BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., June 25, 2001 — It’s hard to believe that Jet Li turned down the role that eventually went to Chow Yun-Fat in the Oscar-lauded Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
But instead of kicking himself (he turned it down to be with his pregnant wife), the Hong Kong martial-arts superstar is focusing his energies on the hurdle that plagues many foreign stars today: How to break into the Hollywood mainstream.
Li (whose first name is actually Lian-Jie), 38, was already an international superstar at 19, when the childhood Wushu (a form of martial arts) champion made his feature debut in Shaolin Temple. When the film was released, however, a theater owner found Li’s name too long to fit on the marquee, and cut the first character off — leaving the moniker Jie Li (which soon became the more pronounceable Jet).
With a resume of films like Once Upon a Time in China and Bodyguard from Beijing and a trademark lighting-quick fighting style that’s as graceful as it is ferocious, Li decided to make his U.S. debut as the villain in Lethal Weapon 4. Stealing the film from under the noses of Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, producer Joel Silver began talking to the actor about starring in a film of his own.
Two years later, Romeo Must Die, with Li in the starring role, was released. While it grossed a modest $56 million, Li says it caused a mixed reaction among his fans.
“I have two kinds of audience,” he says. “One is the hardcore Jet Li fans. They watched all my older films so they say they don’t like the action sequences in Romeo Must Die because they’re too choppy, not as good as my older films. But the new audience [formed] since Lethal Weapon 4, they know who is Jet Li. And they like it.”
So Li, who often corresponds with fans on his official Web site, www.jet-li.com, decided to satisfy the former audience with his latest endeavor, Kiss of the Dragon. The actioner, which takes place in Paris, follows Li’s government agent as he’s set up by a corrupt police official (Tcheky Karyo) for a botched murder. On the run, he crosses paths with a prostitute (Bridget Fonda) who provides a key to his innocence.
Li says the film’s fight scenes mark a return not only for his style, but the kind that dominated action films before The Matrix started hanging everyone and their mother on wires.
“I thought it was a wonderful movie,” Li says of the Keanu Reeves blockbuster. “But … you can see next few years, a lot of actresses, actors, little boys, cartoons, everybody can do martial arts because of cable, computer, special effects. I thought it was time for me to go to some traditional way, to show some hardcore action sequence. The audiences say, ‘Show us something only Jet Li can do.'”
It was then that Li met Luc Besson, who directed such films as The Professional and La Femme Nikita. Besson decided to serve as producer for the film, bringing in protégé Chris Nahon to direct, and a script was ready three weeks later.
One concern Li’s carried with him through the birth of his 14-month-old daughter, Jane, (he also has two daughters from a previous marriage) is shielding the graphic elements of his films from younger viewers. Fatherhood, he says, has made him warn parents against taking their children to see the film.
“You best go to see it first, then decide on your own, take the responsibility to your children to bring them or not,” Li says. “The way of becoming father, you think about it a lot. What kind of film is for adults, what kind of film is for children.”
But what if his own daughter eventually wants to follow in Li’s hardcore fighting footsteps?
“If she decide [to be come an action star], I’ll try to make her work,” he says with a grin.
