Jet Fighter

Never mind what the calendar says: This is the year of the Dragon. The Chinese have American moviegoers wrapped around their nunchakus, and this year's Oscar wins were their flying kick to Hollywood's old guard. When it comes to blockbusters, the nimble guys with fists of fury beat all corners. China, of all places -- a country associated with artistic repression, badly dubbed pseudophilosophical dialogue and dumb Kung-fu plots& mdash; has breathed life romance back into mass-market movies and brought to American audiences a renewed reverence for screen magic.

What fundamentally distinguishes Chinese cinema is speed. Instead of industrial light and magic, Chinese films depend on blood, sweat and skills. To make traditional martial arts movies, stars must master double (continued on page 148)Jet Li(continued from page 109) broadswords, nine-section whips, three-section staffs, tiger forks and rope darts--it's simply not possible to fake the deft a use of these weapons. And the moves in kung-fu films are so fast that director had to create new ways to film them--the lightning-fast fighting demanded a whole new look just to capture it. The poetically violent slow-motion ballet-of-bullets sequences that typify John Woo, Hong Kong's top director, began as a directorial response to physical actions so fast they couldn't otherwise be seen. Hollywood directors adopted this dreamlike Hong Kong style in The Matrix, the movie that first announced China had arrived, and Charlie's Angels, another Chinese-inflected movie. But now that Hollywood has adopted a comprehensive Eastern aesthetic, the need for real speed has set in. That's why a movie like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon demanded Chinese actors. And that's why the hottest action star in Hollywood today is also the fastest man on earth, Jet Li. He is the incarnation of the speed, grace and romance of Chinese film: His Once Upon a Time in China (1991) is the definitive Eastern. He stole the show in his first Hollywood role, as the heavy in Lethal Weapon 4; his first Hollywood star vehicle, Romeo Must Die, cemented the relationship between kung-fu-obsessed hip-hop MCs and kung fu itself. This summer he has a doubleheader, with the July release of Kiss of the Dragon (produced by Luc Besson of The Professional and La Femme Nikita fame) followed this month by the sci-fi thriller The One.

The excitement of a Jet Li movie is rooted in physical technique--there is no substitute for decades of wushu training (wu means martial, shu means arts). Think our homegrown stars had it tough because they had to learn how to ride a horse and spin a dummy revolver? Try preparing for an Eastern: "I started to learn wushu when I was eight years old," says Jet. "For 10 years I practiced eight hours a day. After that I started to make movies and I kept practicing day in and day out. By 1997 I had seven places in my body that were broken." Richard Donner, the director of Lethal Weapon 4, says, "Jet is so fast that the film doesn't even catch him. We had to ask him to slow down." But now that Hollywood has so dramatically shifted Eastward, Jet no longer needs to use the brakes.

The screen impact of Jet Li's movies is often eclipsed by actual events surrounding them. His debut movie, Shaolin Temple (1982), saved the real Shaolin temple when the film became China's first home made blockbuster and a hit all over Asia. Though the 1500-year-old Shaolin monastery had given birth to both Chan Buddhism (or Zen Buddhism as it became known in Japan and America) and wushu, Mao had considered the monastery a symbol of China's feudal past, and encouraged its destruction. "When I arrived, there was only the abbot, a cook and a doorman. It was totally impoverished," says Li. "But after the movie came out, a tremendous change occurred. The impact of the movie on the Chinese people was so huge that every-one--from three-year-old children to 70-year-old men--was proud of Chinese martial arts." Today the Shaolin temple has more than 10,000 young wushu students and is one of the biggest tourist draws in China.

The early chapters of the legend of Jet Li are no less remarkable. When he was just 11, he traveled to Washington, D.C. as part of the first cultural exchange between China and the U.S. He performed wushu for Henry Kissinger and President Richard Nixon on the White House lawn. Afterward, Nixon singled him out for praise and asked Jet whether he would like to be his bodyguard when he grew up. "I don't want to protect any one man," young Jet replied. "When I grow up, I want to defend a billion Chinese people."

Jet made the transition from mainland China to Hong Kong in 1990 and--beginning with Once Upon a Time in China--made two dozen movies there. (He also started to make better money: In the People's Republic he had been paid just $750 for two years' work on Shaolin Temple, and subsequent projects were similarly compensated.) While Bruce Lee was ferocious and Jackie Chan funny, Jet Li developed a reputation for being something quite shocking in the kungfu genre: a genuine character actor. Jet consistently subsumed himself into each role rather than bending it to his persona. Notable films from the period include The Defender, My Father Is a Hero, Tai Chi Master, Fist of Legend and Black Mask, as well as four sequels to Once Up on a Time.

Playboy caught up with Jet Li as he finished work on The One. The interview was done in Mandarin Chinese. "I am glad to be interviewed by an American who can speak Chinese," Jet said. "I would not be able to express myself in depth otherwise. Many people don't understand my way of thinking."

Playboy: You didn't start wushu training until you were eight years old. Four years later, you won China's national wushu competitions, beating masters who had studied for 10 or 20 years. How was that possible?

