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For a change, an Asian face, not the usual white actor or the occasional black talent, is in front of reporters at a Hollywood press conference. It is a rare moment that's made sweeter by how rapt the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are with the Asian--Jackie Chan.
Chan is a master storyteller. He does not simply sit and answer questions. He tells stories and stands up several times to act out his lengthy replies. He is engrossing to hear right now, making me proud that a fellow Asian can so enthrall cynical tinseltown reporters.
But later, when I'm reading the interview transcript, it is a challenge to make a cohesive story from his quotes because, like any storyteller worth his salt, he provides many interesting asides. And there's his charming, fractured English, compounded by thoughts framed in his native language but which he expresses in American lingo, or his version of it.
His latest film, "Around the World in 80 Days," is an entertaining globetrotting action-comedy. The first film version of Jules Verne's fantasy, made in 1956, is credited with originating the concept of stars making cameo appearances. In this remake, among the stars making cameos are Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chan's "Shanghai Knights" buddy Owen Wilson and his bro, Luke.
"I am so happy that 'Around the World in 80 Days' is a pure PG film," says the 5-foot-9-tall Asian pride. "After all those years, I never gave up. For 20 years, I've wanted to make a family movie so badly but no matter how I tried, most of my movies were still rated PG-13 in America."
2 million years later
He recalls the gory nature of his earlier films: "Crack the hand, crack the finger, and do the eyeball-violent things. Later on, when I had a child, I asked myself, do I let my child see this movie? No. If I am not letting my child see this movie, why do I let other children see my movie? Of course, there are so many ways to make a movie. You can put a gun in here. Cut. You just hear the sound. Boom. You don't have to show the violence.
"Later on, I find out that story and drama are more important after I saw 'An Officer and a Gentleman.' One punch and the whole theater clapped. I fight with the story in mind. I care about what Cecile (de France, his co-star) is doing, I care about what Steven (Coogan, also a co-star) is doing. Most stunt coordinators think only of fight, fight, fight. They don't know where the other actors are positioned. When I fight, I let the other actors help me."
A journalist asks the all-around talent if he insisted on the prominent display of his name as the stunt choreographer in the credits of "Around the World." "Yes," he admits. "All these years, I choreographed almost every one of my movies. I want my grandchildren to be told, that's your grandfather, and he did the action choreography of these movies. So now on DVD copies of my old movies, I want to put my name back in the credits as the stunt choreographer so even two million years later, they will say, Oh, starring Jackie Chan. And choreographed by Jackie Chan, too."
Chan is away from his family for remarkably long periods of time. His son, J C, who is in his early twenties, has become an actor with his own movie. On whether his son is also going to Hollywood, Chan maintains, "It depends on him. It took me more than 20 years to come to Hollywood. I will bring him to Hollywood right away--no, I don't think so. My son just started so let him conquer Hong Kong first. Then Japan, Korea, and then he can come to Hollywood. It may look easy but it's difficult to get into Hollywood."
Five more years
Who does he think will be the next Jackie Chan?
His indirect reply speaks volumes about the man. "When I was a child actor, I learned a lot of things in the studio. I know about lighting, camera movement. I know how to direct, to write, to be a cameraman. I know when to start the music and most important, I know how to edit, but right now, a lot of action stars or stunt coordinators, they just know how to be stunt coordinator. They don't know editing. Some action stars have to wait for the stunt coordinator to teach them how to fight.
"OK, they may know how to fight but they don't know about camera angles. They may know about camera angles, but they may not know how to act. If they know how to act, they don't know how to do comedy. They may know how to do comedy, but they don't know how to do the flip. No, there are very few people like me. Some may know everything but they are not professional. Nobody can cheat me on the set. I have been doing it for 40 years. Movie is my business. I believe I can still do an action movie for another five years."
A father's job
Chan is separated from J C's mother, Lin Feng-Jiao. Chan has a daughter with Elaine Ng, his companion of many years.
"My father had no education," he says. "I myself have no education. I want our third generation to have a good education. My son had to stay in one place to attend school but my job involves a lot of travel. I've been traveling more than 15 or 20 years. My wife (Lin) stayed to be with our son. She understood. I work very hard. Now that I am successful, she's happy, my son's happy.
"I have to be away on location so this is why I don't see my wife often. I see my son like this (demonstrates how small). Then the next time I see him, boo!" (He demonstrates how tall the son grew, and laughs.) "Wow. My son grew fast. Before, when I called home, my son always asked, now where are you? Every time. I said, I'm in Yugoslavia. How is Yugoslavia? Da de da (his version of blah, blah, blah).
"I'll never forget that one day when I was doing ski chase scenes. I called him. He asked, now where are you? I said, I'm on a snowy mountain. He said, All my life I've never seen snow. I hung up the phone and thought, I might not go back here again because I don't like to ski.
"I picked up the phone and called my office. I said, buy a plane ticket for my wife and son so he can come here. Oh, I'll never forget that day. He came to the set, looked at me. I was standing there. He looked at the snow. He lay down on the snow (laughs) for about five, ten minutes. Then he made a snowball and we played. That was one time I really felt like I was finally doing a father's job. He stayed for seven days. Then he went back. From then on, he tried again. He would always ask, now where are you? I never told him anymore where I am (laughs)."
When Chan was 6, his parents, who were then working as domestics at the US embassy in Australia, sent him back alone to Hong Kong to be indentured for 10 years with the Chinese Opera Research Institute. He is asked if this separation explains his seeming preference for career over family.
'That's my life'
Chan volunteers this dramatic episode in his life: "A few years ago, my wife called me while I was filming in Bangkok. She said, Jackie, your ma died. Then somebody shouted, ready, action! What I am to do? She already died. Should I cry? Should I run back? No, I hung up the phone. I kept filming. Nobody knew what happened until the production wrapped for the day.
"I drove back to the hotel. I cried and cried. I parked the car. My assistant asked, what happened? I kept on crying. I didn't know what to do. Should I stop the whole production, go back to Australia right away? I couldn't. I just send my manager and told him to please take care of everything. I continued filming until the funeral. That's my career, that's my life.
At 50, Chan still looks boyish and fit. He volunteers his formula: "Exercise, exercise. I eat everything. At night, I party. I do drink wine, not heavy alcohol. I do not smoke. I eat steak sometimes. I eat ice cream. I eat a lot of dessert but after I eat all those things, I go home and train. Training is the most important thing. It keeps me young.
"My personality has always been happy-go-lucky. Most of the time you see me, ha ha ha, except sometimes some things make me angry on the set when I'm filming. Believe it or not, as a director, I push, go! go! go! But away from the set, I'm (projects a fun persona), ha ha ha. I'm a happy person."
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