Reuben Langdon on Japanese action and how thought affects movement [Action Talks #23]

Reuben Langdon is an actor, stuntman, and motion capture performer known for his work on Devil May Cry and Avatar. We talk about his unique stunt training in Japan, founding Just Cause, and how thinking in different languages might change how we move. You can see his IMDB here: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0486047/

Edited by Jay Huerto

Action Talks on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKvT1cdaRn78tV4vF78InER7GhxCKaxU5 Action Talks on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7D289YtkiQIkSVhNLDX8O2 Action Talks on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/action-talks-with-eric-jacobus/id1686666319

Telegram: t.me/ericjacobus My studio SuperAlloy: www.superalloyinteractive.com Blog: www.ericjacobus.com

Timestamps: 0:00:48 Intro 0:01:09 What Reuben watched and played growing up 0:05:37 Moving to Japan 0:08:20 Martial arts training 0:10:21 Finding an action school in Japan 0:14:25 Learning stunts at the Toei Action Club 0:19:31 Training to help the Sentouin (stuntmen) 0:21:04 Repercussions for messing up as a sentouin 0:22:20 Working with Japan Action Club (JAC) 0:24:00 JAC Training Sessions 0:30:13 Relationship between action schools 0:31:14 Yasuaki Kurata's Action School 0:33:22 Going to Hong Kong 0:38:54 Moving back to America 0:41:25 Koichi Sakamoto's Movement and Filmmaking 0:42:57 Super Sentai Stunt Team and Power Rangers Stunt Team 0:44:04 Martial Law 0:46:41 How training in Japan helped 0:48:47 Western Style Fight Scenes 0:49:25 Sammo pushing him 0:50:27 A Stuntman's job in Hong Kong 0:53:59 Working with Jackie Chan 0:58:46 Jackie and Sammo 1:00:25 Reuben joining Jackie's Stunt Team 1:03:16 Working with Zero Gravity Stunt Team 1:04:33 Just Cause Productions 1:05:53 Getting in to motion capture 1:06:22 On authentic performances 1:07:58 Working with Japanese directors while performing in America 1:09:24 Trying to find what works for both JP and US culture 1:12:03 Midihari (contrast in movement) 1:13:58 Eric's experince with Midihari in mocap 1:15:15 Midihari in Chambara cinema 1:16:41 Triads 1:17:13 The swashbuckling genre 1:17:37 Japanese wrestling and Kaiju 1:18:21 The different camps in Hong Kong cinema 1:19:18 Avatar 1:22:56 Stunt teams in America 1:23:25 Six figures? or do what you want? 1:24:42 Virtual production 1:27:17 Thinking in Japanese 1:29:25 Eric learning Cantonese 1:31:39 Going into a different mode when working with Japanese performers 1:33:56 The awareness of fight scenes to an audience 1:36:00 Hong Kong style boom in America in the late 90s 1:38:04 Korean action cinema 1:43:07 A new fight choreo style from Japan 1:45:50 Koichi Sakamoto's influence on his life ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGZsFaWzaTk