Making his US debut, Don Lee packs a punch in Chloe Zhao’s Eternals. The South Korean-American actor, also known as Ma Dong-seok, plays Gilgamesh, the strongest of the Eternals and arguably the most selfless. He is also quite good at hand-to-hand combat which allowed Lee to put his boxing knowledge to good use. The actor rose to prominence around the world in the 2016 zombie horror thriller Train to Busan, and Hollywood has been knocking on Lee’s door since the film’s Cannes premiere. In 2019, the stars finally aligned with a Eternals role that would force Lee’s character to protect Angelina Jolie’s volatile warrior, Thena.
“I was an Angelina fan before this movie, and once we both met it was like we were old friends who finally met after being separated in different parts of the world.” , Lee said. Hollywood journalist. “Throughout the film, our characters protected and looked out for each other, but we also protected each other and we also protected each other in real life.”
In a recent conversation with THR, Lee and her Korean translator, Jenny Park, discuss her most memorable moment on set, as well as her character’s baby CG costume.
Don, can you tell me a bit about your casting process?
Over the past five years, I got a lot of Hollywood casting calls, but at the time I had to produce and act for many [South Korean] movies. And because of that, the timing was not right for me. But a few years ago, Sarah Finn, Marvel’s casting director, contacted me about the character of Gilgamesh and listened to her – and also spoke to Chloe. [Zhao] and [producer] Nate Moore on a video call – I became drawn to the character of Gilgamesh. Personally, I was also a Marvel fan, that’s how I got to be a part of Eternals.
How did you prepare for the role?
I didn’t prepare myself specifically for this film. I have always prepared myself on a daily basis because I have been boxing since the age of 14. And because I’ve done a lot of stunts in my past action movies, I’ve always been prepared for anything that might come my way. And for the character that Chloe gave me, Gilgamesh, I was able to adapt easily to that character because Chloe linked him to my own personality and my past characters. The only thing I prepared for during filming was the language, because playing in Korean and playing in English is a bit different. So I had to study constantly throughout the film to be able to get the difficult vocabulary of historical settings. Speaking in English and playing in English are different, and that was the part I had to focus on.
How did you react when you learned that your character would spend most of her time protecting Thena from Angelina Jolie?
I was an Angelina fan before this movie, and once we both met it was like we were old friends who finally met after being separated in different parts of the world. We were very comfortable with each other as if we were getting together like old friends. Throughout the movie our characters protected and looked out for each other, but we also protected and looked out for each other in real life.
Gilgamesh cooks for the Eternals at one point in the film. If you had to cook for the Eternals as well, what dish would you make for them?
I will say Korean barbecue. I baked a pie in the movie, but I would cook Korean barbecue for them in real life. I actually took the cast to a Korean restaurant once in London, and they loved it.
Marvel Studios released a hero attach of you as Gilgamesh. What does it mean for you to see yourself in this context?
As an actor, being a superhero in a movie is a dream come true. I’m honored to be a part of one of Marvel’s greatest cinematic franchises, and I’m honored to be a strong character in Eternals. So seeing this poster makes me feel like I have fully succeeded in becoming a superhero as an actor.
In 30 years, when you tell your family stories about the time you spend Eternals, which day will you tell them first?
All in all, every moment and day has been very meaningful and memorable, especially because of the very large and diverse cast and an Oscar-winning director like Chloe. But the only thing that came to my mind was the action scene that I shot myself for six weeks. The process was very hard and very difficult, but when I finally finished the scene, the whole crew on set applauded me. This warmth, support and love that I felt from the crew was so memorable that I will tell people about it later in life.
Out of curiosity, did your castmates insist on taking selfies with you in baby costumes?
(Laughs.) It was actually CG!
Are you kidding!
(Laughs.) Yeah, that was CG. So unfortunately no selfies.
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Eternals now plays exclusively in theaters. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.