Sydney — Last year, during the shooting of the latest superhero movie Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, Simu Liu had a taste of chilli crab thanks to Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh and Malaysia-born actor Ronny Chieng who introduced the dish to the lead actor.
Liu was supposed to be on a “Marvel Diet” – keeping his ripped body in check while filming – but he could not resist the delicious dish.
“I’m a big food guy. I’m outing myself as someone who didn’t follow their ‘Marvel Diet’ as much as they should have. When you have chilli crab with Michelle Yeoh on the table, you don’t say no to that,” the 32-year-old told Nextshark in a recent interview.
Liu continued: “Ronny and Michelle, having roots in Malaysia, would take us out to this delicious chili crab [place]. I absolutely fell in love with chili crab.”
According to The Star, Liu trained hard to get into character and spent half a year learning martial arts before filming for Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings began.
Because of the pandemic, production was halted between Mar and Jul last year, and with so much Asian food available in Sydney, Liu was, needless to say, tempted. He noted that there was “such a plethora of cuisine and so much to celebrate” in Sydney.
Besides Yeoh and Chieng, Liu also went on eating outings with Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai who plays his father in the movie. According to Liu, they ate “delicious seafood”.
When production resumed, Liu hit the gym hard to get back into beast mode. This time, he had Chieng as gym buddy to spur him on.
Born April 19, 1989, Simu Liu is a Canadian actor, writer, and stuntman. He is known for his performance as Jung Kim in the award-winning CBC Television sitcom Kim’s Convenience.
He received nominations at the ACTRA Awards and Canadian Screen Awards for his work in Blood and Water. He portrays Shang-Chi in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021). /TISG