Donnie Yen Discusses Directing The Prosecutor, Making Action Films, and Bonding Over Star Wars [INTERVIEW]

Among the most accomplished action stars of all time, Donnie Yen has nothing to prove as a performer. However, he continues to take big swings in his career, leading to his direction of The Prosecutor. Starring a former cop-turned-lawyer, Donnie Yen infuses a courtroom drama with some of the coolest action setpieces you’ll see all year. He sat down with FandomWire to discuss The Prosecutor and how stepping outside his comfort zone has helped him throughout his career. We also talk about a nod to Star Wars in the film and the joy of building LEGOs with his son.

Interview with Donnie Yen on The Prosecutor

FW: Thank you, Mr. Yen, for speaking with FandomWire today. One of the things I’ve seen you mention a couple of times leading up to The Prosecutor was that you were a little unsure about taking on “the law” in one of your movies. What ultimately compelled you to make The Prosecutor?

Donnie Yen: I’ve always liked to take risks and challenges. In the past, in many of my films, I took chances. I try to tap into unknown territories. Some of them worked, some of them didn’t. If I had chosen a safer path in my career, there are probably one or two things that wouldn’t have happened. At the same time, it wouldn’t shape me into who I am today.

I have always been that kind of filmmaker. From day one, when I started off as a choreographer, I used to think of different ways of breaking new ground and shooting something that had never been done before. Or editing something that had never been edited like that before. For this film, you’re absolutely right, I turned it down and didn’t want it to do it because it was unknown territory. But then, after two months of thinking, I said to myself, ‘you know, maybe if I can find a way to tell this story.’

It has classic court scenes. I didn’t want to go there, because I don’t want to be compared to those great courtroom case scenes movies. But at the same time, I see a combination of bringing the Donnie Yen action world, which is over the top and extravagant. How would you feel to see a character take on multiple opponents? That is that type of film. But at the same time, it would have these interesting court scenes, making these two elements work as a story. That was the hardest task. I took the chance, and I think it worked.

FW: I absolutely think it works. I think the action sequences have a lot more power because we are so emotionally connected. What is the most difficult part about directing a film that you’re also one of the primary stunt men? You have all that action but also those quiet moments.  

Donnie Yen: I’ve been so fortunate to have been doing behind-the-scenes work from day one. I want to take this opportunity to correct some of the basic information on IMDB. I directed two films in 1997. One is Ballistic Kiss and the other is Legend of the Wolf, with a budget under half a million dollars. That was my very first attempt at directing. It was absolutely financially disastrous for me. I was not an experienced director, and I didn’t have any money to shoot.

But again, I would take on that challenge. I had that dream, but since then, I’ve been doing work behind the camera all the time. Sometimes I don’t have my name on it. But I do work a lot. I edit a lot because I think when you present the vision, it’s not about choreography. It’s how you shoot the scenes and how you edit the scenes. In the end, how do you want the final presentations you see on screens?

As a director, you have to overlook the whole process. I’ve been doing it for a long time, so I have no problem dealing with multiple roles. In fact, I enjoy doing multiple roles [on a film] because for my character to be the way I want, you have to set up the camera. How do you want to shoot it? How do you want to pace yourself? Having said that, it’s very important to balance the two.

As an actor, you know your character and how your character flows through the story. [As a director], it’s not just about you. It’s about your other characters as well. Finding that balance is really important. You gotta be as clear-minded and subjective as possible to balance that. When I’m playing the role, I’m focusing on the character. But when I’m off the role, I have to be a director.

You have to be a student. You have to listen to your peers. You have to talk to the actors. Yeah, you have to think of the overall, ultimate goal. How is it going to affect my storytelling? Is it going to affect the relationship between the two characters? All those aspects. I’m very comfortable doing that.

FW: You mentioned how you work in editing and all of these other roles. One of the things I think is so expertly done in The Prosecutor is how you edit the fight sequences between that first-person view and the third-person perspective. You give us the full scale of what’s going. Tell us about the choice.

