Chapter 63 Regroup

In the 1980s, I made two ventures into Hollywood, both of which ended in failure.What brought me the most frustration there was not the sparse audience in the theater, but the American media. After filming "Killer's Trenches", the company wanted me to take advantage of the situation to launch a round of publicity in the United States, and they helped me arrange a lot of interviews.My colleague reminded me before this that I must be mentally prepared to face American reporters.At that time, I felt that he was making a fuss over a molehill. When I was young, what hardships did I not suffer, what scenes did I not see?What can some mere media reporters do to me?

It turns out I was wrong. "How do you pronounce your name?" "Are you Bruce Lee's disciple?" "Can you break bricks with your bare hands?" "Can you perform karate?" I was a little overwhelmed by the attack, and I was very annoyed.I am already a popular star in Asia, everyone respects me, why do you play me like a monkey?At that time, there was a TV show, and I flew from Los Angeles to New York to record it. Due to my aversion to the host's question and my poor English, I didn't say a few words throughout the whole process. In the end, people cut my topic directly.

That night, I lay down in my room and cried a lot.All of these exceeded my expectations.What's wrong with me, that I'm ignoring a good Asian market and come to this place where no one likes me? It’s great to go back to Asia and shoot Jackie Chan-style action movies again, but my colleagues never give up pushing me to the world market, and Hollywood is undoubtedly a treasure that cannot be bypassed. After two failures in the 1980s, I finally regrouped and came to the United States in 1995. This time, I'm going to choose my own film project and not be at the mercy of others.I know which movie is right for me.

When I first arrived in Hollywood, there were constant invitations to me, all of which were popular directors or actors.Michael Douglas wanted me to play a Japanese killer in "Black Rain", Stallone wanted me to play a super criminal with Sandra Bullock, and then he wanted me to play a drug dealer in a new movie. I don't think the role fits.At the same time, I made a script myself, which is "Red Fan District" in cooperation with Tang Jili. Although the film was produced in Hong Kong, it has been based on the international market from the very beginning.The main scene of the film is set in New York (later filming was completed in Canada), many actors are foreigners, and many dialogues are in English.The two bosses of Golden Harvest, Zou Wenhuai and He Guanchang, believed that this movie might help me open the door of the western market.

In 1995, "Red Zone" was released in the United States, and it scored 9.8 million US dollars in the first weekend, becoming the first Hong Kong film to top the box office of an American film, and it was also a dubbed film.The American distribution company New Line Cinema invested a strong publicity force for this film. When I faced the American media again, the situation this time has changed dramatically from before.I was on the cover of local magazines, appeared on many TV talk shows, and was greeted with warmth and welcome. Also this time, I attended the premiere of the real "Jackie Chan Movie" in the United States.Walking in the middle of the red carpet, with cameras flashing and people screaming my name, I knew I had made it.After that, my three Hong Kong films "Thunderbolt", "Police Story 4: Simple Mission" and "A Good Man" were also released in the United States.During the filming of "A Good Man," I was invited to leave handprints, footprints, and autographs outside the Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

In 1998, "Rush Hour", which I collaborated with Chris Tucker, was released in the United States, and the film was an unprecedented success.The film's sequels, Rush Hour 2 and Rush Hour 3, were released in 2001 and 2007, respectively.Although this is not my favorite type of movie, it is undeniable that they have achieved high box office results in the United States and Europe. I also took the opportunity of the latter two films to cast two young domestic actors Zhang Ziyi and Zhang Jingchu Introduced to Western audiences. In 2002, my movie "Tuxedo" had just been released, and it was the runner-up on the North American box office chart with a score of 15 million US dollars in the first weekend.On October 4th of the same year, I was invited to leave my name on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

This trip to the United States did not disappoint me. After that, almost every movie of mine will be released in mainstream markets all over the world. All made in the USA.Now thinking of the experiences of these years, what jumps into my mind is not the screams or applause in front of the stage, but the moments behind the scenes that everyone doesn't understand. When I first arrived in the United States with a family-building class, I was looked down upon by others at first.First, English is not good enough; second, people don't know how capable you are.Just got there and just gave the impression of being unruly.This is because of the difference in working styles between the East and the West.For example, Western studios pay attention to their respective duties, and everyone has a very clear and detailed division of labor.Those who grab the wires are responsible for grabbing the wires, those who install the lenses are responsible for installing the lenses, and those who turn on the lights are responsible for turning on the lights. You can't touch other people's work.Our working method is that everyone is all-rounder, and whatever work needs to be done on site is done at will, for the sake of efficiency.

I hope everything is fast, but it's not like that, even the tone of speech is different.On domestic studios, everyone says "here, here, here!" On American studios, people just take it slowly, walk slowly, and talk slowly.At the beginning, because of this gap, we were unprofessional in the eyes of foreigners, and inefficient in our eyes.Later, we worked together every day, and we gradually got used to their working style, and we got along very well, and the relationship became more and more harmonious.Especially after seeing the real ability of the family-making class, none of them did not admire or bow.We use real ability to convince the public.Now when you mention the family class abroad, everyone will give you a thumbs up.None of them need to apply, and they are already honorary members of the national stuntmen's union.

