Michael Keaton and Maggie Q. go head-to-head in the new action-thriller called “The Protégé"

Maggie Q plays Anna, who was rescued as a child by Moody — an assassin played by Samuel L. Jackson. He trains Anna to be the world’s most skilled contract killer. When Moody is brutally killed, Anna seeks revenge and runs into another assassin called Rembrandt, played by Michael Keaton.

Keaton said even with all the stunts, director Martin Campbell wanted the movie to more than just an action flick. Campbell relied on screenwriter Richard Wenk to deliver a witty script.

“That’s one of the reasons I really wanted to do it,” said Keaton. “I thought this was well written and some of the scenes were actually kind of witty. Martin did 'Casino Royale,' which is a great, great movie, and he’s really good at action. But he’s also very bright and he wanted it to be a little bit elevated, you know, instead of just, a bunch of people killing one another.”

Maggie Q., who is half-Vietnamese in real life, was excited to play a Vietnamese woman in a film. She said she drew on her heritage for the role.

“Absolutely, 100%," she said. "She is really a Vietnamese woman through and through very strong, a survivor, and has an iron will. And I really loved being able to portray the very women that I know this is true of in this culture, and put it on the big screen.”

The actress is known for doing her own stunts in films such as “Mission Impossible 3” and “Live Free or Die Hard." In “The Protégé,” she performed the majority of her own and took the lead with Keaton.

“Because I have more experience just specifically in this genre, I feel like I have so much more responsibility on my plate because I do," she said. "My coordinators know that I am hyper-aware of the other actor, especially when it’s Michael Keaton. And so I know how to make adjustments for anyone. I know exactly when to speed up, slow down, do this, do that.”

Director Martin Campbell said he picked Maggie Q to star in the film because her talents are double-edged.

“She has that wonderful combination of being a terrific actress, and also physically being able to do the stunts and everything," Campbell said. "She was in the 'Nikita,' the TV series, but she also trained under Jackie Chan. So what a great combination, great actress, she's great at the action.”

Keaton, who is 69 years old, held his own in the stunt department.

“You have to just get ready, there's no way around that, believe me,” Keaton said. “You have to train in a different way. I mean, I’ve always been in pretty good shape, sometimes very good shape. But this was a whole other thing. Because the way he shoots it, it has to be you in most of the shots. It can't be your stunt double in a lot of cases. So you know, well, there's no way around this. I'm gonna have to do this. That and a lot of Bengay at the end of the day. I was definitely sore at the end of this one.”

“The Protégé” is playing in theaters now.