Jackie Chan is one of the biggest action stars in Hollywood and a legend in Kungfu. The actor is known for his incredible stunts and knack for physical comedy. He is the one who brought Kungfu into mainstream Hollywood movies and is an Asian slapstick acrobatic fighting style champion. He has given several box office hits in his long career of several decades. Some of his popular films are Rush Hour, Police Story, Drunken Master, and others.
The megastar is known for doing dangerous stunts and action in the films, however, in a 2017 film, he surprised his fans with a drama movie.
Jackie Chan reveals his reason for choosing drama over action in The Foreigner
The Spy Next Door actor played the role of a restaurateur in the film The Foreigner. The film was a break from his action movie, which included more drama. In a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, the actor opened up on his reason for taking up the film.
Chan shared that he is getting old and wishes to work in his 80s like Clint Eastwood. He said,
“To put it simply, I’m not young anymore. [Laughs] If I still want to keep making movies, I have to be, like, an Asian De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, or Clint Eastwood, who at 80 can still be actors. When you think about it, in Japan, Hong Kong, China, U.S., there are so many action stars, but a lot of them now are no longer working.”
Chan shared,
“So that’s why I’m saying I have to change. After all these decades, I’m sure you’ll understand, I’m always changing, looking for a good story. I believe that after these years the audience will understand that Jackie Chan is an actor and no longer just an action star, just a kung fu star. So today I’m still working in action, and it’s not easy, but if I want to keep making movies, I have to change.”
The actor shared that he cannot do action movies always, hence he has to take a step towards change in movies and roles.
Jackie Chan on working with former James Bond Pierce Brosnan in The Foreigner
The film was directed by Martin Campbell and written by David Marconi. It is based on the 1992 novel The Chinaman by Stephen Leather. The film cast included Jackie Chan, Pierce Brosnan, Michael McElhatton, Liu Tao, Charlie Murphy, Orla Brady, and Katie Leung. It was the first movie for which the two mega stars Chan and Brosnan collaborated.
Talking about his experience of working with the former James Bond, he had the nicest things to say about Pierce Brosnan. Chan said,
“Pierce Brosnan, well, he’s excellent, very focused on his work. He’s an actor who, I’ll tell you this, there was one day he woke up at 6 [in the morning] and got dressed and ran lines and trained with me and then I said, “Okay, now you’re off to hair and makeup?” And he said, “No, I’m going back to bed,” and I said “What?! You came here just to help me rehearse?! Wow!” I was very emotional; I mean these days, how many actors are there who would do that for you? So I felt, I thought my partners and collaborators were very professional, very hardworking. I was very happy.”
Jackie Chan’s film The Foreigner grossed $145 million worldwide and is available for streaming on Netflix.
Source-Entertainment Weekly
