Ma Dong-seok marked his Hollywood debut with a bang, starring alongside a cast of stars including the likes of Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek and Kumail Nanjiani in Marvel's Eternals.
During an online press conference on Oct 22, Ma shared how he landed the role despite having no work experience in Hollywood. "About six years ago, after Train To Busan became well-known abroad, I began receiving a lot of offers from Hollywood," he explained.
Despite receiving offers for roles in many superhero films, Ma never pursued them due to his busy work schedule in in Korea, that is until Marvel Studios stepped in.
The star recalled: "A few years ago, Marvel’s casting director offered me the role of Gilgamesh in Eternals and said, ‘I really hope you’ll give it a try.' After that, I talked to director Chloe Zhao and producer Nate Moore via video conference.”
The 50-year-old also shared that he wasn't required to audition for the role: "When we talked, Chloe had already seen several of my films and finished analysing (whether I was right for the part). While creating the character, she really tailored it to my image, the characters I’d played in other movies, the kind of exercise I’ve been doing for a long time, and my boxing-esque action style."
Ma's character Gilgamesh is known to be one of the strongest among the Eternals. In the trailer for the movie, Gilgamesh single-handedly takes down an evil being called a Deviant.
Jolie also made an appearance during the conference to surprise Ma. "I was already a fan and filming action scenes together was an unbelievable experience," she added when talking about working with the Korean actor.
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