Jet Li started learning martial arts for his mother’s peace of mind. Yet he quickly became a Wushu prodigy, earning an audience with former Premier Zhou Enlai when he was just nine years old. He spoke back to US President Richard Nixon on national television and became famous overnight at the age of 16 thanks to the movie “Shaolin Temple.” With the release of his latest movie, "Fearless," he spoke to Bruce Dawson about breadwinning, his philosophy and life as a martial arts superstar.
Jet isn't my real name. Back in 1982 when I was starting out, someone commented my career was like a plane with a big engine, so they put “Jet Li” on the movie poster. Soon everybody was calling me by this new name.
Movies always leave me with regrets. One hundred minutes or so is not long enough for me to get my ideas across.
There are two kinds of movies: one that looks after an investment and is a business venture, and the other one doesn’t care about money and just tells its story.
I think Jackie [Chan] and I have different styles. He’s the comedian - he is stunts, he’s physical, and a very good actor for one kind of movie… I practice more traditional Chinese martial arts and play more serious characters… Nevertheless, we are close friends.
Making money by shooting action movies is easy. You just let the good guy suffer all kinds of misery at first, and then the bad guy gets his comeuppance. But that’s not the story I want – movies have to appeal to people outside your own town.