kickboxer 4. Then, I’ve seen him at other martial arts events or whatever, lately, and oh, my gosh, he’s like a mountain! That guy is so huge. I can’t believe how big he’s gotten and stuff like that. But he looks like he’s in amazing shape, and he’s always been such a great, nice guy to me.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: What about Kamel Krifa, who portrays Tong Po in Kickboxer IV?

  Brad Thornton: Kamel is a great guy, been a friend of mine since KB4. We’ve had lunches and coffees and chats together. I love him. He’s like a brother. When he comes to town—I haven’t seen him in a couple of years, but we’re always talking about what we could do next—that kind of thing. He’s a go-getter. He’s a great martial artist.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Besides Kickboxer IV, another martial-arts movie in which you acted is The Sensei. How do you feel it enriches the genre?

  Brad Thornton: I love The Sensei. It’s when I first met Ron Balicki and Diana Lee Inosanto—Bruce Lee’s goddaughter—they came to me to help with the production, legal and stuff like that. Then, one thing led to another, and I got to audition, and they realized I was an actor, and we’ve been friends and family ever since. I trained and learned things from Ron as a guru, martial arts wise. And Diana, she’s just really an amazing soul. Love her. What I really loved about The Sensei was it was at a time where it put into the conversation AIDS, sexual preference and a lot of other things that are not necessarily ever brought up in the martial arts films. And it has a unique twist about it with regards to The Sensei and people’s misconceptions of others and their judgments on others. I believe that it also teaches some of the spirituality aspects of martial arts, what that brings, as well. And it’s a great storyline. It’s got action. It really was a great little film, I think, that really touched a lot of people.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: You had the opportunity to act alongside legendary actor David Carradine [Bill in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill diptych] in a movie adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III. Sounds thrilling.

  Brad Thornton: That was a crazy, fun film. It was Shakespeare in modern day. Right off the bat, I got to say, the best thing about that film is that I met my wife on that film. But we weren’t together then, and we didn’t get together for years after that, but that’s why I first met her. The film was a fun Shakespearean film. I got the opportunity to work with some iconic actors at the time. I had a scene with David Carradine and María Conchita Alonso and Anne Jeffreys, all these really iconic actors that it was just an honor to be in their presence. And then, the word Shakespeare and stuff like that, it was my first real opportunity to do that, and that was a challenge. But I think that also, as my journey as an actor, really, I love Shakespeare now. I love doing Hamlet and Hamlet‘s advice to players and all of these things.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Let’s talk about your passion for motorcycle. How did the latter take shape? Do you have some favorite road movie?

  Brad Thornton: I love motorcycles. I started riding motorcycles when I was a kid before I learned how to drive a car, a dirt bike, or whatnot. I’ve got a funny story about that, actually. I was living in Tennessee at the time, and I did this one commercial for the Army for motorcycle safety. This was near Fort Campbell where the Special Forces are stationed. It was actually this Green Beret’s jet bike that I was on. We all met at this park area where it had a little trail and stuff like that. It was a Ducati bike, and it’s got some power to it. I wanted to go test it out a little bit to just feel the response and everything else. I asked them, I said, “Listen, before we start shooting can I take it for a spin to get the feel of it?”—cause they’re still doing prep. The director is getting the shot all set up and stuff like that. Army guys are there, Special Forces guy has got his bike, He says, “Yeah, go right ahead.” So, I hop on the bike and I’m like vroom, vroom, vroom—I come around this one corner and I downshift hard and the shifter pedal breaks, snaps. Just snaps. I mean, it’s really hard metal. I’ve ridden a bike for a long time and this was a first. I don’t know what the heck happened, but it snapped, and right at the apex of this turn like this.

 I’m thinking, “Oh my God! I broke the bike. We haven’t even shot the commercial, yet, they’re going to kill me!” And it’s a Green Beret guy, he’s really going to kill me. So, I come back around like this and I tried to put it in neutral, pulled clutch and stuff, and I wheel it all in there, and I’m like, “Oh, my God! I just broke the shifter pedal.” The guy didn’t look that surprised. He tells me it had broke before and then goes to fix it with a Swiffer broom handle, duct tape and wire.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: How do you react to that scene in Ridley Scott’s Black Rain with a gang of yakuzas perpetrating a beheading while riding their motorcycles?

