Chinese-Canadian star Simu Liu hopes his work in “Shang-Chi” is successful in reaching to the audience that has rarely found “aspirational, heroic” representation on screen. The actor believes headlining a Marvel film as the first Asian to do so comes with huge responsibility.

Liu has headlined Marvel Studios’ martial arts superhero film “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”, scheduled to be released in the country on September 3.

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In an interview with PTI, the 32-year-old actor said he believes it is not just a “role”, rather it comes with the responsibility of representation.

“It feels like an incredible honour, like we are giving the world something that I never had as a kid, which is the ability to see myself reflected on screen, in a meaningful, aspirational, heroic way. There is a certain responsibility that comes with that as well.”

“I don’t want to call it pressure, but there is a sense that this is more than just a role that you take, go to work, say lines and go home. This is a moment in culture, a moment in history and hopefully, it will be followed by many more just like it.”

Bagging the role is a dream come true for the for the China-born actor, who migrated to Canada at the age of five. However, as much as he tries not to stress out, there are times when he feels anxious people’s expectations from him.

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“Sometimes it gives me a little bit of anxiety knowing that there is this kind of stuff resting on my shoulders. Other times, it feels incredibly empowering because I would have given anything to have had somebody, when I was younger, to look up to and show me what was possible.”

“My hope is that it doesn’t matter if you are six years old or 16 or 26… ‘Shang-Chi’ will be a movie that people will be able to watch and understand that anything is possible for them,” he said.

Directed by Daniel Destin Cretton, the film is set after the events of “Avengers: Endgame” (2019) and follows Shang-Chi who is drawn into the clandestine Ten Rings organisation, and is forced to confront the past he thought he left behind.

In a crucial scene in the superhero movie, which will be released in India in English, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada, Liu’s character is told that the trajectory of his life is just about to change.

“Recently, I walked the red carpet at Hollywood boulevard. As we premiered the movie to the world, it really just felt like, ‘Oh my goodness, life is never going to be the same after this moment.'” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” also stars Awkwafina, Meng’er Zhang, Fala Chen, Florian Munteanu, Benedict Wong and Michelle Yeoh.