Jet: From the viewpoint of Buddhism, I believe in reincarnation and karma. I believe I learned wushu before--in my past life. I must have brought something with me to this life. This didn't happen just to me. For instance, Mozart composed music at five years old. Many children can't even read at that age. How could he possess such talent? Maybe his soul was nurtured in music in his past life. I probably have genes that allow me to learn things quickly, especially physical techniques. But I also learn the inner energy or feelings behind the movements. I think the reason I could win was because people could feel my punch was different from other people's punches--they could see the energy released from inside.

Playboy: The director of Lethal Weapon 4, Richard Donner, says your techniques were so fast that Mel Gibson couldn't see your punches, and he had to memorize the fight scenes to know which way to throw his body.

Jet: In general, those who have not learned martial arts use various mechanisms to make them appear fast. But when a martial artist achieves a certain level of skill, his techniques are extremely fast. When I worked with Mel Gibson, if I punched seven times, he saw maybe two.

Playboy: Was the director afraid that you might hurt Mel?

Jet: The director asked me not to hurt him. Actually, he asked me to guarantee that I would not hurt him--he was afraid he wouldn't be able to complete the movie if I injured him. I told him I could guarantee that. I have been practicing martial arts and making movies for so many years that I have complete control.

Playboy: You've filmed more than 30 movies. Lethal Weapon 4 was the first in which you played the bad guy. Were you worried?

Jet: When you play a part in a movie, you have to think as if you are the character. No bad guy thinks of himself as the bad guy. He just thinks he is doing what he has to do.

Playboy: That philosophy seems to have paid off.

Jet: Yes, nearly everyone I have worked with has become my good friend. They know I am serious and persistent with my work. They also know I am not only an actor--I do a lot of work behind the scenes. For instance, originally my character in Lethal Weapon4 had only a couple of scenes. But I persuaded the director to add a few more. As a result, the character has more continuity throughout the movie. The producer, Joel Silver, and I worked well together, and that led to Romeo Must Die. Now we are collaborating on another film, First King.

Playboy: Romeo Must Die was the first kung-fu movie to make an explicit connection with hip-hop. African Americans have always had a great appreciation of Hong Kong movies, and kung fu plays a big role for many rap musicians, like Wu-Tang Clan. Why do you think this is?

Jet: I think it is related to American history and culture. I've been told by African American friends that in the Sixties and Seventies, black people didn't feel they were part of mainstream American society. So when they saw Asians--another people with a little color in their faces--beating up white people on film, they felt they could identify with them. This is just what I've heard--I don't fully understand what people think in this society. I think nowadays American teen-agers--both black and white--really like kung-fu movies.

Playboy: Is it true that there is a lot of Mafia involvement in the Hong Kong film industry?

Jet: In the early Nineties, after I made Once Upon a Time in China, Hong Kong had a resurgence of traditional martial arts movies. The trend was so prevalent that almost anyone could make money from it. Organized crime, seeing there was money involved, also started to make movies. Pretty soon the market got saturated. When there were no more profits to be made, organized crime left. Only the ones who really loved movies stayed.

Playboy: Some people joke that Hollywood producers are more terrifying to work for than the Hong Kong triads. What do you think?

Jet: [Laughs] I haven't worked with that many producers yet, so I don't really know their thinking. Based on my understanding of yin and yang, I believe there are probably two kinds of producers. One loves the story first and then he makes the movie. The other type estimates how much profit he can make first, then he makes the movie.

Playboy: What is the biggest difference between making movies in Hong Kong and Hollywoods

Jet: Making movies in Hong Kong is like a small family business. There are two brothers in the Hong Kong movie family. One says, "I want to make a movie." The other replies, "Why make this one?" The first brother replies, "Because this type of movie is popular now." And the other brother says, "OK." After two weeks, they begin to make the movie. In America, the family is huge. If you want to make a movie, you first ask if mother agrees, then father, then uncle, then grandmother, then grandfather, then brother-in-law, then siblings--you have to get everyone's consent. The preparation takes two years before you can actually start. In a big family you have to please everyone before you can do the things you want.

Playboy: Your historical, costume-drama martial arts movies, like Shaolin Temple and Once Upon a Time in China, are generally considered much more successful than the ones set in modern times. Why is that?

Jet: It is easier for me to show my strengths in traditional movies, like the ability to use traditional martial arts weapons. Also, not many people know how to fight with bagua, tai chi, xing yi or other traditional wushu styles. In modern movies, there are fighting scenes that a talented actor without a martial arts background can learn to do in three months. But in traditional movies, the audience can tell the difference.

Playboy: A fight scene in a Hong Kong movie lasts 10 or 15 minutes and the movements are complicated. Can American audiences get used to this type of thing? Are the martial arts techniques you use in American movies the same as those you use in Hong Kong movies?

Jet: Everybody used to think that flying scenes should be eliminated and fight scenes should not last too long; otherwise, American audiences would be turned off. But Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon changed all that. American audiences seem to be able to enjoy the flying scenes--regarding them as romantic--as well as long, noisy fight scenes. So I think the most important thing is how you set up the story for the audience. As for the techniques, there are some action movements which we in Asia think are out of style because we have done them so often, yet those are exactly what American audiences want to see. The martial arts techniques in The Matrix, for example, are not new, but the feelings are very creative.

