Katy O'Brian: I Like to Watch

"The humour and music in the opening scene of Kung Fu Hustle hooked me right away. It’s the first time I bought a soundtrack immediately after watching a film.”

Jun 12, 2025

Katy O’Brian is an actor. She was a police officer for seven years, then competed in bodybuilding competitions and worked as a martial arts teacher, before playing bit parts on TV in The Walking Dead and Halt and Catch Fire, and in the MCU movie Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (dir. Peyton Reed, 2023). Her breakthrough performance came as Jackie in Love Lies Bleeding (dir. Rose Glass, 2024) opposite Kristen Stewart. Her 2025 films include Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (dir. Christopher McQuarrie) and, forthcoming, Queens of the Dead (dir. Tina Romero) and The Running Man (dir. Edgar Wright).

A Hong Kong action-comedy bursting with imagination and spectacular stunt work, and the highpoint of writer-star-producer-director Stephen Chow’s career.

WHY I LOVE IT

“Music, martial arts, and imperfect protagonists.”

FIRST TIME I SAW IT

“In our [school] arts theater with some of my high-school besties. We almost exclusively watched movies when hanging out, but we were also band nerds. The humour/music combo in the opening scene hooked us right away. It’s the first time I bought a soundtrack immediately after watching a film.”

LAST TIME I WATCHED IT

“I watch it at least once a year. Last year at home with the wifey was probably the last time. I’ve seen it probably 40 times.”

HOW DEEP MY LOVE GOES

“I have the soundtrack and a DVD somewhere. My wife and I dressed as the landlords in the film for Halloween a couple years ago. We had a blast with it.”

Kylie Chi and Katy O’Brian channelling Kung Fu Hustle for Halloween

MY FAVOURITE CHARACTER

“Qiu Yuen plays the landlady and she’s absolutely hilarious – such a boss, super-angry, almost always in PJs and obscenely powerful.”

THE BEST OUTFIT

“Danny Chan as Brother Sum: three-piece suit with insane bow tie, hat and trademark axe. Sets the tone of the beginning of the film.”

THE BEST BIT

“There’s a scene where three martial arts masters fight against sound waves tossed by musician assassins. It’s such a cool fusion of music and martial arts, while showcasing different fighting styles. When they’re overwhelmed, the landlords who you think are useless until that point show up and save the day. It’s an awesome twist and so fun.”

MY FAVOURITE LINE

“It’s more of an action comedy than a highly quotable movie. But there’s this:

Landlord: [commenting on a character’s martial arts techniques] If he studies hard, he could be a doctor or a lawyer.

Landlady: A stuntman, more likely.”

Watch the scene here

KILLER NEEDLE DROP

“The intro song, Kung Fu, always gets me amped up. It’s jazzy and fun. The track Midnight Assassin is great too. It’s played on a Chinese guzheng and starts calm and chill, but as the scene picks up in intensity, so does the song.”