After a long U.S. layover, Jet Li is flying high in ‘Hero’
It’s taken quite a while for Jet Li to become a “Hero” in the United States.
Directed by one of the most revered mainland Chinese filmmakers in history, Zhang Yimou, the martial arts epic was released in China two years ago and became that country’s most popular Chinese-made movie ever. It was later a hit in Europe and was even nominated for a 2003 Oscar after brief qualifying runs in Los Angeles and New York.
“Hero,” however, remained on the shelf of U.S. distributor Miramax while the company considered how to handle the historical drama about a local sheriff (Li) who, as legend has it, played a large role in the unification of China.
“It was very frustrating because we were all so proud of what we had done,” says Li. “But I’m happy that the right thing was done, and Yimou’s film will be seen as it was intended.”
Though it draws on the story that inspired 1999’s “The Emperor and the Assassin,” “Hero” is as exciting as that film was sober. That’s due in no small part to the athletic grace and skills of Li, who turned down the lead in the Oscar winner “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” to take a role in “Romeo Must Die.”
Even though Li is best known in the United States for appearances in “Lethal Weapon 4” and stunt-driven B-moves like “Romeo,” “Hero” proves him to be an actor with charisma and depth.
“I have made 33 films since 1980,” says the 41-year-old Li, “and I believe this to be the best one I have ever done. It was an honor to be chosen by Yimou to play this character. Every Chinese boy grows up knowing this story.”
Li, the youngest of five children, was raised in Beijing by a single mother (his father died when he was 2) who refused even to let him ride a bicycle for fear he could get hurt. But his physical gifts prevailed, and by age 9, he was a prodigy at Beijing’s martial arts academy.
In 1974, at age 11, Li performed for President Richard M. Nixon on the White House lawn as part of a cultural exchange.
According to Li, Nixon jokingly invited him to become his bodyguard. Instead, he became his country’s martial arts champion, and his achievements, along with his good looks, led to his first movie role in 1979’s “The Shaolin Temple,” which kicked off a kung fu craze in China.
He moved to Hong Kong and became one of the biggest Asian movie stars in films like 1989’s “The Master” and 1991’s “Once Upon a Time in China.”
Hollywood producer Joel Silver cast Li as a villain in “Lethal Weapon 4,” which led to the actor’s first U.S. starring role in 2001’s “The One.”
What he likes most about “Hero,” Li says, is that “the title is more a question than a statement. It asks the question of what a hero really is and what heroism really means. Looking at the world around us now, I think this question is more important than ever before.”
While he has moved back to mainland China, Li will return to America to make a film called “A Monk in New York.” He says he looks forward to moving back and forth frequently between the two nations.
“My hope is for us to become one world of peace without having to give up the things that we believe in. I want my fighting to be in the movies, not in life.”
The birthday bunch
Actor-director Richard Attenborough is 81. Actor Elliott Gould is 66. Movie director William Friedkin is 65. TV personality Robin Leach is 63. Singer Michael Jackson is 46. Actress Rebecca DeMornay is 42. Bassist-singer Me’Shell NdegeOcello is 35. Actress Carla Gugino is 33.