Jackie Chan not yet quitting action movies
Chinese actor Jackie Chan had a change of heart and is not yet leaving the world of action movies, despite telling the media a few weeks ago that he was axing his action slate to become the “Asian Robert De Niro.”
As previous reports have stated, the “Rush Hour” star was promoting his new action movie “Chinese Zodiac” at the Cannes Film Festival two months ago, when he suddenly told reporters, “This will be my last action movie I am not young any more. I am really, really tired.” Jackie Chan added that he was no longer happy doing action movies, and that he s already “too old” to be doing stunts now, and the alarming and increasing violence in the world had somehow put him off.
“The world is too violent right now. It’s a dilemma – I love fighting. I like action. but I don’t like violence,” Jackie Chan said.
The action star said that he actually wants to take on more serious roles and emulate the success of Hollywood star Robert De Niro. Jackie Chan explained: “I don’t just want to be an action star, I want to be a true actor. I want to get rid of my image. I want the audience to know also I’m not only a comedian. I can act. Day by day, year by year, I’m going to show you the real Jackie Chan.”
However, when the martial arts star was asked by media outlet TMZ on Thursday night if he was really quitting the world of action movies, he answered: “No! I still do action movies!”
Jackie Chan, who was born in Hong Kong, began his acting career as a stuntman working with Bruce Lee in the films “Fist of Fury” and “Enter the Dragon” during the early 1970s. His big break came in the 1978 film “Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow.”
During the 1990s, Jackie Chan became famous because of his particular style of performance which is popularly known as a mix of skilled martial arts and comedy. The Chinese actor is known in doing all of his stunts in his action movies, once claiming that he had broken almost every bone in his body.
Chan has been a darling of the Hollywood scene mainly due to his populist approach to martial arts and its box office success. Some of his greatest action movies include Rumble in the Bronx, Shanghai Noon and the Rush Hour franchise.
More recently, Jackie Chan lent his voice to Master Monkey in Kung Fu Panda and also played a Mr. Miyagi-type mentor in the remake of “The Karate Kid” in 2010.
The actor’s new film is said to be the third one of his Armour of God series. It sees his character trying to look for the “lost” 12 bronze heads of the Chinese Zodiac.
In real life, the bronze heads were designed during the 18th century, but were stolen on the 19th. Since then, only seven have been retrieved and five bronze heads are still missing.
Recreations of the bronze heads were featured during the 2011 London exhibition by dissident artist Ai Weiwei.