J.J. Perry talks about THE SHEPHERD in an interview

The Shepherd is currently shooting in Bulgaria and that will end March 10 where they will go to Mexico and California. Gary McDonald and Stephen Lord have been added to the cast. Here's a phone interview from the Van Damme boards with J.J. "Loco" Perry the fight choreographer of the film, he was also the FC on Undisputed 2...

02/12/2007 - 8 p.m. (in France) by cell phone.

Hello, it's Jean-Frederic, the guy from...

Heeeeeeey, Hi JFC ! How are you ?

Fine, and you ?

Very good, we shooted a great fight this last Friday, and we will start an another great one at the end of this week. So, actually I have some rest.

Cooooooooool. Do you have few minutes for few questions ?

Of course, let's go...

How long will the crew, and you, remain in Bulgaria ?

We leave in one month, around March 10th.

I know that one part of the shooting will take place in the USA or in Mexico, do you know when, do you know where ? Will you be on the American set ?

I'm not sure to be on the set for this part because we shoot all the fights here in Bulgaria. The other part will take place in Mexico, Texas and maybe Arizona. They should start this part one week after the last plan here in Bulgaria, but the agenda isn't actually close.

Were you involved soon in the script ?

I had many talks with Isaac about the locations and about the budget. With all that in mind, I started to think about what we could expect. The fight parts of the script were really open to me, I mean the fight parts weren’t really written. Writers created things, Isaac created things, I created others under the eyes of Isaac. And I really wanted, I really want...to kill the eyes of action fans. You won't be disappointed.

The Shepherd isn't a typical martial arts film, what must we expect, aerial moves or streetfight stuffs ?

Maaaaaaaaaaaany things, a lot of tough things.

Where do you find your inspiration to create your choreography ?

I'm a big big fan of action films, I'm watching action films every day. I have tons of video tapes about PRIDE, K-1, UFC, I love the Japan fighters, you know this kind of fights ?

Yes, barbarian styles...…

Exactly (laughs). I watch all I find, I go to live combats when I can, I know all the moves of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan. I'm a big fan of the work the Jackie from the eighties, 1982-1992, it's was his golden age. So, I know all the moves of Lee, Chan, Jet Li, Tony Jaa. I have video tapes of judo, karate, wrestling, tae kwon do and many unknown martial arts from unknown countries. I mixed all that with my brain and my arms (laughs). But you know it's cinema, and my style is something I call "Hollywood-Do", like "Tae-Kwon-Do". Because it's not enough to know the best moves, you must think about the moves, and in the same time, you must think about the best angle, the location, the editing, the pace of the fight, it's "Hollywood-Do" man... Tony Jaa and his crew are very good for that, they know how to make great fights on screen.

Seagal forgot all that...

I know Steven Seagal, I worked on few of his last films as a stunt. Three months ago I was a stunt during few days on his last film, Once upon in..., in..., in...

Once Upon a Time in the Hood

Yes, Once Upon a Time in the Hood. Steven knows me, he knows Loco. I like him, I like to work with him, but since ten years his films aren't good, I can't understand why his team doesn't take the time to do better things. Weird.

Any chance to see you in the front of the camera of The Shepherd.

No, I'm too ugly (laughs).

Ugly ? Noooo, I saw Enter the Eagles few days ago where with Benny Urquidez, you fight Shannon Lee. You were cool and the fights were great too.

eaaa. Not really, my acting sucks (laughs), but it was cool to work with the Corey Yuen's crew.

Now you work with JCVD, was it a teenage dream for you ?

A teenage dream !!! (laughs) No, I'm too old, more an adult dream, I'm forty you know.

What do you think about JCVD actual martial arts abilities ?

He is in great great great shape, he amazes me every day. I know all his movies, all his moves, I mean I really know all his filmography but I wasn’t sure about his shape before the start of the training. Wow, great guy, great fighter, great "Hollywood-Do fighter", he is a real pro and very kind. It’s such a pleasure to work with man like him because he really wants and asks the best. And Scott is in great shape too, soon he will be a big big action star, I can bet on that.

Scott is the main bad guy ?

No, he is the evil hand of the main bad guy, like I was the evil hand of Benny Urquidez in Enter the Eagles. The main bad guy doesn't fight with his hands here.

JCVD plays a cop who fights ex-soldiers. So Scott is one of the soldier and the others are...…

Scott is the leader of the mercenaries, and Rasta is one of the fighters too...

Rasta ?

Yes, I forgot his last name.

!!! Heuuuuuu, ok. I can bet on the futur of Scott too. Undisputed II killed me, I mean it dazed me.

The Shepherd will exhume you, and will kill you twice...

(Laughs) JCVD will make his famous 360 flying spin kick ?

(Laughs) Everybody wants to know.

All the members want to know.

You must wait, you will see, you won't be disappointed, trust me. JCVD does many awesome, slick, fresh things. I don't want to unveiled all the surprises.

Recently you are credited like second unit director on Road House II, would you like to direct your own film in the years whose come ?

Maybe, I was second unit director on Road House II and I was second unit director on many TV series too. I learn many things every day. Isaac is like my sensei, "director sensei".

Cool. JJ, thankyou so much, I don't want to disturb you too much for tonight. Can I call you next week with new questions.

Of course you can. And say to the fans that they won't be disappointed, ok ?