Los Angeles, Nov 3 (IANS): Actor Simu Liu signed up for the romantic film 'One True Loves' as he was desperate to change direction following his role in the Marvel superhero film 'Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings'.

Liu added that he didn't want to be trapped doing 'kung-fu' films in a similar manner to Jackie Chan and the late Bruce Lee, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Asked about his decision to shift genres, Liu told The Hollywood Reporter: "To quote Monty Python, 'and now for something completely different!' Coming off an action film/martial arts spectacle like 'Shang-Chi', I knew that much of the world was going to expect me to do more kung fu films."

The actor continued: "It's always been important to me to constantly challenge people's perceptions of myself, as well as of Asian people as a whole. While I celebrate legendary actors such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Bruce Lee, I know that my path is very different."

"I am not a master of kung-fu, after all I am an actor who trained very hard to embody the character that I was hired to play."

The star admits that he wants to continue to challenge the perception of Asian characters during his career and describes it as "avant-garde" to be playing a typical human being.

Liu said: "I want to play characters that people can connect to, and that continue to challenge people's expectations of what Asian people can be.

"It sounds strange, but sometimes it feels like the most avant-garde thing I can do as an Asian actor is to play a human being. No martial arts, no stereotypes, no accent... just a flawed, messy, insecure human."