Libération, Frankreich, Februar 2001
Interview of Francois Armanet et Bayon

Translation from French to English  by "The wolfsisters"

[...]

Question:	The name, Dacascos...
MD:	In fact, it's Da Coscos. My family, from my father's side is Spanish-Chinese. My great-grandfather came from the Philippines and, since the Spanish lived there for 3 centuries, most of the Philippines have Castellan roots. My father changed the name into Dacascos - besides my uncle, the genealogist of the family, thinks we have Greek roots: in Greek, coscos is "foreman". And my mother is Irish-Japanese : her father, from Kentucky, with Irish roots, was an American soldier who, just after Pearl Harbor, married a Japanese woman born in Hawaii. It's weird...
Question:	You look younger than in the movie.
MD:	In   "Pacte des loups", Christophe Gans had particular demands, not only on the emotional level, but on the physical level too. You shave here and there, hair on the forehead, on the temples, the eyebrows. Same thing for the role: in real life, I am quite jovial, Mani is introverted, more Indian than Hawaiian, quite static, which expresses solemnity. In Hawaii, we gesticulate but we can be serious too.
Question:	The insular melancholy...
MD:	Right. We wear flowered shirts but, on the other hand, the legends of the island carry on the belief of evil spirits, of ghosts. But I lived there only until the age of 6. From 6 to 9, I lived in Colorado, then in Hamburg. A Hawaiian in Germany, 20 years ago, going from nature , water, sand to a big city... One thing I like in Mani is his nature-loving quality. In our lives, when do we walk on grass? For real? There is always a fitted carpet, shoes. Our clothes even separate us from the air. I wish I could become more like Mani.
Question:	On the shooting, how were the fights organized with Philip Kwok ?
MD:	A fight choreographer from Hong Kong, a French director, Hawaiian and American actors, French stunts... The French way of filming fights is different from the American way, and even more different than in kung fu movies. Besides the cultural and rhythmic differences, there is the language barrier. Phil Kwok speaks Cantonese, Christophe, French and English. So translation was needed and, each time there is a translation, there is alteration, complications. Rehearsing what is going to be shot move after move, in Hong Kong, you do not work like this. First they work on a general choreography of the fight then they train to execute very complex movements, they do not settle the exchanges exactly. Christophe Gans and I like to plan ahead, to settle things in advance, but keeping the spontaneity. Which makes things a little dangerous. When you do not know what may happen, you have to remain spontaneous. Not playing a role, but acting and reacting. In the west, most of the actors don’t have martial arts training ; in China, everybody is trained - singing, dancing and martial arts. Look at Bruce Lee, he did everything himself, the camera followed him without any cut. In the west, the editing is cut, cut, cut. During the fights, one shot on a movement, one shot on a kick. I hope that in Le Pacte des Loups, we'll see the whole movement from A to Z ; if it is broken, you cannot feel anything. To be able to feel it, you have to see it.
Question:	Are you training hard ?
MD:	My training comes from martial arts. I train, but I changed my way of doing it: I treat my body as a car. My knees are my wheels. One day, the engine will be dead if you are driving millions of miles, and your wheels... So, I'm not training everyday. I do my punches and my kicks, my stretching but I love surfing too.
Question:	The link between surfing, acting and martial arts ?
MD:	Concentration, discipline, relaxation and passion. When you have to face a huge wave, it's the same as fear before acting or your opponent when you fight. In Hawaii, waves are very powerful, it's no question to try and avoid them, you have to go, that's all. Suddenly, the wave rises, you have to cross or you drown. The point is to go on 100%, if not, you begin to ask yourself questions... Here's the trick: surfing, martial arts or acting, become one with the movement.
Question:	You often talk about your tension.
MD:	For me, it's not always negative. Personally, when I'm getting nervous, I feel alive. When I am not getting afraid, I have the feeling something is not right.
Question:	From tension to anxiety ?
MD:	It can change into ... if you let your tension grow; you have to take it and control it.
Question:	How ? While breathing and so on ?
