Jackie Chan is desperate to prove his musical chops with a role in a Mamma Mia!-style movie.
The Hong Kong-born actor and martial artist has risen to international prominence following his parts in the likes of 1998’s Rush Hour, 2000’s Shanghai Noon and 2002’s The Tuxedo.
Though Jackie is famous for his action movie roles, he actually has a background in music, having trained in vocals at the Peking Opera School as a child, and he’d like the opportunity to show off his skills one day.
“In the seven years after (2010 movie) Karate Kid, I have had so many scripts sent to me – Police Cop from Hong Kong, Police from China, CIA from Hong Kong, CIA from China – I said, ‘Can I have something different like Mamma Mia! or like La La Land?'” he smiled during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Monday night (09Oct17), noting he’s been careful to choose movies that challenge him in recent years. “I keep on (with) change, change, change – let the audience slowly know I’m the actor who can fight, it’s not a fighter who can act.”
Jackie is currently promoting The Foreigner, an action-thriller directed by Martin Campbell in which he takes on the role of Quan, a London businessman whose long-buried past erupts in a revenge-fuelled vendetta when his teenage daughter dies in a senseless act of politically-motivated terrorism.
While the 63-year-old’s character is able to hide his true identity, the same can’t be said for the actor, as he admitted he’s recognized by fans in even the most isolated of places.
“Three years ago, I went to Vanuatu. When they’re driving by the street, the whole island (came to greet him and chanted), ‘Jackie, Jackie, Jackie‘. I asked the driver, ‘How do they know me?’ He said,
‘They have two videos that they pass from village to village – they only know two (famous) people: one, Jackie Chan, and two, (Sylvester) Stallone,” he laughed.
