Well Prachya Penkiew and Tony Jaa, the director and star of Ong Bak (the best Muay Thai film out of Thailand, well ever really) were in Sydney to shoot scenes for their next film Tom Yum Goong and guess who managed to score an interview? Well, OK, yes THAT person, oh and yes THAT person as well... look for the sake of relevancy, it was me OK? That's right, I get to interview the guy who made you wince with every elbow and knee he righteously landed on the bad guys in his search for Buddha (well at least the head of one) and speak to the guy who let him do it - so yes this was foremost in my mind when I prudently removed any biting criticisms of Ong Bak well before I met either of them.

So I show up to the hotel they're holding the interviews and a television crew with Tony is just finishing up. I unfortunately didn't catch any of the actual interview itself but as I dutifully take a seat waiting for my opportunity, I mentally cross off the questions she re-asks to the camera - mainly to do with Tony's training and comparisons to Jackie Chan or Jet Li - whittling down my actual list even more. In hindsight I'm not sure exactly why - maybe in consideration for questions they've been likely answering all day but more likely because they sounded cheesey when somebody else asked them.

Anyway the television crew packed up, Prachya had come down and my turn had come. I tried some small talk with Prachya before Tony joined us and found out they had been filming the last day or so - exactly where I couldn't work out (later found to be Darling Harbour). Tony finished his stretching (what I'd like to imagine as mandatory catharsis) and joined us - along with an interperator. I think I was hoping for more of a relaxed conversation than a straight out interview from this session so there was a bit of disappointment despite not being wholly surprised. Probably does explain why I ended up babbling on occasion in a vague attempt to find a point. Watching the interperator take notes and Tony and Prachya smile and nod meant I probably missed the visual cues to focus upon certain things. I should probably explain at this point that minimal notes were taken since the interview was being recorded. Little did I know I'd have to rely upon memory as I had made a mess of the recording...