Like many boys growing up in Hong Kong, Tony Leung was a fan of Bruce Lee from a young age.But it wasn't until he played the kung fu master's teacher that he understood the man—or kung fu, for that matter.In "The Grandmaster," opening in New York on Friday, Mr. Leung plays Ip Man, the martial-arts master who taught a core group of disciples, including Lee. Ip Man, who was raised in Southern China but later moved to Hong Kong, isn't as well-known as Lee stateside, but he too has been immortalized in film, most notably by Donnie Yen in 2008's "Ip Man."
To create an original interpretation, Mr. Leung took a tip from "Grandmaster" director and longtime collaborator Wong Kar-wai (this is their seventh film together): Blend the master teacher with the master student.
"When you look at the books of Bruce Lee or his letters and interviews, a lot of his inspiration came from Ip Man," Mr. Wong said. "I think it's a very good approach to show the audience where the inspiration came from. Who made Bruce Lee who he was?"
As a result, Mr. Leung studied not only Ip Man's martial-arts technique—suffering a broken arm twice during training—he also read Lee's extensive writings. "It helped me not to just have the look of a grandmaster, but have the state of mind and the soul of the grandmaster," he said.
Though no stranger to demanding roles (he played a cuckolded man drawn toward a neighbor in "In the Mood for Love," then a political agent entangled with a spy in Ang Lee's NC-17-rated "Lust, Caution"), Mr. Leung had plenty of time to prepare for "Grandmaster." He began kung fu training over a year before production, and shooting stretched out over three years.
He spoke with the Journal about staying in character over that period, nonviolent action scenes and how a sickly-looking Mr. Wong helped him press on. Excerpts from the conversation:
