MAAC sits down with Chilean martial arts star MARKO ZAROR for a quick chat about Jesse V. Johnson’s action thriller SAVAGE DOG.
MAAC: Thank you so much for your time for this interview, we have been big fans of yours since seeing you in ‘Kiltro’ and ‘Undisputed 3’. Can you give us a bit of insight on your character in ‘Savage Dog’?
MARKO ZAROR: ‘Rastignac’ is an assassin. He is a very heavy character with a dark past. But what I like about him is in my mind he is a good man, a good guy. He gets into some conflict and things get a little complicated. I researched a few fighting styles for this character and came across the French martial arts Savate. That is how I shaped his fighting style in the film.
MAAC: You and Scott Adkins have such great chemistry in ‘Undisputed 3’ judging from the amazing fight scenes in that film. What was it like to reunite with Scott in ‘Savage Dog’?
MARKO ZAROR: It was GREAT. It was actually one of the things that got me so excited to work on the film. After ‘Undisputed 3’ we always talked about working together again and became very good friends. We stayed in touch once in while. For sure it was a big challenge to give you guys something different the second time around and the movie did it itself. It is an action movie, but its a period piece and much more realistic. It was really a lot of fun to work with Scott again.
MAAC: We noticed that former MMA superstar Cung Le is also in the film. Did you share any scenes with Le?
MARKO ZAROR: Yes, we shared acting scenes but not any fight moments. But I was very happy and thankful to have collaborated and give some input into his fight with Scott. Seeing them both fight and being on the viewer’s side of it, it was definitely very cool. He is an incredible martial artist and a very nice guy. We also stayed in touch and hopefully we can work together again.
MAAC: Having worked with major action stars such as Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson as his stunt double in ‘The Rundown’, Danny Trejo in ‘Machete Kills’, and now Scott Adkins and Cung Le in ‘Savage Dog’, if you had the choice who would you love to share the action screen with next? Who is your dream collaboration?
MARKO ZAROR: In terms of a fighting/stunt point of view, I would love to fight DONNIE YEN. I love the way that he approach fights in his movies. I’ve seen ‘Flashpoint’, which was incredible. I’ve never shot a movie in China, so if you ask me the ideal scenario, I would love to go there and shoot a movie with him.
MAAC: So what’s next for you? Any particular projects you’re working on now that you would like to share with our fans?
MARKO ZAROR: ‘The Green Ghost’ is a movie that is in post production right now. I get to work again with Danny Trejo and did a very cool fight with UFC champion Cain Velazquez. It was a very fun cool experience. I got to work with Andy Cheng. He is my mentor and who I learned from on how to shoot action. He was the 2nd unit director on ‘The Rundown’, so now we were able to have fun together on this movie.
I also have another film coming out called ‘Battle Angel: Alita’ directed by Robert Rodriguez. It will be release next year and I’m really excited and looking forward to that. I’m so happy and blessed to be a part of that project.
Lastly, I also have a small part in Marvel’s ‘The Defenders’. It was really fun to shoot and I’m looking forward to that too.
MAAC: Thank you again for your time and good luck with your future projects!
MARKO ZAROR: Awesome! Thank you!
‘Savage Dog’ is NOW showing in THEATERS and on VOD and iTUNES August 8th, 2017.