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‘The Forbidden Kingdom’: Q&A with Martial Arts Master Jackie Chan

In China, Jackie Chan is the movie star but in his American movies, he usually plays straight man to his more comic co-stars, such as Rush Hour’s Chris Tucker and Shanghai Knights’s Owen Wilson.

But in The Forbidden Kingdom, he pairs up with another famous martial artist, Jet Li for the first time. They play kung fu masters training a modern-day American teen, who has been transported back in time to feudal China. Over the course of the film, the two legends fight each other, and alongside each other to help defeat mystical villains. Here’s what Chan had to say about the experience:

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Hollywood.com: What took you so long to finally work with Jet Li?
Jackie Chan: Fifteen years ago I wrote a script with him and the script was very interesting. I am the bad guy, he is the cop. He had to chase me around from bottom of Russia all the way back to Beijing. In between, something happened and even the police are looking for Jet Li. The bad guy is looking for Jet Li, then the police are looking for me. When Jet Li caught me, I had to get rid of him. And we cannot take the plane, we cannot take the train, we cannot take any ordinary transportation. We have to walk on the mountains, cross the river, different regions of China. There was a lot of comedy going on, lots of travel, lot of great action.

HW: What happened to that project?

JC: When I present the script to an American writer, he didn’t like it. The company had spent another million for him to rewrite the script. After he wrote the script, I didn’t like it. He made it two brothers. Somehow I don’t know he’s my brother, but then I know he’s my brother. He just wanted money. He just wanted to get paid for the script. So this is why it doesn’t happen.[PAGEBREAK]

HW: Well, The Forbidden Kingdom shows a lot of Chinese culture, too.
JC: And I really think that [screenwriter] John [Fusco], the director [Rob Minkoff] and also, Disney and DreamWorks are making Chinese culture movies like Mulan and Kung Fu Panda [in which Chan provides a voice]. All those years, I always think, “Whenever the Western people make anything, we know it. Superman, yeah we know. Spider-Man, we know. Whenever you make King Arthur, we know.” But whenever we try to make something about Chinese culture, overseas nobody knows. When we make a Ching Dynasty story, they don’t know who Ching is. When we make some very famous Chinese story, nobody knows. Mulan, because Disney makes Mulan, now the whole world knows Mulan. So, we need American directors or famous studios to help us make some Chinese traditional culture movies, bring the history to world. Then the people understand China more. If more understand China, then more people will have interest in China and more people will come to China to visit us because I am a tourist ambassador. [Laughs] Really, thank you. Please, for the future, write more Chinese things, yes.[PAGEBREAK]

HW: That’s a pretty big wig you have to wear in the movie. Did it cause any problems?
JC: Yes, especially when shooting time was so hot in the desert. It’s so itchy. Probably for a young girl they are used to it. I always like to very slowly just do this [twirls fake hair with his fingers]. It’s so itching! But there were other things, like the old guy, playing the old Hop. Wow, I wanted to kill the director. For five days I get up 4:00 in the morning, in makeup until 12:30. 1:00, after lunch is the first shot. We do two shots and wrap. I said, “No, shoot more.” Then we take off all the makeup for two hours. Every day, almost 11 hours in makeup. [PAGEBREAK]

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HW: You used to play the martial arts student but now you’re the master to all the young kids. How does that feel?
JC: I just don’t believe how so quick, now I’m becoming a master. Then I realize, “Wow, Drunken Master was 30 years ago.” My master has already passed away. Now, I am the master. It feels funny. It feels really funny but, what can you do? That’s a human being’s life.

HW: You’re famous for surviving all sorts of injuries. What did you injure on this movie?
JC: Making a Hollywood film you don’t have a very big injury because they have a Safety Captain and insurance people on the set. Whatever I do, they have to check first. “Don’t do it. Let me check. Make sure everything is safe.” [PAGEBREAK]

HW: You can be very critical of your American films. Are you happy with The Forbidden Kingdom? Did it turn out like you imagined?
JC: I don’t know. Every time I make American film I just trust American directors and American writers. Myself, I would never make this kind of film. For me, these kinds of films are ridiculous. They don’t make sense. But the American way, the American audience is more interested in this kind of movie.

HW: That’s surprising, because this one really feels like you–with the drunken-fist style and mythology.
JC: Why drunken master? Why monkey king? At the end, it’s for the children. There is a young boy in New York [played by Michael Angarano] who loves Chinese culture. It’s a fantasy, just like a fairy tale. That’s OK. Otherwise, I wouldn’t make this movie, but I know that American people like it. That’s why Jet and me agreed to make this movie. Now, I hear so many good things about this movie and everybody talks about it, I still worry. Just like [the first] Rush Hour. After I finished it, I said, “My career is finished.” It was the second time I tried to get into the American market and I thought I was finished. I’d go back to Asia and that’s all. Then boom! It was a big hit. This is ridiculous. Why, why, do people like these kinds of things? Then Rush Hour 2 and on and on. So now, whenever an American writer or director comes and presents a script, if nobody is against it, I just make it for the American market.

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