Joey King On The Rigorous Fight Training She Underwent For The Princess - Exclusive
Almost from the moment we first lay eyes on her, actress Joey King is kicking ass as the title character in "The Princess." After all, if you were knocked out, locked in a tower, and about to be forced to marry an evil Lord whose only interest in you is your royal credentials, you'd be angry too. But before she can get to Julius (Dominic Cooper), the man whose desire for power has led to her current predicament, she must work her way through a castle full of Julius' henchmen. This legion of mercenaries may have believed that taking over the Princess' kingdom would be an easy gig, but they're about to learn otherwise.
It turns out the Princess is more than up for a fight. In fact, she's up for many of them, and she just keeps going. Through a mix of extensive training, clever resourcefulness, and steadfast resolve, King's character shows just what a royal under threat can do. At the same time, King, an Emmy-nominee for "The Act," demonstrates an impressive ability to convincingly execute stunts as she hurls objects, throws punches, and wields swords with equal skill. In an exclusive interview with Looper, King discussed the training she underwent to become an astonishingly deadly princess.
King went from no training to ass-kicking princess
Joey King's nameless Princess may be an expert fighter, but when King accepted the role in the movie, she wasn't. That led to, in King's words, "a lot of training." The training work was extensive, and she remains grateful to all the people who helped her.
"I had no prior training in sword fighting, stunt fighting, [or] hand-to-hand combat, so I worked with some people that were so patient, so supportive, so lovely, and they taught me everything I knew [in] a very short period of time," King shared. "I was so lucky. I worked with some incredible people. Our whole stunt team supported me and lifted me up in ways that I'll never be able to thank them enough for."
In fact, King's training was so successful that she was able to execute a remarkable number of the stunts seen in "The Princess." "I was able to get to a point where I did 85-90% of what you see on camera," King revealed, "and it was only because the people around me were so supportive and made me feel like I could genuinely do anything."
"The Princess" is available to stream on Hulu.