“Mulan” starring by Liu Yi Fei, a Chinese-born American actress is a USD 200 million production by Disney. However, the reviews are less than glowing 4.9 out of 10 by more than 81,000 users on Douban, a popular film review site. Besides bad reviews, the film was dogged by some controversy. Somehow, it become talk of the town!
Little was made known about Liu YiFei stunt double until recently, when photos of her stunt double, Liu Yaxi, made it onto social media.
The stunt actor also posted some photos of her in Mulan’s costume and a photo with Liu YiFei onto her personal Weibo page. Some netizens said she is more pretty than the lead actor, others also commented she is as pretty as Liu YiFei and she should be an actor too.
Besides being praised for her looks, several online Chinese media also pointed out that she defended Liu Yifei, who was panned for having four different body doubles while filming, reported by Oriental Daily.
But, she mentioned that Liu Yifei had three stand-ins for lighting and camera tests, and one stunt double, being Liu Yaxi.
Actresses acting as stand-ins would not appear together on set, and different stand-ins were used depending on time and location.
Liu Yaxi then emphasised that all of the acting scenes were done by Liu Yifei herself, and justified Liu Yifei’s use of a stunt double.
Liu Yaxi said: “Martial stunts are dangerous, and will inevitably require the use of a stunt double. If an actor does everything by themselves, it would be too dangerous. Our occupation requires our skills to be used somewhere anyway.”
“I feel that [Liu Yifei’s] professionalism and serious attitude to her work is something that everyone has seen. I don’t know about others, but I’ve learnt [from her] during the filming of Mulan.”
According to cinematographer Mandy Walker in an interview with Insider, Liu Yifei did 90 per cent of her stunts on the set of Mulan.