MD:	Breathing in the movement. If I can move, I calm down. I do yoga, I do meditation: the simple focusing on your heartbeat makes you relax. When you are relaxing, you can hear your blood flow.
Question:	So...
MD:	Here is "movement." I have a 3 week old baby, the moment when he is the most peaceful, that's when he is skin to skin or heart to heart with my wife or myself. That's rhythm. In the immobility there is still movement. When I get movement whatever it may be. I feel great. Immobile, I feel like standing water. I need that something happens.
Question:	Do you practice spiritual martial arts as well?
MD:	When I can, I do Tai-Chi, with a master of 83 years. I love getting trained by this old man. All the stupid things I did or will do, he already passed them. There is a wisdom in it that applies to life. Movement without spirit is nothing. You see fights where the technique is excellent, but where spirit, energy and intention are missing. Many people can show gestures, how many can feel them?
Question:	You see yourself as warrior or as man of peace?
MD:	Both: warrior of peace. The more you prepare for fights, the less you have to use it.
Question:	How is it to have parents as Sifus?
MD:	I really cannot tell! As far as I remember my father was always my master. That's not easy, in no way. During the class, while listening, I thought he was perfect. But as man he makes mistakes like everybody. Giving great advice without following it himself. When I grew up, that made our relationship difficult, it's difficult to see two sides of one single person. My father is still my sifu, today, but I train with another master.
Question:	Did you have a choice?
MD:	My parents never said "you have to train". But in Germany, the Kung Fu school had become my sanctuary. In this German-Caucasian environment , everything was foreign, myself, my parents, our language, everything.... But at the Kung Fu school everybody went there for the same reason, discovering and learning fundamentally, sharing. Everyday after school I focused on Kung Fu.
Question:	Do you feel like an American?
MD:	Sometimes I feel comfortable in Germany, in Europe or in California , sometimes I feel like being from nowhere.
Question:	Could you specify this feeling of "nowhere"
MD:	In Hawaii two versions of English are spoken. Standard American and a pidgin English mixed with Hawaiian, Chinese and Philippine slang. Even for me it is hard to understand. There I can make a connection, but for my friends, who stayed their whole life in Hawaii that's all they know. A part of me is deeply rooted there, even if I could not spend all my life there. I could not stay in Germany either, even if I still speak German fluently: my appearance makes me looks like a foreigner. In China they see I am not Chinese. I am part of everything. Getting older , I found some advantages but 20 years ago, in Germany, when interracial marriages were not so common, when MTV did not exist yet, you can imagine... .
Question:	Racism?
MD:	Sure, not that kind the Afro-Americans have to face in the US. But in Germany, in China, in the US, everywhere people say: Are you Chinese, are you? Or the opposite "Spanish".
Question:	Did you ever have to fight for real?
MD:	Yes, it’s never like in the movies – nine times out of ten the fights in real life are not one on one. When I was 19 I was a bouncer in Hollywood. I was slight, I was working there 5 nights the week and 5 nights I was fighting. I learnt diplomacy as well, to try to talk about it first. In Germany, before that, there were all these gangs - with hair this way or another – who were looking for fights. Boys always want to fight. If you provoke those that provoke you it's a little bit like you are the provocateur, but I never had pleasure in that. I always liked to fight during training, but I never wanted to fight for real and hurt someone. My most violent fights were against my best friends. When you are in harmony with people, dancing, making love or fighting, it's always the same thing. Instinct.
Question.	Your resemblance to Brandon Lee .
MD:	Two months ago someone asked on the street if I was Brandon Lee (who died in 1994, killed during the shooting of the movie "The Crow"). We met often, Linda Lee (Bruce Lee's wife) was a friend of my parents. Then we lost contact. Strange, I had Brandon on the phone just before his death.
Question:	Between Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan?
MD:	Bruce Lee is my hero, I adore Jackie Chan. Bruce Lee lived for fights and Jackie Chan for training. Total different styles, same energy, but contradictory. Bruce Lee had a certain sense of humor but his fights were not funny. With Jackie, they are funny even if he wants to be serious.