We are currently in Los Angeles, California this week where we went to the World Premieres of Skin Trade and Pound of Flesh.
Last night my brother Greg and I were lucky enough to be invited to the Pound of Flesh premiere by director Ernie Barbarash and PPMG Media.
The evening was a fantastic success with the movie proving incredibly popular with the audience and a huge turnout from everyone involved, including Jean-Claude Van Damme and Ernie Barbarash.
We got to briefly chat with JCVD at the after party where we discussed the movie.
Pound of Flesh reunites you with director Ernie Barbarash; how would you describe your working relationship and what makes you work so well together?
Ernie knows me. He gets it. He’s smart, you know. I like smart people… He’s very relaxed and quiet with the actors… He’s a cool guy, plus he’s a good director and a good writer.
But I’m afraid for Ernie. He’s done so many good movies. And they call him in a sense a doctor because sometimes he comes on the set to fix movies. And they take advantage of his good heart. And you know, he’s got to work. But I think Ernie should get the chance to have a movie with a studio one day with or without me where he can get the 55 days of shoot. Then you will see Ernie Barbarash.
Sadly, co-star Darren Shahlavi passed away shortly after completing Pound of Flesh; can you tell us about your experience working with him and what your lasting memories of him are?
We became good friends. So when I heard the news, I was completely flabbergasted because he was in great shape. He trained hard. He was so happy always. Perhaps something else is waiting for him up there because he’s such a warrior and a good person that they need him for a job that nobody can do out there except him. That’s why I see Darren as a good warrior person.
The movie has a tribute to Darren at the end and it was a fitting memoriam to a great talent who was taken from us too soon. He would be proud of this film.
There are some fantastic action sequences in Pound of Flesh and I think the “splits” scene is sure to become an instant classic.
We have a lot of photos from the premiere but there are a select few below and we’ll upload the rest when we return; notice Action Jackson himself Carl Weathers showed up so we had to say hello to the legend of action.
I would like to say a huge thank you to Ernie Barbarash, PPMG and Duvien Ho for making us feel so welcome in Los Angeles and for showing such hospitality. Also, thanks my brother to Greg for all of his support and for joining me on this adventure.