Page 2
Jet Li Hopes to Inspire Chinese Youth with Fearless: “Yes, because a lot of teenagers commit suicide in the past few years - a lot of people. That’s one of the big motivations for me to make the movie, try to share different angles about life. First of all, maybe their life’s too easy, too good. If they’re a single child family, when they grow up, they become the center of the family. But when they go [as a] teenager to the school, a lot of things you need to deal with yourself. You don’t know how to handle it because you’re not the center. Everybody is the center, then they have a lot of trouble there.
I think the media, news and magazines, everything, everything they can get is only showing the shiny part about a lot of people’s success. Like singers, sports, actors, a lot of people’s shiny parts. They’ve got a house and a beautiful woman. This is very easy because you are there. Then they believe it’s not fair. ‘I cannot get the chance to have that.’ But they never show the other side about these kinds of people. Like Jet Li, you need to fight with injuries in your body [and you] have a hard time. Everybody has a hard time on the other side, but they don’t know. That’s why I made this film, to show even this successful hero in the past century, the last century, the other side of this life is also struggling, painful. I just want to try to do my best to share some different opinion about life. I make it very clear. I made a sentence on the screen saying, ‘I can’t choose when I’m born. And the courage to go to the end.’ I think I really do share that kind of feeling.”
Jet Li on Future Projects: Will any film ever be as personal to Li as Fearless? “I think in the future the other movies…it’s not the topic of martial arts. This is the perfect story to talk about a true martial artist through the martial art journey with his life until 42. I already say the martial arts is everything in this film already. In the future, I’m just maybe an actor doing a lot of different kind of movies. Right now, some people already heard I will make a movie with Jackie Chan next April. Next April I will make a movie with Jackie Chan.”
Jet Li divulged a little more on the Jackie Chan project (but not much). Asked if he’s seen a script Li answered, “Of course, three years ago I already got it but I cannot tell you. I want to keep like the producers, studios, director to announce in the near future.”
Jet Li is also still passionate about a film that’s been in the works for almost a decade. “I still want to share different angles about life, maybe not martial arts, just about life. Like I said many times, many years, I developed a movie called A Monk in New York. I still work on it. I still have a meeting tomorrow. One day I want to make the movie. I talk about it for eight years already. When I make the movie, the studio [was] very hyped. [They] gave me the writer; I bring them to Tibet and write a story. Then the story comes back, I show it to the studio and they say, ‘Oh, no fighting? Only talks about love, compassion, life...’ They turned it down and then I need to pay a million dollars to buy the script back. I still dream that one day I [will] make the movie.”
On Being Pigeonholed in Martial Arts Films: “I think the biggest enemy is myself. I know how to handle the movie business in Asia. I have a company and I know how to produce movies. First time going to Hollywood, you will see a lot of things are not fair. You don’t have a lot of opportunity. You’ve only got a script that’s the first level; they already don’t want to make the movie. Then second level, third level, until you have the script. It’s only one kind of movie. Then I understand life. I’m the president of the studio, I make the same decision because it’s business. ‘You need to prove yourself, [show that] you can do different kinds of genre, then I would feel comfortable to make that kind of offer to you.’ So I don’t like to complain outside. I only complain myself because the enemy is myself.
What I can do is I do my best to prove I can do something else. You need to try. May not be successful, but at least I tried. I think now it’s not just the movie industry. I think in different kinds of jobs, Asian people are already doing much better than before. You just need to continue to prove you can do a better job. I think in America, and all over the world, it’s open.”
