Lee’s film tussles with muscles from Brussels!

9:10am Monday 15th January 2007

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A MARTIAL arts instructor from Wirral is off to work with Jean Claude Van Damme after making his big-screen debut as a fight co-ordinator.

Last year, Lee Charles worked in Bulgaria on a film called Brand Hauser alongside Hollywood stars John Cusack, Hillary Duff and Sir Ben Kingsley. As well as helping to stage the fights, Lee also appears in some scenes.

“Working on the film with John, Hillary and Sir Ben was an experience I will never forget."

Lee Charles

Studio bosses were very impressed by the Bebington instructor's work and as a result he returns to Bulgaria next month to start work on Belgian star Van Damme's new film.

"I've been doing marshal arts for 25 years and the last year has been a dream come true," said the 31-year-old former policeman. "Working on the film with John, Hillary and Sir Ben was an experience I will never forget.

"I helped choreograph a fight scene with Sir Ben and he was great. It was a mind-blowing experience, working for 12-16 hours a day on set. The only downside was working in daily temperatures of minus 10 degrees.

"To work on a movie with such high-profile actors was a great honour and hopefully this will be the start of something big. I can't say much more about the film at the moment, but I believe it's going to have a star-studded launch in Leicester Square later this year. learned a lot from the experience and it now gives me an opportunity to pass this knowledge onto my students and instructors." Screen success aside, Lee has also been given a scholarship to work alongside his mentor and internationally renowned sensei Benny Urquidez at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Acting Theatre in New York, whose former students include Al Pacino. "Benny is a contemporary of Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris and I feel privileged to be working with him," said Lee.

Lee caught the film bug after training John Cusack on a movie called 1408 in London during the summer. "I did a lot of travelling back and forth, but it's not everyday that you get to personally train a Hollywood legend," he said.

He runs a Martial Arts school on the Wirral called Black Dragon Martial Arts.

If you would like to join, contact Lee on 07930 225 509