  On another note, I believe Ridley Scott’s esthetics in his movies, his work on images, has been quite influential on the esthetics of Albert Pyun. Especially when it comes to Pyun’s Nemesis, the visual aspect of which is quite reminiscent of Blade Runner. You know, Pyun may work with low budgets; but he always manages to deliver refined, astonishing, visuals.

  Brad Thornton: I love Black Rain. I had an amazing time living in Japan on and off for about a year and a half, about three months, three-four months each time. Such great times! And yes, Albert Pyun is definitely able to make something out of nothing.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Do you have some favorite road or landscape for your motorcycle journeys?

  Brad Thornton: I love going down Topanga Canyon around here. It’s like a canyon and stuff like that. Then, it basically drops you off at the Pacific Coast Highway, which is right next to the beach. Then, you can see the ocean as you drive on up, and the wind is cool and stuff like that. It’s probably one of my favorite places to ride.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: You worked as a bodyguard for Arnold Schwarzenegger and his family. How is the man behind the legend?

  Brad Thornton: Arnold and family are amazing, it was an honor and a pleasure to work with them. They were so gracious and sweet to me the whole time I worked with them. Everybody really was. It was a lot of fun. I got a lot of funny stories about that. I’ll tell you this one story. I don’t know if they still have it, but they had this potbelly pig named Bacon. I had one of the night shifts. It was about 2.30, 3 o’clock in the morning, and I’m in the guard shack right by the house and I start to smell smoke. So, I went outside and I come around this corner, and Bacon is in the middle of his little house, and the house’s flames are on fire, like 3 feet in the air. So, I yell to get Bacon out. The pig wouldn’t come out. I run back, grab the fire extinguisher, come back out. The pig is still just standing there in the middle of his house burning down. Bacon was actually going to become bacon. I squirted in the fire extinguisher, which scared Bacon to finally come out. What had happened was that they had put this light in there to keep Bacon warm. But the wire had basically been in a situation where every time they opened and shut the top, it hit the wire and eventually, it broke through and created like a short.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: The Cursed is a peak in your career both as an actor and a producer. How did you get involved with the project? How do you remember the filming?

  Brad Thornton: That’s one of the special films, too, The Cursed. You know, one of my near and dear friends, Phil Melfi, he—rest his soul—passed away a few months after we finished everything. He had called me up out of blue and said, “Hey, I got this screenplay written by Devin Watson”—who’s his friend there, in Tennessee, which is a great place to shoot—“Let’s go make a movie. I got the budget.” And off we went! We got everybody together and got to Tennessee and shot this little film in the town of McMinnville, Tennessee. Louis Mandylor was there, a dear friend of mine, now. It was just such a fun time, and people in McMinnville were all really amazing and very gracious. Ron Balicki worked on it with me as stunt coordinator, Mike Jones was our fire guy. A funny story we had this one shot where we were going to light Ron on fire. He was in his freezing cold gel soaked undergarments and was already shivering. Basically, once you put it on, you really want to get lit on fire soon after that or you’ll get hypothermia.

  So, Ron gets all this stuff on, gets the monster costume on, he gets on out there like that, and he’s standing in the middle of the barn. Then, Louis and I are standing a bit away from hims ready to shoot the last scene of the monster getting set on fire. We’re supposed to throw these Molotov cocktail cocktails on the monster, and he lights up. Problem is that the lighter we had got soaked in that gel. So, we got cameras rolling and we’re trying to light the thing on fire. Thankfully some of the smokers in the group had back up. Ron was really ready to get set ablaze at that point. It’s also the first time I did a basic jerk pulley stunt, I think that’s what they call it, where the monster slaps me and I fly in the air. I love doing stunts so I was like a kid in a candy store! The Cursed really, though, most importantly, I made a lot of dear friends. And if it wasn’t for Phil Melfi, we would have never made that film. It’s basically his film.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Your favorite boogeyman in horror movies.

  Brad Thornton: Probably Jason because I met Douglas Tait, who played Jason. Cool guy, And tall!

  Grégoire Canlorbe: While Rich in Spirit (which you directed) is a documentary about homelessness, the Prey series, one of your feats of arms as a producer, tells the fate of a homeless veteran struggling with his inner demons. Why is homelessness a topic so meaningful to you?

