Yen steps into his next big starring role
Donnie Yen Ji-dan, who will star in the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel, is taking on just as big a role with The Spirit of Hong Kong Awards
For a man who hit the big five-0 in July, Donnie Yen Ji-dan is not about to put his feet up and take life any easier.
On the contrary, the action star is preparing for his biggest role yet when he plays the lead in the sequel to the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, with Michelle Yeoh. The film's producer is the legendary Harvey Weinstein, the man behind the likes of Pulp Fiction, The English Patient and The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Unlike the original film, the sequel will all be in English which will be new, but Yen was more than eager to give it a go and has faith in Weinstein. He had been looking to collaborate with the famous producer on a film for the past 12 years, but they couldn't find the right project.
"I'd be over at the old Miramax offices in New York and he'd go over all these projects he'd planned for me but they never got made. Periodically he'd call me after that but we still didn't make any films," Yen explained.
"Finally a year ago he called me up and said: 'Donnie. This is it! This is the project I want you to do - Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, part II.' Well he and his people got in contact with me every week after that and we eventually came to a gentleman's agreement.
"Then in Cannes earlier this year we announced we were going to do it. It took us 12 years to get the project going but I'm thrilled about it. We won't have Ang Lee [as director] but Harvey is a brilliant producer so I can't wait to see the result. It's going to be fun."