John Woo is one of the greatest action directors to ever lay hands on a camera, blessing us with Hong Kong action cinema classics like 'Hard Boiled', 'The Killer' and 'A Better Tomorrow' as well as his Hollywood run of films such as 'Hard Target' and 'Broken Arrow'.
Woo's best-known film is 1997 action classic 'Face/Off' which saw Nicolas Cage and John Travolta swap faces in one of the most brilliantly silly films of the decade, and the director answered fan questions about the film during a Reddit AMA.
The Hong Kong director was full of praise for his stars Cage and Travolta, saying they both added an extra dimension to the film.
Woo revealed he gave Cage a high degree of creative control in the film, and said "his performance definitely enriched my movie."
Woo said "me and Nic have mutual respect for each other. He is great at adding more depth to the character as he is a method actor. We have discussed extensively about his characters previously. When I shoot it, I'll just roll the camera and he will do his magic."
"I gave him a lot of creative control he is Nic Cage and he had shattered a lot of old stereotypes of acting."
Woo is no stranger to directing big Hollywood stars, having worked with the likes of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren, Ben Affleck and Tom Cruise, and Woo revealed that John Travolta was "a good man."
"When I was making 'Face/Off', I was under a lot of pressure as it was a huge budget and I was held at a very high expectation."
"I would lean my head next to the camera being depressed. John Travolta would walk over and tell me, "John, it's ok. Don't worry. it is just a movie, and he would go out of his way to make me laugh."
"It was very heartwarming! He would also notice anyone who appeared to be unhappy and he would try to cheer them up. Every time when John appeared on set, we were all very happy! He's good man!"
When asked if working with two big stars was difficult as a director, he replied "they are both very great and easy to work with!"
Woo is currently in post-production on 'Silent Night' starring 'For All Mankind' and 'House Of Cards' actor Joel Kinnaman.
The film is notable for not having any spoken dialogue, which gives us the chance to indulge in nothing but the visual storytelling that made John Woo a cult hero among action movie fans.
Woo said he took on the film because he wanted a challenge.
He said "movies are about sight and sound but in this movie, the sound has no dialogue. I have to find a way to tell the story visually with only sound effects and music and more importantly, how to get the audience understood and engaged."
"This is also a movie that is completely different from all of my previous movies and this will be the first low-budget independent film with a very limited shooting schedule. It was a very interesting challenge and I welcomed it."