  Brad Thornton: I think—like the title in the documentary suggests—which neither one of those ever got distributed or anything like that, unfortunately—but Rich in Spirit: we’re all rich in spirit. I’ve always believed that we are all spirit. And being out there and being homeless, it just has always broken my heart in a way that I felt like I wanted to put a voice out there, especially those who are veterans who’ve served the country and who end up homeless, or just help anyone in general. I shot a lot of footage. I went out and I slept in homeless camps. These homeless people were very gracious to me to allow me to come into their inner communities and talk and stuff like that. This was in Nashville. One of the great places I found there was Room in The Inn, a homeless transitional situation where it’s got three different stages. Homelessness in general is a very sad thing.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: How do you assess those movies that are Ted Kotcheff’s First Blood (Rambo) and Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper, which more or less lie in the same vein as Prey?

  Brad Thornton: Those are two favorite movies of mine. They’re action films, and they have great topics underlying the action and stuff like that. I love them, they’re cool.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: What do you think of this road movie that is Clint Eastwood’s last movie (as it stands), Cry Macho?

  Brad Thornton: Cry Macho, I think it’s interesting. For me, Clint Eastwood is someone who is iconic. I’ve loved his movies ever since I started watching all the spaghetti westerns or whatever that they call them. I also love that on his sets when he’s directing that he’s really a calm director. So I’ve heard, haven’t worked with him yet! 

  Grégoire Canlorbe: How did it feel to explore the SF-genre on the occasion of your acting in Interstellar Civil War?

  Brad Thornton: I think sci-fi in general—the main difference on that film was that the majority of it was shot on a green screen. That was really great. It was like an exercise in sensory memory. You really have to imagine what’s out there and what you’re talking to and what you’re seeing and where you’re at and all that stuff. Even in a sense, remember, we’re supposed to be in this desert after this time and stuff like that. So, you really have to feel the heat beating up on you and the desert and stuff, your face, everything, the sand gets everywhere, you just start to feel gritty, and you got to allow yourself to have some time to just get into that space. When you’re looking out, when you’re looking at this little piece of gaffer’s tape for an eyeline, that piece of gaffer’s tape is actually an object or something else or whatever that’s in the scene, which you have to react to. It was fun. Star Wars is one of my favorites!

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Would you be ready to act in a new Star Wars movie or TV-series?

  Brad Thornton: Yes, I would love to. My friend Diana Lee Inosanto was in the Boba Fett thing, and I love it. I love Star Wars. I was a kid playing with little Star Wars dudes or whatever with my cousin Scott Thornton, and it was just a lot of fun. Yeah, I would jump at the chance to audition for anything in the Star Wars community or world or whatever. If there’s any casting out there listening, please, call my agent, Eddie Culbertson.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: What about a Kickboxer–Star Wars crossover directed by Pyun in which a Force-sensitive Tong Po would have a fight with Darth Vader? Would you like to be part of such adventure?

  Brad Thornton: I think so. I think Lando goes to space—yeah, sure, why not? I do think that we did have some fun scenes in Interstellar and stuff like that dealt with like, basic Eskrima, martial arts, which was the laser blade fights and stuff like that. There’s kicks and punches all throughout. There’s soon to be a release date—I’m not sure what that date is, but I don’t think it’s yet released, so, hopefully, it will be soon.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Thank you for your time. Please feel free to add anything.

  Brad Thornton: Thank you. Actually, my latest work was on Fox’s new hit TV show The Cleaning Lady. Melissa Carter and Miranda Kwok’s show that was directed by Milan Cheylov, and Jeff Cadiente was the stunt coordinator. It really was just such a fun experience. Everyone working on that show is amazing! I was able to play Travis, a guns running bad guy in the finale of the first season. I love it when roles combine acting with stunts! Milan had told me, “We’re going to get a big death for you!” and it was! Put a gatorback on and flung mysef into the air. My kind of fun!

  I guess that’s it. I appreciate your thoughtful questions and your interview. Thank you!


