Meet Robert Kun, the actor bringing Kazakhstan’s action film industry to the world stage

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Meet Robert Kun, the actor bringing Kazakhstan’s action film industry to the world stage  Actor and stunt coordinator Robert Kun’s path in cinema started with martial arts and led to blockbuster stunts. Now he’s bringing the lessons from Hollywood back home to develop Kazakhstan’s film industry.  In partnership with MDQ  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/06/04/meet-robert-kun-the-actor-bringing-kazakhstans-action-film-industry-to-the-world-stage  Spark your senses, wake your wonder. Euronews Culture seeks to show creativity in action and inspire our audience to explore the world through the five senses. Start your journey through the best of Europe's arts, gastronomy, traditions and high-end craftsmanship.

Transcript

00:00There wasn't a point in my life where I had to make a decision, okay, now I'm going to work in the movie industry.

00:15It came very natural and smooth because I started working at a very young age.

00:20I did a lot of sports, martial arts, dancing, tennis, football, all this stuff.

00:25And so that's how I got into the cinema.

00:29There was a project called Day Watch by Timur Bikman Bethev.

00:33And it happened that the founder of the studio, of Action Studio, Kundo Igor Tsai, we were training together.

00:40He invited me to participate in this project.

00:43That was my first project at the age of 14 years old.

00:47And I worked there as a stuntman.

00:52There are several international studios that I'm really happy and honored to work with.

00:58It was for 20th Century Fox, Universal, Metro-Goldenmaier, Disney Studio, lots of Russian studios.

01:07I can't really tell you, according to my experience, how is it to build a career in Kazakhstan because my career wasn't built here.

01:14Although I live here, my career was built abroad.

01:18Our first project in Hollywood was Wanted with James McEvoy and Angelina Jolie.

01:24For us, when people tell that this is a Kazakh studio that is coming to us, I feel very obliged.

01:31I'm very happy that their positioning as a studio from Kazakhstan made it to Russia and whatever international project it is.

01:39So, the founder of the studio, Igor Tsai, he founded the studio in 2005.

01:55The idea behind the name is Kun in Turkic languages.

02:00It means day, sun, sunlight.

02:03And Do in Asian philosophy, it means the way.

02:07So, it's pretty much the way of sun, the way of light.

02:11And that's what we are trying to achieve to this day.

02:16Because if you say that you achieve something, then it means that you stop.

02:20So, we're still on our way.

02:21From the day one, we wanted to make a statement that our studio is from Kazakhstan.

02:28And we're Kazakhs.

02:29Although I'm Korean, lots of members of our studios are Russian.

02:34So, it's quite a multicultural studio that we have.

02:38We want to make it to Hollywood.

02:40We're Kazakhs.

02:41And we want to make it to Hollywood.

02:42So, most of my career, and it is more than 20 years, I was behind the scenes.

02:47I was behind the camera because I was directing and coordinating.

02:51About three years ago, I met Rustem Amarov.

02:54He's a director and producer of a very popular and successful TV series in Kazakhstan.

03:01We met each other, really bonded, and decided to make a movie.

03:05It was an action-based movie.

03:07But something changed, and he decided to make a TV series about drugs, about how horrible

03:14they are.

03:15And he called me one day, and he said, okay, man, so I'm doing this TV series, and I want

03:21you to be a lead actor in this TV series.

03:24I really didn't believe that it would end up this way, but we shot this.

03:28After that, we did another TV series, and after that, we decided to make a patrol movie.

03:40It's a different experience being behind camera and in the shot, but you always have

03:45one goal, and it is to make a great project and to entertain people.

03:50I consider myself a really down-to-earth person, and when you're speaking of legacy, at this

03:57point, the only legacy that I'm thinking of living is raising my future children, making

04:05them a good people, and this is the only good legacy that you can live for your country,

04:11for yourself, for your parents and family.

04:15Regarding the industry, we're just doing the projects that we believe in.

04:18We're doing the projects that we think are natural and authentic, and if these projects

04:25are popular and loved by the audience, that will be great.

04:29If they become some kind of legacy, that will be amazing.

04:33So you just have to do what you believe in, and this is how major, popular and successful

04:41people in the business or maybe philosophers, that's what they do.

04:46They do what they love, they achieve some success, and they're not even thinking about

04:50it, but it becomes a social phenomenon, and that becomes a legacy.

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