Playboy: Speaking of The Matrix, why did you turn down a role in the sequel?

Jet: The Matrix was successful without me in it, so I believe Matrix 2 and 3 will also be successful--even if I am not in them. Why don't we give the audience more choices, more options? If you put me, Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh in The Matrix and spend 11 months to make it, by the time the movie is released it will be one and a half years later. And during this one and a half years, audiences won't have other movies to watch. This way, audiences can watch Rush Hour 2 and Kiss of the Dragon, and they will still have The Matrix as well.

Playboy: How is your new movie, Kiss of the Dragon, different from your other Hollywood films?

Jet: Because Romeo Must Die was my first starring role in an American movie, I wasn't sure what kind of action or martial arts sequences the audiences would want to see. So we tried a little of everything: some practical, some funny, some with wires and special effects. People who had never seen any of my movies thought Romeo Must Die was good fun. But my hard-core fans--I like to use the Internet to learn directly what my fans think--did not like the humorous fight scenes or the wire tricks. In general, they'd like to see more movies like Fist of Legend: straight, no cable stuff, all full-size body fighting. This is not something that can be done by many actors--only those who really know martial arts. So I decided to make Kiss of the Dragon that way.

Playboy: When you were a young man, you lived in Beijing, where there were rolling blackouts. Now you live in California, and there is a shortage of electricity. Wherever you go there seems to be a problem with electricity.

Jet: [Laughs] It is a strange coincidence.

Playboy: Based on your experience, how would you advise Californians to deal with the problem?

Jet: When I was young, in the Seventies, there was not much economic progress in China as a result of the Cultural Revolution, so the electricity was not sufficient. Back then, the way we dealt with it was by rotating: Monday you don't have power, Tuesday I don't have power. Everybody was in the dark once a week. Here in California, hopefully, everybody will realize that even if you can afford it, you shouldn't overconsume electricity. If people are considerate of others, they will automatically cut down on usage.

Playboy: Would you ever be interested in running for office? After all, you understand how to deal with blackouts.

Jet: [Laughing] I have no interest in politics. If I'd had an interest, I could have become a politician when I was young. In China if you are successful professionally, the government likes to train you to become a leader of a department. Instead, I became interested in promoting wushu, and that's what I have been doing. In 1988, I found out that there was going to be a category of wushu in the Asian Sports Convention, to be held in Beijing in 1990, so I decided to leave China. At that point I felt my new mission was to bring wushu to the Olympics, so I endeavored to promote it through my movies. Many people from Hong Kong think I am out of style. "Why bother to promote wushu? Make money and be a star." But I am persistent: Wushu raised me. I've found out that if China hosts the Olympics in 2008, there is a possibility that wushu will be a category.

Playboy: If this happens, will you be helping out?

Jet: No. I don't want to be the one who collects the flowers; I want to be the one who plants the seeds. When they bloom, others can reap the harvest. I feel my next step is to share a message with everybody, through movies and TV, about how to live on the earth with other human beings, how to reduce the sufferings of life, how to understand the reality of the world. This is what motivates me the most right now; otherwise, I would have retired already. I wanted to retire in 1997 to study Buddhism, but then I met my teacher. He said to me, "You can't become a monk, nor can you stop working." He made me realize that I should apply the methods I used in promoting wushu to bring a new message to people. So I began to study books of Buddhism and put aside my books of English. On my website (jet-li.com), I talk about yin and yang and how to help people understand one another. If the Chinese people try to understand American culture and American history, for example, there will be better communications. If Americans work to understand how the Chinese people think, they will realize that the Chinese are not a people looking to start fights with other countries.

Playboy: So what you want most is to share what you have learned studying Buddhism?

Jet: Yes. Though Buddhism is not the only means. There are many other religions, and they all have the same idea. I believe religions are like several famous universities. Although they use different methods to teach, they have the same goal: to tell you how to become a kind person, a loving person, how to use your selfless mind to care about others. Whether the end is heaven, hell or reincarnation is not the issue.

Playboy: People worry that in the future the U.S. and China may become enemies. You have met many U.S. presidents--Nixon, Ford and Carter. If you had a chance to offer advice to President Bush about China, what would you tell him?

Jet: No person, no family, no country is 100 percent perfect. China has many flaws, but it also has many strengths. Americans have to understand our history. Before Teng Hsiao-p'ing's reform, China was a closed country with some extreme policies. But it has undertaken dramatic changes in the past 20 years; its policies are very close to those of the Western world. It has accepted almost everything from the West, good and bad. There are only a few exceptions, like propaganda and one-party control. But you can't expect China to become just like the U.S. in such a short time. China's 5000-year history will not allow that to happen. Besides, with such a huge population, it will take many years for China gradually to become rich and strong. People have to be educated to understand laws and obey them. But if they don't have enough to eat, how can they care about laws and rights? China has made great progress, and it will continue to make great progress if the rest of the world will try to understand China's current situation and be patient. With mutual understanding and compassion, there will be peace.