That conversation was originally published in Bulletproof Action, in December 2022

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Albert Pyun, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Black Rain, Brad Thornton, Clint Eastwood, Cry Macho, Grégoire Canlorbe, Interstellar Civil War, Kamel Krifa, Kickboxer, Phil Melfi, Prey, Rich in Spirit, Ridley Scott, Sasha Mitchell, The Cursed, The Sensei

A conversation with Abdelkrim Qissi, for The Postil Magazine

A conversation with Abdelkrim Qissi, for The Postil Magazine

by Grégoire Canlorbe · Déc 1, 2021

Abdelkrim Qissi is a Belgian-Moroccan actor and boxer. A close collaborator of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Qissi notably played the antagonists Attila and Khan in two cult Van Damme films—namely Lionheart and The Quest. He is the brother of Mohamed Qissi, actor of Tong Po in Kickboxer and Moustafa in Lionheart.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Could you start by telling us about your coming co-directed movie Lopak l’Envoûteur [Lopak the Enchanter], which will be released in next April?

  Abdelkrim Qissi: Originally, I was called upon to act in a scene from a movie whose story revolved around a cannibalistic killer. The script was largely non-existent and the shooting improvised. Abel Ernest Tembo, who was in charge of directing, proposed to me that I appear in a few more sequences; what I accepted on the condition that we rework the story thoroughly and give the film a script worthy of the name. Ernest immediately accepted. I went into production and we agreed to make the film together. The work of the image, camera, light and grading would be mainly his doing; developing a story, playing the lead role, directing the cast and writing the script mostly mine. During the Covid period, a story was born, a new film was born, only the title remained. Then, a year ago, we started shooting what was now a feature-length film, a shooting almost finished as I speak to you [November 9, 2021]. I would like to salute the work of Abel Ernest Tembo, a man excellent with the image.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: In Lopak trailer, the character you play, Molosse, evokes the bees in a furtive and mysterious mode. Could you satisfy our curiosity by telling us what is going on with those insects in the scenario?

  Abdelkrim Qissi: I cannot say too much about the plot of the film at the moment; but Molosse in the scenario feels invested with a mission, that of “healing” humanity, whom he considers corrupted by greed and whom he aspires to turn into bees devoted to the common good. To that end, he uses hypnosis and a serum that, annihilating consciousness, leaves only the subconscious and unconscious. He hopes to put thus an end to borders and to all that divides humanity; and change the Earth into a perfectly balanced hive where everyone in its alveolus perfectly knows its place, its mission, and selflessly works for the hive’s well-being, where no one encroaches on anyone and where everyone support everyone. In his quest, Molosse will be led to do things that will trigger a whole tumult around him—whether on his family’s side, or on the side of his old friends.

  As it stands, so, I prefer to avoid revealing too much about the film itself and its message; but to those young and not so young who have the desire to shoot their own feature films and who, nevertheless, are reluctant to run to fill out files, submit requests to commissions, receive financial aid, the work embodied in the film sends the following message. “Do not wait to be supported, taken seriously, introduced to big names; take your camera and shoot. Let the big names come to you as you build your own success.” To those young and not so young who have the desire to shoot their own film, who have the talent and the passion but are not particularly well known to the general public nor really involved in the right networks, I venture to hope that Lopak the Enchanter will prove that, whatever the means they originally have, the people they surround themselves with at the very beginning, it is possible for them to achieve their goal and make the film of their dreams happen.

Abdelkrim Qissi (on the right) and Grégoire Canlorbe (on the left)

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Alongside Mohamed Qissi and Kamel Krifa, you played in Lionheart (also known as Full Contact). How did the three of you end up on the set?

  Abdelkrim Qissi: Jean-Claude is a boy I have known since his childhood. I met him in a sports center where both (as well as my brother, Mohamed) came to train, where Jean-Claude practiced karate (with Claude Goetz); and for my part, boxing. I also met there, among others, Jean-Pierre Valère, who was kind enough to agree to appear briefly in Lopak. When they met, Jean-Claude and Mohamed became more than friends: inseparable, fusional, they were truly brothers. It was not uncommon for Jean-Claude to come to sleep at home.

  One fine day, sharing the same dream of breaking into the cinema, both left for America. After long years of sufferings and adventures, they made this dream come true by playing in Bloodsport, then Kickboxer. I cannot accurately relate the circumstances that led to my participation at the age of 29 in the filming of Full Contact. But briefly, they boil down to the fact that I was Mohamed’s brother (who had just played Tong Po in Kickboxer); and that he and Jean-Claude offered me and the producers that I take on the role of Attila. I was very happy with that offer and jumped at the chance. As for Kamel it is a friend that we encountered in Brussels, that is how he too found himself by our side on the set of Full Contact.

