Love Hurts stars Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose, as well as Director Jonathan Eusebio, unpack the film’s incredible stunt sequences.
From the producers of the groundbreaking action films Nobody, Violent Night, Bullet Train, Atomic Blonde and The Fall Guy comes a visceral, high-octane story of wrath and revenge. 87North is known for their incredible stunt work so it should come as no surprise that Love Hurts is packed to the brim with epic and exciting stunt sequences.
First time Director Jonathan Eusebio has a stunt coordinator background, as does lead actor Ke Huy Quan, putting the icing on the cake when it comes to making sure the stunts are memorable – and performed perfectly.
We spoke with Ke Huy Quan, co-star Ariana DeBose, and director Jonathan Eusebio, unpacking all of the Love Hurts stuntwork.
The Entire Cast Did The Majority Of Their Own Stunts
Tessa Smith: Ke Huy Quan has a stunt background as well. How helpful was that during your collaboration?
Jonathan Eusebio: Well that’s what made it fun. I already knew his background. So when we were looking for someone who can play Marvin, he was the ideal choice. Without hesitation. We were watching him on his Oscar push and all his speeches and his comeback, and we’re like, “That’s the guy. Everyone’s going to root for him on screen.”
His background just made it easier because we didn’t have a really long shoot schedule. So you need performers that can do the physical action. I knew they could do the emotional journey of the actors no problem. But to do this type of action, usually it takes months and months to train people. We didn’t have that much time. So I had to make sure my cast physically could do the stuff that we wanted them to do.
Anything, fight, that’s all Ke. He’s doing 90-something percent. I don’t want to kill my lead actor, but fighting, everything, all the action sequences, he’s doing 98% of it. Same with the rest of the cast. All of them did most of their stuff. I was very proud of that, too. I think what makes it great is emotionally they can do this stuff, but I wanted to show off their physical prowess, too.
Ke Huy Quan Says You “Can’t Fake It” In Terms Of Stunts
Tessa Smith: How much did your stunt background help while filming Love Hurts?
Ke Huy Quan: I don’t think I could have done it without the knowledge that I acquired as an action choreographer. Also, when I was a kid, I love this genre. I love watching those old Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung movies where they did all the fights themselves. That’s really what inspired this movie. It’s kind of like our homage to that era.
It was a lot of fun, but also it was really difficult to make. I got so many bruises and aches and pains. But I come from a school where in order to make a fight look good, you can’t fake it because the audience is so sophisticated now. They recognize if you don’t go at it. And that’s what we did in this movie. We really went all out.
Ariana DeBose’s Background As A Dancer Helped Her With Her Stunts
Tessa Smith: I was told you did all of your own stunts in Love Hurts?
Ariana DeBose: I did. I even learned how to drive a stick. I learned how to drive a stick in about an hour. I was like, boo boo, what you need? Let’s go. I will give it a go.
But I loved it. I freed myself from holding back on this one. I was like, I will try everything. I have a very strong skill set. I’m very coordinated. My background as a dancer was very helpful. Because to me, it’s the same palette. You’re just using different colors. I had a really good time.
Rose taught me a lot. Her ethos is very much flip the table, ask questions later. I really admire that. I think there are a lot of, especially women, in the world we’re living in today who really want to flip the table. And I say, go for it.
Watch Our Full Love Hurts Interviews:
Love Hurts blasts into theaters just in time for Valentine’s Day on February 7th.
NEXT: Ke Huy Quan Dishes On Zootopia 2: “The Story Is Incredible”
About Love Hurts
No matter how hard you try, you can’t break up with your past.
This Valentine’s Day, Oscar® winner Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Loki) rockets into his first major leading man role as an unlikely hero, a seemingly mild-mannered realtor with a dark secret that he is desperate to leave behind. Spoiler alert: He won’t.
Quan stars as Marvin Gable, a realtor working the Milwaukee suburbs, where ‘For Sale’ signs bloom. Gable receives a crimson envelope from Rose (Oscar® winner Ariana DeBose; West Side Story, Argylle), a former partner-in-crime that he had left for dead. She’s not happy.
Now, Marvin is thrust back into a world of ruthless hitmen, filled with double-crosses and open houses turned into deadly warzones. With his brother Knuckles (Daniel Wu; Tomb Raider, Warcraft), a volatile crime lord, hunting him, Marvin must confront the choices that haunt him and the history he never truly buried.
Love Hurts comes to theaters on February 7th.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.