While Jackie Chan has become synonymous with the action landscape, often regarded as one of the best to ever do it, the genre has become quite fatiguing for the Rush Hour Star. Chan, who rose to prominence following his dedication to pull off death-defying stunts to ensure fans’ enjoyment, once expressed his desire to move on from being just an action star and become a real actor.
But despite his want to spread his wings into other genres, Hollywood wasn’t too fond of the idea, which resulted in the actor’s brief absence from the American industry after Karate Kid.
Jackie Chan Wanted to Do Projects Similar to La La Land
On several occasions, Jackie Chan has opened up about moving on from the realm of action, as he once expressed his fascination with Damien Chazelle’s La La Land. Chan, who is pretty capable as a singer, stated that he is down to step his foot in romantic dramas and musicals like La La Land, however, Hollywood was only inclined to hire him in action projects. He explained,
“In US you always see Rush Hour 1, 2, 3, 4, Sanghai Noon, Sanghai Dawn, know those kinds of things. I never received. always all those years the script is Hong Kong Police, China Police, Hong Kong CIA, China CIA. I said ‘Can I have something like La La Land? something different’.”
After years of being typecast into certain types of projects in Hollywood, Chan eventually received the script for the movie, The Foreigner, which ended up being a fresh experience for the actor.
Jackie Chan Expressed His Desire to Follow in the Footsteps of Clint Eastwood
Reflecting on his decision to take The Foreigner, which witnessed Chan taking on a more dramatic role as opposed to comedies, the actor said he wanted to showcase his acting skills to fans. He further explained that “an actor can live forever” following his performance, while action stars, on the other hand, have become lesser and lesser in recent years following the rise in technology. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Chan expressed he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Clint Eastwood and Robert De Niro, stating,
“There are so many foreign stars, and I could see whatever they did wrong. Then I can correct that in myself. What is the right thing to do? I’m looking at Robert De Niro and I’m looking at Clint Eastwood. An actor can live forever… One day, when I’m old and I cannot fight anymore, they still can make me action star. But acting is still important.”
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But despite his adamancy to move on to expand his range, Chan hasn’t given up on comedies and action, as per reports, the actor is in talks to return for Rush Hour 4.
The Foreigner is available to rent on Apple TV.