From the left to the right: Abdelkrim Qissi, Kamel Krifa, and Mohamed Qissi in their roles in Full Contact

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Lionheart’s final fight pits Leon Gaultier, character played by JCVD, against a brutal fighter who is nonetheless affectionate towards his cat. Leon, suffering from a broken rib, progressively lets himself dominated at first; then takes over in extremis over the character you play, Attila. How did the idea for such choreography come to the film crew? How was the filming, the application, of that idea?

  Abdelkrim Qissi: Contrary to the idea of ​​the white cat, which is an improvisation during the shooting, the idea that Leon takes the upper hand over Attila when everyone (including his trainer) thinks him to be losing is an idea of ​​the scenario. It was not elaborated when the choreography was being designed. Jean-Claude nevertheless participated in the writing of the screenplay; just as the choreographies of Lionheart are all his doing. Both ideas sound good to me—and constitutive of what makes the film’s aura more than thirty years after its release.

  The touching affection that Attila has for his pet, which he shows by taking advantage of Leon being momentarily on the ground to stroke his cat, contrasts with what is, besides, the brutality of the character. A contrast that the film emphasizes in its visual symbolism by making Attila all dressed in black whereas his cat, for his part, is entirely white. The cat in question, which, again, was not intended in the scenario (if I correctly remember), was the one of a member of the film crew. The inner strength that manifests itself in the character of Jean-Claude just after his trainer in person, Joshua, confesses to him that he does not trust him and that he himself has bet on Attila, that rage to defeat himself in order to triumph over his opponent and prove to Joshua that he made a “wrong bet” (a reply which is, besides, at the origin of one of the film’s titles), that desire coming from the depths of his heart which allows Leon to overcome the pain and to defeat Attila even though the latter, in plain view, was largely dominating him until then, offers the film one of its most beautiful scenes.

Attila (played by Abdelkrim Qissi) stroking his cat, in Lionheart

  Grégoire Canlorbe: You play Khan, Mongolian champion with whom the character of JCVD ​​fights at the end of The Quest. JCVD directed that film; but years before he had already served, unofficially, as an editor to Bloodsport. What makes the two films so different despite their partly similar plot? How did you work with JCVD ​​to come up with a final fight that be even more impressive than the one between JCVD ​​and Bolo Yeung [at the end of Bloodsport]?

Abdelkrim Qissi: A major difference between Bloodsport and The Quest is, it seems to me, that Jean-Claude had the opportunity to work with professional fighters in The Quest; while the tournament participants in Bloodsport were played by people who were a bit less pros in the field of martial art. Another major difference is that, in The Quest, Jean-Claude had matured since Bloodsport and was then at the peak of his physical and mental form. The exotic landscapes in The Quest, the richness of the animal cast (including the elephant and the horses), the beauty of the image (including the care given to the colors), all that contributes to what makes Jean-Claude’s film so different from Bloodsport released almost ten years before. However, I would regret that the human relations in The Quest were somewhat put in the background during the filming; I believe, because of a timing problem or a problem arisen in production.

Abdelkrim Qissi as Khan, Mongolian champion, in The Quest

  Jean-Claude is an excellent choreographer and, on Full Contact like on The Quest, trusted himself for the design of the fights; also, on Full Contact like on The Quest, he adapted the choreography for the final fight to my martial style, to what I’m best able to do in an arena. Whether it is the confrontation between Attila and Leon Gaultier in Full Contact or the one between Khan and Christopher Dubois in The Quest, of which the fight at the end of Lionheart was ultimately the prelude, no stand-in nor any special effect nor any stunt carried out by someone else were required. Shooting the choreography was for Jean-Claude and me an easy, joyful, and quick exercise. If I remember correctly, on the set of The Quest, Jean-Claude and I worked only nine hours—three times three hours over three days—developing our choreography from Jean-Claude’s general idea. A German steadicamer on the set of The Quest said of Jean-Claude and I that we were “like the fingers of the hand” given how we knew each other, understood each other, and had blind confidence in each other in the choreography’s execution; given how our moves, with meticulous precision, were easy for us and resembled a ballet; given how our blows espoused each other without ever hurting nor touching each other.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: You traveled to Israel for the filming of The Order, by Sheldon Lettich (who years before had directed and co-written Lionheart). What do you remember from your stay in the holy land?

