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Jason Scott Lee suffered a "tortuous" transformation to play villain Böri Khan in Disney's live-action Mulan.
The 53-year-old actor detailed his unwavering commitment to get in shape for the role, and revealed that his intense training was similar to when he prepared to play martial arts legend Bruce Lee in the 1993 movie Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.
"I’m past 50. That’s plays a heavy toll in the recovery," he told Collider. "My family was gracious enough to leave me alone and let me suffer the slings and arrows of getting back into that four per cent body fat shape that I was maybe in Dragon, back when I was 26.”
"It was torturous, it was transformational, it was enlightening, it was so many things," Jason explained, noting that he felt "uplifted" after seeing the impressive results.
"I really feel rewarded that I walked away with something special. Whenever you can walk away from a project and feel like you’re uplifted and you made a really great transformation, personally and career wise, it’s always a plus. You always feel great about that.”
The Hollywood star has worked with Disney since playing Mowgli in the studio's 1994 live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, and Jason confessed he was relieved to finally get the opportunity to play a larger-than-life villain on the big screen.
"I’ve gotta say, after this experience, yes. I like the intensity of it and the darker moments. I like the costumes. I like the bad-a*s black. The whole image is really intimidating, and that’s fun," he quipped.