August 2, 1999

by Sherry Weiner

Jackie is constantly pushing the envelope as each new stunt is more dizzying and terrifying than the previous one. But watching his stunt mishap outtakes at the end of his movies is a heart-wrenching experience.

As he himself admits, 'I can't remember all of my broken bones: skull, nose, many times jaw, neck, shoulder, chest, two elbows, hip, two broken knees, shins many times, ankles many times, toes everywhere.' You realize that even though Jackie says his goal is to entertain an audience he's endured amazing amounts of pain in the process. And clearly there are no blue screen special effects on board here-it's 100 per cent pure Jackie Chan, doing all his own stunts, no matter what the consequences.

Now, fresh on the heels of Rush Hour'ssuccess in the U.S., Miramax has released a dubbed-into-English Twin Dragons where Jackie plays a dual role of separated-at-birth twins-one's a classical pianist raised in the West and the other's a street-wise Hong Kong punk. Made in 1992 and released in Hong Kong, the film was made as a benefit for the Hong Kong Directors' Guild.

As Jackie enters, his infectious grin fills the room as his body is in perpetual motion. As always his expressive body language more than makes up for any deficiencies in English. Now 45, he insists he's slowing down and his days as an action star are numbered, but I wouldn't place any wagers on that.

So Jackie, what happened to the outtakes that you're known for? Do you have a say in how your films are being released in the States?
Miramax cut them out, I think. Next time I shoot, I edit it myself [laughs] like in Armor of God-they cut out the drinking water scene-my best scene. [raising his voice] It makes me very angry when they cut my movies. The good thing is they put in the good music, good print, good sound effects, Dolby system but^”they have a guy to edit-and in my movies the editing is always the best already! Before I used to trust them and thought they knew American market better than me but later I hear from my fans, 'Why did you cut out this scene-it's the best one.' So now I trust myself more than listening to other people.

Were you surprised at Rush Hour'ssuccess in America?
Yes, because American culture is so different from Chinese. After Rush Hour I ran back to Hong Kong to make Gorgeous, you know why? Because when Gorgeous was released in Asia it made 3 times the box office of Rush Hour in Asia. Remember Rush Hour is a foreign movie in H.K. New Line was happy with how Rush Hour did-but I wasn't. Usually my movies make $50 million in H.K., but Rush Hour only made $16 million. So I ran back to make Gorgeous. I signed a contract that it is for release in Asia only-and it's the number one box office in Asia. Now I'm clever, not like before.

What's different about what an Asian audience and American audience like?
Action they both like. When Rush Hour was released in America, audiences were ha, ha, ha [clapping hands together] but when I went to its charity premiere in Hong Kong the audience sat the whole movie [makes a straight face] no laughs. The best jokes, they don't understand. They do know English but not typical American English. So some people in Asia went to see the film but after they say, 'The fighting is not as good as Rumble in the Bronx or Drunken Master 2. American audiences like comedy and action and talk, talk, talk. So if I made one more, two more, three more films like this-in Asian market, I'm gone. But, yes, I have American market-the biggest market in the world-and I want that. I want all markets. In Asia, Titanic was only number two at box office. I was number one. So that's why after Gorgeous I rush back here to make Shanghai Noon and after that maybe Rush Hour 2.

Van Damme's Double Impact came out after Twin Dragonsbut they have the same story. Did he "borrow" the plot from you?
[thinking - smiles] It doesn't matter. Everybody borrows from everybody. It depends how good you are. Nobody borrows from somebody who's bad-it's a compliment.

Which was your favorite twin in the film?
I like Boomer, the street boy who was not educated-that's more like me. The educated one who speak politely-that's not me.

This film was made in 1992. Are there any stunts you did at that time that you can't do anymore?
[thinking] It's not can't do. I won't do them again. I don't want to repeat myself. I want to concentrate on small details because now in America everybody is jumping off of buildings doing big stunts and big explosions. I use a ladder fighting or coming down a tree without a wire and the audience says, 'Yes!' I want to do something normal people can't do-somewhere between normal people and Superman.

You do all your own stunts-they're phenomenal to watch and audiences love seeing you be a daredevil. Do you ever think you're crazy for putting yourself at so much risk?
The more I watch American action movies, I feel so stupid. Why do I jump into frozen water when in America they have warm water. In Twin Dragons when the car is coming 50 or 60 miles per hour into concrete, I had to flip over the car. What if I miss and have an accident? I would not be sitting here talking to you. I know there are special effects and I want to learn more about blue screen, but I don't know that the audience will let me use that. Will they, I don't know.

Will you ever stop doing your own stunts?
I don't want to hurt myself anymore-I've broken many things. So when I decide to stop I will look for a second Jackie Chan-to teach them what I know. I followed in the steps of Bruce Lee-I hope someone follow me. Some people may know how to fight but they don't know how to do the stunts. I can help them put the stunts and fighting together.

When you start to do a stunt like the car going into a concrete wall, are you scared?
[laughs] When I decide to do an action scene I'm scared. We're Hong Kong production-we only have one car. If car gets dents, there's no continuity. It has to be good car coming in for one shot. I never expected the concrete wall to move. I practiced flip over the wall. I want to flip over so the camera can see it was me and not a stunt double.

Didn't you get injured in that scene?
I didn't break anything but I cut a piece of meat from here [pointing to his butt]. I rolled over the car and, 'Wow, the blood starts coming up.' I took off my pants and small pieces of glass come out. I said, 'Ouch.' Someone had to pull all the pieces of glass out, then we just continued shooting. Now big scar [pointing to his butt] here! [sighs] I'm just used to these kind of things.

What do you think of Roberto Benigni's success in America?
He's been a huge star in Italy from a long time. I only see his one movie Johnny Stecchino. You know the funny thing is before Oscar, Miramax producer, director and my manager talked to me about making a movie with Benigni-we even had a story already. I said, OK. I didn't know a lot about him or how famous he is and I don't care. I trust American director when they say he's good. All I know is the fighting scenes. So after the Oscar, I go, 'Wow, that's the guy I'm going to work with.' It's a big coincidence and surprise. Now I don't know if we will make the film.

Your friend Sammo Hung's TV show "Martial Law" is doing well. There's a rumor if we look closely, you appear in a crowd scene.
No. [thinking] Oh, yes. [laughs] I go visit him on the set when I was in Los Angeles. He was finishing a shot so I just stood there, waiting. I turn around and the camera film me. I did a walk-in. I like to do that. Actually in all my movies if I'm not in front of the camera, look in the background and you will find me there.

Twin Dragons credits both Ringo Lam and Tsui Hark as co-directors. How did they share the director's hat?
Let me tell you how this movie came about. In Hong Kong we didn't have a Directors Guild. The directors asked me, 'Will you do a movie to benefit Directors Guild?' 'I say, if you guys do it, I do it.' But everyone cannot be director or we will be arguing. I say Tsui Hark will be director for drama, Ringo Lam will direct explosion scenes and I will direct all the action scenes. All the other directors just support us-they become producers, some pour tea on the set [laughs], some drive the car. More than 100 directors were in the movie and 200-300 supported us as extras. Even John Woo coming back to do the part of a priest.