  Abdelkrim Qissi: I had great times with Sheldon; he’s a very nice guy, just like Peter MacDonald. I believe that Jean-Claude, by offering me a sort of cameo in The Order, intended to make a nice eyewink to my previous performances in the roles of Attila and Khan, two characters united into one in “the Big Arab” whom I briefly interpret in The Order. Regarding Jerusalem, what struck me about that city is the conjunction of holiness and violence that reigns within it, the spectacle of both beauty and injustice that it offers. All the more as our subconscious associates Jerusalem with the battles and bloodshed of which it has been the theatre throughout history.

  The little Palestinian people is a brilliant people who has gone through very hard times over the centuries. Does the Israeli government really have a stake in peace—given that Israel would then no longer be in a position to continue its nibbling on territories? Do Fatah, in power in the West Bank, and Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, really have a stake in the war’s ending–given that the financial rent they derive from the military conflict would itself cease on that occasion? For the Palestinian Authority, wouldn’t stopping the attacks, reprisals, and rocket fires be the best weapon against Israel—given that it would deprive Israel of any justification for its settlement policy and force nations in the whole world to take the side of the Palestinians against the Israelis? Being not in the know, I do not want to make any assertion; but only to raise a number of questions that, in my opinion, are worth asking. Let me add that a religious government, as is the case of Hamas, is, in my eyes, a foolish and disastrous thing; since such a government could never represent the entire population, some individuals being firmly religious, others not or even not at all. It is much wiser for a government to refrain from imposing any dogma or rite regarding religion; and to recognize in everyone the freedom to practice or not some spirituality and the freedom to practice it in the way that suits him personally. Such would be one of the pillars of my policy if I were to find myself at the head of the Palestinian Authority; but being not a man of power, I no more aspire to occupy such a position than I would be able to hoist myself into it.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: With regard to the Koran, do you believe that it should be taken literally—or that it contains an allegorical meaning that should be deciphered with the help of ancillary knowledge?

  Abdelkrim Qissi: First of all, please know that I am in no way claiming that what I am telling you is the truth; it is only my conception of the truth. I am submitting it to you in the framework of an exchange, not of a debate. I don’t just deny myself the status of teacher, preacher or preacher; I see it as an incompatibility with well-understood spirituality, which is a personal, intimate affair. What I understand about the Quran is that a huge gulf exists between the word interpreted and taught by men and the WORD drawn directly from the source (the Book itself). Allah, I understand him as the source of all that exists; so that God is both present in His creation and located upstream from it. It is impossible to love God without loving His creation which prolongs it: impossible to love Allah, he who is in the trees, if the wood is cut without moderation; impossible to love him, He who is in the human, if one hurts one’s neighbor. The words of the Koran (which it is customary to recite in singing it) are not only made to rock, cuddle, the ears of the devotee. That is the lowest, most superficial, level of listening there is, the furthest from what is attentive listening to what the Koran seeks to communicate to us and make us understand.

Abdelkrim Qissi (on the right) as The Big Arab and Jean-Claude Van Damme (on the left) as Rudy Cafmeyer in The Order

  I didn’t learn Arabic at school; I learned it late, when I applied myself to reading a comparative edition of the Koran including the original text in Arabic and a French translation. The main words of the Book, what I call the catchwords, resonate differently from anything I have been taught. Often they are not even translated. Here are some examples of those words: Allah, Islam, Muslim, Koran, Jihad. Those words have very precise and deep meanings, characteristics and specificities. I’m not going to teach you what they mean, because that is research unique to each of us. What I can say and repeat is that there is a huge gulf between what you have been taught and what the Quran can teach you. Many counterfeiters have seized the content to use it for their own ends. Such is what created the innumerable religions, themselves divided into different sects, schools and currents of thought. To conclude my answer: from my reading, I do not see any contradiction in the Book, I do not see any violence. I perceive only love for God in it and that goes without saying, for His creation as well.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Tell us about your meetings with Roger Moore (on the set of The Quest) and Charlton Heston (on the set of The Order). What is your favorite James Bond?

