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Korean top singer and actor Rain is drawing keen attention from CNN, MTV and other international media as "Ninja Assassin" barrels into theaters on Wednesday in the United States and on Thursday in Korea. They are introducing Rain and the movie ― in which he plays Raizo, a revenge-seeking ninja ― on their Web sites in a largely positive tone.
Rain, a household name in Asia, has yet to break into the American mainstream and hopes the film will become a vehicle to penetrate the American market.
"It's hard to even walk in streets in Asia," Rain told MTV News. "I hope it'll be the same [in America]. Raizo is very sexy. I love my character."
Rain picked the climatic final sequence as one of his favorite scenes. "They were real flames!" said Rain. "There were no wires and no camera tricks."
If there is a sequel, could he go through the same six months of nonstop training it took to get into fighting shape? "I'll think about it," laughed the star. "You know what? It was so painful!"
"'Ninja Assassin' has a key advantage in appealing to males, who aren't so interested in the 'Twilight' series," Variety said. The R-rated action film was produced by Joel Silver, the Wachowski brothers and Legendary Pictures.
CNN also introduced Rain on its Web site, Tuesday, describing him as a singer-actor who has "all the trimmings of an international superstar in the making."
It said Rain's climb from an unknown backup dancer to a member of Asia's A-list wasn't easy: His lack of Western features caused many music labels to look right past him and getting his footing in the United States has been particularly difficult.
Yet Rain isn't the type of guy who shies away from a challenge, it said.
Cnn quoted Rain as saying in a recent interview with Talk Asia that: "What I want to do now is start from the bottom again and build up my name in the U.S. I have experienced firsthand what it means to be poor, what it means to go hungry, and that I think may be the reason, the root cause of why I'm able to work so hard these days," he said.
On "Ninja Assassin," which will be released on Thursday across the country, Rain said, "I'm hoping people have high expectations for this movie, because I don't think they will be disappointed."
cr:Korea Times