I used to start with martial arts, and I have seen a lot of primitive working methods on the set. When shooting action scenes, martial artists are almost desperate.After a dangerous action, I fell and got hurt, it’s okay, I immediately changed to another one, everyone thought it was normal.This is of course inconceivable in the eyes of Westerners.When I first went there, I hoped to give foreigners a good start and let them see how good the family-making class is.When I was filming "Shanghai Noon", I wanted to shoot an action where I flipped around in the air for a week and a half and fell to the ground.I asked the camera crew to pull the machine back, but they said no, the mat on the ground would be worn out.I said, "Yes, I just don't need a mat." I asked Wu Gang from the family-building class to do this without wearing any protective gear.Because I know these things myself, and I know that there will be no problems with him.Sure enough, Wu Gang successfully completed this action, and protected his head and face with his professional ability, and the audience burst into applause instantly.

I looked at the monitor, and my face was very calm: "It's not good enough, let's do another one." Everyone was dumbfounded, and came over and said, "It's obviously very good! Why do you want to do it again? It's dangerous!" I ignored them and said in Chinese Ask Wu Gang in a low voice: "Is it okay?" "Brother, no problem." Wu Gang did it again.I didn't change my face: "No, come again." After the third time, I shouted OK, it's over.Wu Gang's hands, elbows, and knee joints were all swollen and bleeding, and I was also very distressed, but after I knew these three actions, no one dared to look down on the home-making class.In fact, for those of us who have been trained hard since childhood, this small injury is really nothing, but in the eyes of foreigners, they think that we are simply not human, and what we have accomplished is an impossible task.

Sure enough, from that moment on, everyone in the crew respected us very much.Later, when Hollywood was making action movies, they would take Jackie Chan movie videotapes to find competent action teams, and tell them, I want this kind of style——Jackie Chan style. The first time I met Stallone was on his set. We hadn't met before that, and I don't know why he invited me.Maybe it was because I was already well-known in the West at that time, and there were some reports in the media.One day when I was in Hong Kong, my colleagues in the company said that they had received an invitation from Stallone to go to the United States to watch the premiere. I said, are you kidding me, and they said, it’s true, brother.I felt very excited, he is a superstar in my opinion, and also my idol, he actually invited me to watch the premiere?The colleague also said that in order to show his sincerity, Stallone asked his secretary to fly to Hong Kong from the United States, and also brought two air tickets to accompany you to fly back.I felt very moved.His secretary was also miserable, and he spent only thirty hours on the plane. On the plane I thought, why did he ask me to go?Can't figure it out.Discuss with the agent, if the situation is not right there, they will not know who I am at all, and my English is so bad, how about we just turn around and run away? When we arrived at the airport, there was already a car waiting there.In the first step, the staff took me to Stallone’s home, saying that they would show me around and introduce to me that this is his collection, this is his painting, this is his gym... I also went to his After doing a few exercises in the gym, I thought, I am actually using the fitness equipment that Stallone used.After a while, his assistant came over, looked at his watch, and said, let's go to the set now. At that time, I wondered a little, he didn't come to pick up my plane, and he wasn't there when I went to his house, why?When I got to the set, I happened to see him shooting.He saw me from a distance and gestured to me, meaning to wait a moment.Soon, I heard him shout Cut, and then said, OK, lunch time now!Then he came over and gave me a big hug. They were filming Demolition Man at the time, and Wesley Snipes, the star of the show, saw me and came over and gave me a huge hug.At that time, Stallone pulled me away from Wesley, and the way he said, "This is my friend, I can only hold it", it was cute.Then, he took my hand, stood in front of everyone in the crew, pushed me out as if introducing an important person, and said to everyone, Hey, Jackie Chan.There was warm applause at the scene.Then he pulled me through a long, long tent, with actors and stunt people on both sides, and they all stood up with a slam, and bowed to me in unison!I was blown away.While walking, many stunt personnel came to shake my hand, I thought to myself, so I am so good! It turned out that Stallone deliberately asked me to go to the set to see him, and he also deliberately delayed the morning scene, so he squeezed the time so that when I arrived, I could see them filming the last scene.Later, he took me to his makeup car, and as soon as he got up, he turned on the TV, and there was a video tape playing in it. When I saw it, it turned out to be my movie!Then he opened the cabinet, and there were all my movies inside! He said: "When we run out of ideas, we will watch your videos. We are all learning from you, I really appreciate you, thank you for coming this time." At that time, my English was very poor, and we had to go through an interpreter for the conversation, so I could only say two or three sentences like "Thank you so much, I'm so happy. You are my idol". Only then did I know that all action groups in the United States were using Jackie Chan movies as teaching materials.I am very proud.