  Abdelkrim Qissi: The shootings of The Quest and The Order were effectively the occasion of magnificent encounters: Pjetër Malota (who played the Spanish fighter in The Quest), Takis Triggelis (who played the French fighter), Cesar Carneiro (who played the Brazilian fighter), Stefanos Miltsanakis (who played the Greek fighter—and who passed away two years ago, God rest his soul!), Janet Gunn (who played the journalist), Roger Moore (God rest his soul!), and many others. The four and a half months that The Quest team spent in Thailand allowed me to closely interact with Roger Moore to the point where he became a friend; as well as his wife, with whom I have had long discussions around spirituality, being myself sick of spirituality as you must have noticed. Moore was an extraordinary man; of unparalleled kindness, simplicity, and humanism, he warmly encouraged me, as well as the youth in general. Unlike Roger Moore on the set of The Quest, Charlton Heston remained somewhat aloof, withdrawn, on the set of The Order; and had a very small role, so he didn’t stay long on the spot. Being then of a very advanced age already, I think he was a little tired. He nevertheless gave me the impression of a respectful and respectable gentleman, of great kindness.

Mongolian champion (played by Abdelkrim Qissi) having just defeated, killed, Siamese champion (played by Jen Sung), in the Quest

  As for my opinion on the evolution of the James Bond, it seems to me futile to want to compare them given how the historical contexts, perceptions of the character, filmic means, are each time different. It would be like pretending to compare Mohamed Ali, Mike Tyson, and Joe Louis! Roger Moore in James Bond evoked Simon Templar, alias “the Saint,” and Lord Brett Sinclair, the sidekick of Tony Curtis’ Daniel Wilde in The Pretenders. Moore played a gallant, charming, light Bond, devoid of the slightest hint of violence, not less than strong and talented. Sean Connery and Roger Moore are the only James Bond that we can almost classify in the same category: by the finesse, the tact, which they have in common and that is ultimately lacking in the others (all the more as the more recent episodes put the action forward). Some say Daniel Craig is the best James Bond, I don’t agree. Pierce Brosnan, for example, was not bad at all, as well as a Timothy Dalton already in a more violent register as would be, nearly twenty years later, Daniel Craig.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Who from Tong Po or Chong Li [antagonist in Bloodsport] would win if they fought with each other? Same question for Attila and Khan

  Abdelkrim Qissi: Regarding Tong Po versus Chong Li: if we talk about the actors, I think that my brother, a professional boxer, would win against Bolo Yeung, who, to my knowledge, is an accomplished actor without really being an experienced martial artist or boxer. Now, if we talk about the characters, it seems to me that, by comparing the performances of Tong Po and Chong Li in their respective films, the former is clearly more dangerous, more gifted, more powerful, in Kickboxer than the latter is in Bloodsport; so that, if they were to come face to face, Tong Po would win hands-down over Chong Li. Regarding Khan versus Attila, it seems to me that the former’s power (including mental) in The Quest is without comparison with that of the latter in Full Contact; and that the Mongol would be the big winner in a hypothetical confrontation with Attila.

Abdelkrim Qissi as Attila, Khan, and The Big Arab

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Thank you for your time. Would you like to add something?

  Abdelkrim Qissi: We talked about thriller and action movie; but I must confess that my personal preference as a spectator goes to contemplative, spiritual films. So I haven’t seen most of Jean-Claude’s films (including Legionnaire, of which one spoke highly to me of the introductory boxing sequence). There are certainly thrillers and action films with a contemplative, spiritual dimension, and that I particularly appreciate for that. Among other examples, Gladiator, by Ridley Scott; or Heat, by Michael Mann.


That conversation was originally published in The Postil Magazine’s December 2021 issue

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Abdelkrim Qissi, Full Contact, Grégoire Canlorbe, Islam, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, James Bond, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kamel Krifa, Lionheart, Michel Qissi, Mohamed Qissi, Roger Moore, The Order, The Quest

A conversation with Kamel Krifa, for The Postil Magazine

A conversation with Kamel Krifa, for The Postil Magazine

by Grégoire Canlorbe · Juin 1, 2020

Kamel Krifa  Kamel Krifa is an actor, film producer, and Hollywood’s stars trainer—including Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michelle Rodriguez, Eddie Griffin, Steven Seagal, and many other ones. Krifa ranks among Van Damme’s longstanding collaborators and personal friends, acting alongside him in various movies. This conversation with cultural journalist Grégoire Canlorbe first happened in Paris, in July 2017; it was resumed and validated in April 2020.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: In Kickboxer IV, you have given flesh and soul to iconic villain Tong Po. Do you intend to return to the saga?

