Before Jackie Chan came along, the notion of melding martial arts expertise with slapstick comedy seemed to make about as much sense as, well, laughter following a swift kick to the groin. But in a film career that has spanned 30 years, Chan has repeatedly bucked the old Kung-fu conventions, drawing comparisons to both Buster Keaton and Bruce Lee. Today, he’s laughing his way to the bank. Serious, serious bank.
Jackie Chan is, far and away, the biggest non-Hollywood star in the world. The only guy who makes a better living kicking things these days is soccer star David Beckham. And like the oft-injured Becks, Chan has paid a physical price for success. He insists on performing all his own stunts, and in the process has broken his nose three times, an ankle once, most of the fingers in his hand, both cheekbones and his skull. But, at $20 million a picture plus points on the back end, Chan can no doubt afford the hospital visits.
In his latest picture, “The Medallion,” he plays a Hong Kong detective who suffers a fatal accident involving a mysterious medallion and is transformed into an immortal warrior with superhuman powers. And yes, he did injure himself several times during the making of the film … he says he wouldn’t have it any other way. Here’s what else he has to say: QUESTION: What attracted you to “The Medallion?”
JACKIE CHAN: First, I’ve been doing action comedy for so many years, and suddenly they approached me with the idea for “The Medallion.” My character dies at the very beginning of the movie. That attracted me because I’ve never died in a movie before and I’ve also never done this kind of special effects movie before. In the beginning of the film, I can still use my Jackie Chan technique — you know, jumping around. But after my character dies, he comes back as a different sort of person.
Q: What sort of person is that? JC: All of a sudden, my character has this super power, but it’s difficult to control. Sometimes he thinks he can do it, but he doesn’t realize his own strength. That’s where the comedy comes in.
Q: You’re probably the world’s only A-list actor who assembles his own stunt teams. How do you go about choosing them?
JC: I've been choosing my own stunt team since ’72. All those years, I just kept training. In the old days, I just trained local people from Hong Kong. Later on, I began training with people from Japan, from Korea, from Australia, from all over the world. I’m always looking for the people who can really work with everybody. I use people who are humble and open to learning new things.
Q: Did you do any special training for this film? This is different from most of your other films.
JC: Yeah, totally different. A lot of things I've never done before, flying around from this corner to that corner! We just trust our stunt team and all those years of experience. Also, we do things differently than in Hollywood. We have a lot of wires that are pretty dangerous and we just guess, “Yeah, we can do it.”
Q: Do you think it’s wise at this point in your career to put yourself in harm’s way like that?
JACKIE CHAN: Sometimes I like to be in dangerous situations. It makes you feel like you’re doing something for the movie. You're not just cheating, you know.
Q: How was the experience of this film different from the Hollywood films you’ve done?
JC: With this movie, like I said, we are like a family. I'm not only an actor. I try to mix the American way and my way, the Asian way, together. Then I hope it becomes a good way.
Q: You shot “The Medallion” in a bunch of locations, including Ireland and Thailand. Was it difficult to acclimate to such diverse settings?
JC: For me, I’m used to it, really. For the last 10 years, I've been making movies everywhere — South Africa, Rotterdam, Ireland, Bangkok, Korea and yet nothing’s different, really. With film people, there is only one language - everybody knows. It doesn’t matter what nationality you are, when the camera is rolling, everybody knows to be quiet. Everybody knows.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 22, 2003. Read the original PDF.