"I wouldn't have done this": Steven Spielberg Saved Jackie Chan's Career From Stereotypical Roles by Making Him a Suit Wearing Super Spy in $104 Million Film

Jackie Chan is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant action stars, whose works contributed to the reduction of the east-west cultural gap. Owing to his distinct action-comedy style, Hollywood recognized his abilities and offered him the chance to collaborate with many legendary filmmakers like Steven Spielberg.

With movies like The Big Brawl, Chan had been trying to enter the American film industry since the early 1980s. But it was his later US films, like Rush Hour and Rumble in the Bronx, that really solidified his place in Pop Culture.

However, The Tuxedo, a 2002 sci-fi action comedy, was one of these shoddy projects that Jackie had to deal with. A parody of clichéd spy films, this peculiar work featured a tuxedo that offered special abilities to anyone who wore it.

Also read: “A man who can destroy anything”: Jackie Chan Carries A Strange “Curse” That Dooms Multi-Million Dollar Companies For One Weird Reason

Steven Spielberg Made Jackie Chan To Dress For Success

Jackie Chan, who gained international fame from his martial arts films, was back with a new move in a 2002 film. His goal was to become a dramatic actor as well as an action star. And Steven Spielberg—who was renowned for his ability to spot extraordinary talent—had something different for the actor in his 2002 science fiction action comedy film.

Spielberg is renowned for actively discussing or conversing, even briefly, with every movie and television program that bears his name. The director co-founded DreamWorks, the production company behind The Tuxedo.

Jackie Chan had to dance and sing simultaneously in The Tuxedo (2002)

And, then it turned out that The Tuxedo, in which Chan played a super spy dressed in a suit, was the movie for which Spielberg and Chan first got together. The renowned filmmaker served as an executive producer on the project.

According to Chan, the only true reason he agreed to do the film was Spielberg. In any other case, the actor might have steered clear of it.

The 69-year-old actor once stated the following in a Jae-Ha Kim interview:

“If it wasn’t for the fact that this film was made by Steven Spielberg’s company [DreamWorks], I wouldn’t have done this. But I trust them. I wanted to do this movie because it was different from the scripts I usually get. My character wasn’t a policeman or a martial arts expert. In Asia, I made whatever movie I wanted to. But in America, all the scripts I receive are about the police, police, police! I read this script and thought it would be fun.”

Also read: “You see it? Awful”: ‘Rush Hour’ Isn’t His Only Film That Jackie Chan Has Bitter Feelings About, Even This $60 Million Sci-fi Comedy Makes The List

Jackie Chan’s First Delightful Encounter With Steven Spielberg

Jackie Chan once expressed his excitement about working in The Tuxedo, directed by Kevin Donovan. Why?

He was excited because Steven Spielberg, the Oscar-winning filmmaker behind movies like Schindler’s List and Jurassic Park was going to produce this 2002 film.

Although the initial encounter between Chan and Spielberg appeared to be a dream come true, The Tuxedo was anything but not that. As the movie received a lot of bad reviews and is now mostly forgotten, the Hong Kong star was right to be skeptical of the combination of special effects, stunts, and Hollywood’s approach to action.

Chan talked about his experience working in The Tuxedo and his first-ever face-to-face meeting with Spielberg in an interview with Tribute (a Canadian newspaper).

With great pleasure, the 69-year-old actor responded, stating that he was extremely enthusiastic to meet a director he greatly admires:

“Well, at first my manager told me about this DreamWorks movie by Steven Spielberg and said, he wants to meet you. So I said, okay. When I came to Hollywood, there were two people I wanted to meet: One was Steven Spielberg and the second was George Lucas. I just think that the two of them are geniuses. When I met Spielberg I was so excited, but he was just like a normal person. But what made me so happy was the first time that he saw me, he held out his hand and said, ‘Jackie, hi, can you give me your autograph because my son just loves you.’ … It was like, wow, he asked ME for my autograph!”