  Kamel Krifa: At the time I had been offered a contract of five films to interpret the character of Tong Po. It was an interesting challenge, for my acting was essentially limited to the expression of my eyes and to working the articulation of the mouth. Indeed, I was asked to wear a mask, destined to give me oriental features. Alas, concerning fighting scenes, I did not have the opportunity to really prepare them thoroughly, because I had to avoid spoiling, through my respiration, the three hours of make-up that were devolved to me each day. (Knowing that an extra hour was still required to remove my make-up after filming.)

  Finally, I will have only once lent my traits—or rather, lent my stature and my agility—to the deceitful and cruel Tong Po. But I effectively returned to the franchise Kickboxer, since I appear in Kickboxer: Retaliation, alongside Mike Tyson, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, Christophe Lambert, and none other than Jean-Claude Van Damme. The movie was released in January 2018. It is the sequel to Kickboxer: Vengeance, a remake of Kickboxer released twenty-seven years after the original film.

Kickboxer IV final fight
Final fight in Kickboxer IV, exhibiting the martial prowess of Kamel Krifa (in the role of Tong Po)

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Jean-Claude Van Damme has directed a single film, The Quest, in which he plays in the company of the late Roger Moore. According to you, why did JCVD not want to repeat the experience since then?

  Kamel Krifa: Jean-Claude has an undeniable talent as a director and he does not hesitate to advise the directors who work with him. They benefit from his experience, acquired both before and behind the camera. In turn, he offers them the best of himself in his acting. Since The Quest, he indeed prefers to delegate the task to the director and to focus on his interpretation. It allows him to let his mind float — instead of cornering his attention with a host of technical considerations that never leaves his mind in peace. In that way, he can prove fully invested, relaxed, and reactive under the eye of the camera; he can put himself in the skin of his character with an optimal ability to concentrate.

  Also, entrusting the filmmaking to someone else, whom he knows qualified, and to whom he transmits his directives, allows him to take time for himself: time to commune with himself, and to read and meditate on subjects that are dear to his heart. Jean-Claude is not only a man of great culture; he is an authentic gifted, a superior intelligence, who carries a unique and insightful look at people, the things of life, and the universe.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Whether as his coach, his producer, or his on-screen partner, you have been working steadily and consistently with JCVD. Would you care to say a few words about it?

  Kamel Krifa: I have known Jean-Claude since he was thirteen. When I met him, I was twenty years old; and from simple sports room colleagues, we quickly became best friends, spiritual brothers. In 1989, Jean-Claude, who had just acted in his launch pad Bloodsport (and who was about to become an international star with the tremendous successes of the early 1990s), proposed to me that I become his exclusive trainer; very honored, I accepted his offer. I then had the opportunity to act alongside him in Death Warrant and Lionheart—and that is how I became a Hollywood actor.

Kamel Krifa in Death Warrant
Kamel Krifa in Death Warrant

  During the 1990s I continued to appear alongside Jean-Claude in various action movies; on the same token, I launched into production. That is how I was an associate producer for Double Impact, featuring Bolo Yeung. I also co-produced Legionnaire, for which I made location scouting in Morocco for two years. I must confess that I have a special affection for that period film, which deals with the Rif War and which features Abdelkrim Khattab, whom I had the good fortune to play. Most recently, I collaborated with Jean-Claude on the pilot of the TV series Jean-Claude Van Johnson, sponsored by Amazon—and, of course, on the last installment of the saga Kickboxer.

  Grégoire Canlorbe: Let us talk about the origin of your cinematographic vocation. What could be, in particular, the “double impact” of your Tunisian childhood and of your early discovery of martial arts?

  Kamel Krifa: At the age of seven I had stars in my eyes in front of peplums and other spy films from the 1960s; and it is to a large extent in the popular movie theaters of Tunis, where action movie left me mesmerized, that my vocation of actor was born. But it is also at home, from a very early age, by having fun shooting amateur films through a play of shadow and light, by imagining myself in the shoes of role models like Tarzan or Maciste, that my attraction for cinema took shape. The martial arts, which I have been practicing since my childhood, seemed to me early on to be the royal way to make my entry into the Hollywood milieu. As an adult my experiences in the army, the police, or as a bodyguard allowed me to perfect my combat skills.

Kamel Krifa (on the left) and Grégoire Canlorbe

[Read more…] about A conversation with Kamel Krifa, for The Postil Magazine

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Asia, Grégoire Canlorbe, Islam, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Kamel Krifa, martial arts

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