The Princess Director Kiet Praises Joey King For Stuntwork

The Princess Director Kiet praises Joey King and talks about the massive action sequences in the film during this exclusive interview with Mama’s Geeky.

The Princess is not the movie that you might think it is based on the name. It is an action packed underdog story, with Joey King starring as a nameless princess who must fight her way through a castle of men trying to kill her. Mama’s Geeky recently sat down with the director, Kiet, to discuss what drew him to the film, the wonderful cast, and what he hopes viewers take away from The Princess. 

When Kiet joined the team for this movie, Joey King was already attached to it and there was a working script. We asked him what drew him to the project, and he immediately answered with the element of surprise and the fact that this movie turns everything on its head. “I attribute it to the same reaction I had with The Matrix when Trinity kicks that guy across the room.”

He continues that he couldn’t shake that feeling for years to come, so he wanted the opening of The Princess to have the same kind of panache. “To achieve that was just so much fun. And I’m glad it turned out the way it did.”

The action is at the center of the movie, but Kiet says the story was important to him as well. The script is something like 96 pages, with 93 of them being action based. “It was intense [preparing for all the action] because of the sheer number and technicalities to it, but also, to the credit of everybody on the team, they needed the reason why we’re doing a fight scene.”

This is where Kiet came in with his team and began to develop the script in order to make it a film where viewers will like the princess, and will want to root for her. “The fights were there, but we left it aside for a moment. And we just wanted to know who she is, and why she’s there, and where all the drama beats had to be. And actually, that made the fights better. And it made it less boring. We went back to the heart. And it came out to be a better genre movie.”

Seeing as Joey was attached to the project from the start, things could have gone either way with Kiet and her. But he says that right from the start she was fully committed, and that they got very lucky to have her as the star. “Her commitment to make this work was amazing. She was coming from another movie and the next morning, she wanted to be in the gym right away to prepare for this film.”

Kiet explains that she kept the training going and by the time she was on set, she wanted to do everything. There was almost no need for stunt doubles. “She was excited about it and coming to work every day saying, I want to do this.” Joey King impressed Kiet every day on set. He says she is the whole deal and she absolutely nails the role of The Princess.

Veronica Ngo plays the princess’ mentor in this movie. She is someone that Kiet has worked with before on a film called Furie. He wanted her for this film right from the start, but he needed to convince her a little bit. She was taken by surprise that he was doing a movie called The Princess, considering he prefers a dark and action filled movie. But she eventually signed on and he is very thankful for that.

“She’s the heart of the story, right? Because the princess is not supposed to be doing what she’s doing. She’s supposed to be taught by this mentor that is her inspiration. And Veronica says perfect for it. She’s of the age where she’s a mentor. And she was coming from Furie with me. She has all this experience. She works with new actors all the time in an action field.” In a previous interview, Joey King said that she learned a lot from Veronica, so she was her mentor in real life too.

Dominic Cooper also stars in The Princess. He does a wonderful job portraying the sociopath that wants to marry the princess. Kiet says it was so much fun working with Dominic on this movie. “[He is] such a well trained actor. Well versed in drama to the point where he tried things [when filming].” 

Cooper brought a lot to the table, including his stage presence. “I think everybody’s gonna feel refreshed because he’s the preacher, but then he’s also that guy — that hunk.”

Viewers will get to see the massive action sequences and incredible cast when The Princess streams exclusively to Hulu on July 1st.

Full Interview With Kiet

Be sure to check out the full interview with The Princess Director Kiet to learn more about the behind the scenes of this action packed film! 

NEXT: Joey King Discusses Getting Her Hands Dirty In The Princess

About The Princess

A Hulu Original, “The Princess” is an action-packed fight to the death set in a fairy tale world directed by Le-Van Kiet (“Furie”) and starring Emmy Award® nominee Joey King (“The Act,” “The Kissing Booth”) as a skilled and formidable young royal.

When a beautiful, strong-willed princess refuses to wed the cruel sociopath to whom she is betrothed, she is kidnapped and locked in a remote tower of her father’s castle. With her scorned, vindictive suitor intent on taking her father’s throne, the princess must protect her family and save the kingdom.

The film also stars Dominic Cooper (“Preacher”), Olga Kurylenko (“Black Widow”) and Veronica Ngo (“The Old Guard”). Directed by Le-Van Kiet (“Furie”) and written by Ben Lustig & Jake Thornton (“Winter’s Knight,” “Final Fantasy”), “The Princess” is produced by Neal H. Moritz (the “Fast and Furious” franchise), Toby Jaffe (“Total Recall”) and Derek Kolstad (“John Wick”), with Joey King and Guy Riedel serving as executive producers.

The Princess is now streaming on Hulu.