Marvel star Djimon Hounsou reveals painful The King's Man memory

Djimon Hounsou has revealed which sequence from The King's Man brings back painful memories for him.

Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, the Marvel star detailed a major fight scene, in which his character Shola teams up with Orlando (Ralph Fiennes) and Conrad (Harris Dickinson) to take on Rhys Ifans' Rasputin.

"Those were quite painful memories. The whole sequence, especially that Rasputin sequence, was quite painful," he said. "Personally, I've never experienced such a heavy action sequence like that and that was intimidating."

harris dickinson as conrad, djimon hounsou as shola, the king's man

20th Century Studios

The Dark Crystal's Harris Dickinson has different memories of the scene, however, saying: "My character didn't get to do that much in that scene. Djimon's character was swinging the machete and I couldn't even shoot the gun in that scene, that was really my only contribution to that scene.

"It was broken up quite intricately, the way they shot that. I remember enjoying watching all the amazing Georgian dancers spinning on the table. Really impressive…"

Harry Potter star Ralph Fiennes explained that he felt well-prepared for the scene, due to digital technology available to filmmakers: "We knew what it was because with advanced technology and digital equipment, they can show you a cartoon or an animatic version of the fight ahead of time.

Walt Disney Motion Pictures

"You get to see pretty much what it will be, but then the hard work is working with the stunt team, sometimes they double for you, sometimes they need your face, your body doing the moves, tiny short sections of high intensity: the thrust of a sword, a reaction, a leap, a kick. They need to get it absolutely right because it's precisely designed, nothing is left to chance."

The Kingsman prequel sees the titular agency formed in the early 20th Century to take on a menacing cabal, headed by Rasputin, plotting a war that will kill a large part of the world's population.

The King's Man is out in cinemas December 26.

Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.