Korean pop superstar Rain is mostly unknown to North American audiences; save for a comedic rivalry between him and TV host Stephen Colbert. The reason for this is fairly obvious, as North American audiences are often afraid to embrace anything not in English. But Rain has a chance to change that next week as his new film Ninja Assassin is being released across the continent. Produced by the Wachowski Brothers (of Matrix fame) and directed by V for Vendetta helmer James McTeigue, Assassin is big budget, violent, and stylish, but most importantly, it’s American and it’s in English.

Rain appeared to be fairly fluent in English when I sat down with him at a roundtable earlier this week, despite the presence of a translator. “It’s a big opportunity for me. You know, if I’ll do my best, Americans will love me to. I believe that.” Despite his ambition, Rain hardly seems arrogant or proud, but rather, charming and self-assured. “You know, it’s hard to even walk in [the] street in Asia. I hope it’ll be the same here.”

One can hardly claim that Rain isn’t doing his best in this film. His training regime alone sounds more impressive than most people’s lives. “I had to make my body fit, like Bruce Lee. I trained for eight months, five days a week, eight hours a day. It was hard. I ate just chicken breast and vegetables; no sugar, no salt… it was horrible.” On top of that, he also learned a variety of martial arts and weapons training for his role as Raizo, who is a highly trained, well, ninja assassin. “Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Doe, Kickboxing, sword, double-sword, sugarcane, chain. I learned a lot.”

Rain found his way into this role after filming a small part in the Wachowski Brothers’ Speed Racer, which was released last year to a lackluster critical reception and dismal box office, but also found a very devoted group of followers rather quickly. “When [the Wachowski’s and I] were working on Speed Racer, they offered me [the role] and then we made it.” But it wasn’t quite as simple as that. “After The Matrix, the Wachowski Brothers and Joel Silver, they were always thinking and planning about making this kind of film, but they couldn’t really find the right guy to actually put there thoughts into the film.” Evidently, Rain was the right guy.

When asked about his future in Hollywood, Rain plans to keep making movies for the time being. “I have three scripts. The first one is another action film. The second is another action film. The third is romance.” But he doesn’t plan on giving up his musical career just yet “I love both singing and acting, so I will concentrate on both singing and acting.”

It’s not often that a Korean pop star makes the jump to Hollywood, and we have yet to see how it will pan out, but with the release of Ninja Assassin looming, we’ll see how Rain’s career pans out yet. But even if Ninja Assassin isn’t quite a hit, it appears that Rain will be doing just fine.

- Alan Jones

Rain’s new film Ninja Assassin will be released across Canada by Warner Bros. on November 25.