Donnie Yen: I believe I’ve always had a talent for editing. Decades ago, I always edited my own scenes. Let me use music as an example. I believe I’m a jazz musician. I understand how to break them down. Before I have these images from shooting these scenes, the shots are formulated in my head. They’re already edited in my in my head.

I make very few changes on set. I already have a clear vision before I walk onto the set. This is what I want to shoot the scene. Maybe it’s through experience, maybe through a natural instinct, maybe some talent, or a combination of all that. When I walk into the editing room, that’s another playground of mine. I edited this movie about maybe a dozen times different versions. I love the process of it. For me, editing is another process of building and making another movie out of this movie. So, I spent a lot of time re-editing, finding ways of fine-tuning the tempo, the pacing, and different ways of telling the story.

FW: In your scenes with Yu Kang and at the end of the movie, one of the first cards up, you’re thanking your stunt team for the work they’re doing. Tell me about the process of not only building a stunt team, but why do you think your film is so much better at stunts today than so many American films? You were in John Wick: Chapter Four, but we don’t get a lot of those.

Donnie Yen: You have to utilize your resources. I’m a director, and I’m the one that drives the bus. You gotta have all these components. You’ve got to know where to position yourself. I have built a stunt team well for decades. My stunt teams – well, I wouldn’t call them a “stunt team,” but the people that work for me – in the past, they’ve built into their own success. I have people like Kenji Tanigaki and this time with Yu Kang, they are already are very experienced action directors.

At the beginning of my career, I would focus mainly on the action. Right now, I take the director’s chair and let my guys come up with different choreography. For me, it’s positioning and also knowing your actors. As an actor myself, but especially as an action actor, I understand the physical mechanics. How the body works. So when I look at someone that I know or someone that I don’t know, because if I work with an actor,

For example, in the middle scene where this young actor, it’s his first time. He’s never done action movies before, but I’m quite confident when I look at the actors, I know what type of possibilities I can draw out of them. If I shoot you, obviously I have to know you first. I have to understand what physicality you have. Like, can you play basketball? Can you do this? Can you do this? Oh, you have some dance moves? You can do a split? What can I do with these physical abilities an actor can bring?

I sometimes use one or two stuntmen here and there to make it work. Because at the end, I’m not bringing it to a UFC fight. It’s about filmmaking. It’s about how this actor, or myself, can convince the audience that I’m engaged with.

FW: So one small thing that I did notice in the movie was, at one point, your character walks by a giant LEGO Millennium Falcon model. Was that an intentional nod to your time in Star Wars?

Donnie Yen: Yeah! Let me show you something. [Yen turns around his camera and shows the LEGO Millenium Falcon set piece is in his office.] I built it with my son. It took me a couple of months, for me and him together. We built this together. He’s in boarding school, so every time he comes back to Hong Kong we try to build together. So my set designer came to my office to work, and he saw that. He said, “I’m going to bring a certain real Donnie Yen’s life into this.”

FW: That’s so much fun. We all love your work in Star Wars. I mean, it’s one of the most impactful characters I’ve ever seen.

Donnie Yen: Yeah, I was in Star Wars, so it all connects. My son loves Legos. He’s built tons of stuff. And he loves all the Star Wars. He has tons of them. So, yeah, and I purposely put it in the film.

FW: It was such a fun little nod. I loved it. Because it’s such a rich film, both in it’s action and it’s drama, what is the thing that you hope
people take away the most from The Prosecutor?

Donnie Yen: Every director and filmmaker wants to convey his messages. When you watch a movie, you can really tell what the filmmaker is trying to say. What he is about. Part of him is being processed through their works. But as an audience member myself, I like films that are not intentionally trying to preach or trying to lecture.

When you watch a Donnie Yen film, you’re going to have fun. I want you to be emotional. I want you to go away feeling feeling good. Say “I just watched a really fun movie.” Ultimately, of course, I want the audience to walk away with the message behind it. I want to bring positivity to the audience. I want the audience to watch my film. Say, “he really inspired me,” and he makes me feel good.

The Prosecutor opens in theaters January 10, 2025. Well Go USA Entertainment distributes.