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JET LI
 Asia's
Leading Man Makes His American Debut
His martial
arts moves are so lightening fast and powerful he takes the
audience by surprise. I should know, I saw "Lethal Weapon 4"
several times, in movie theaters in San Francisco and Newport
Beach and each time the audience gasped at this newcomers' breathtaking
quickness and grace. I say "newcomer," but Jet Li is no newcomer
in Asia.
He is a national treasure in China, a five time martial arts
champion, and a huge box office hit already starring as a hero
in more than 25 movies under his (black) belt produced by Hong
Kong filmmakers.
"Lethal Weapon 4," a hilarious but insultingly stereotypical
comedy with all the usual Hollywood spectacular car chases,
buildings blowing up and good guys chasing bad guys co-starring
Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, is Jet Li's English speaking debut
into major American motion pictures. And yes, Hollywood Director
Richard Donner cast Jet Li as the stereotypical bad guy, a villainous
Asian triad crime lord. At the recent National Association of
Asian American Professionals 8th Annual Leadership Conference
in Seattle, Asian American working professionals in mainstream
media decried with frustration that Hollywood is still portraying
Asians in degrading and one-dimensional roles.
After receiving the gratuitous "bad guy" photo of Jet Li smashing
Mel Gibson's face from the film production studios AsianConnections
spent several weeks requesting a smiling photo of Jet from the
Hollywood studios. Finally, an industrious pr representative
discovered the precious single photo you see of Jet Li smiling
and victoriously and graciously hand messengered it to us. Thanks
to the folks at Warner Brothers and super pr agents Rogers and
Cowan, for also going the extra mile for us. Jet Li is a leading
man if we ever saw one, a handsome and sexy one too, and he
deserves to be smiling on the frontpage of our inaugural launch.
The rest of Hollywood may be noticing, too that Jet Li burns
up the screen, and not because he plays a good villain. Hollywood
may be waking up to the ring of the box office cash registers
spurred by their Asian actors. Like any shrewd for-profit making
business, Hollywood columnist Michael Fleming of Daily Variety
reports that audiences went wild over Jet during test screenings
of "Lethal Weapon 4" and Warner Brothers was quick to
exercise an option on his contract to capitalize on his appeal
and is now keeping him busy filming a second major motion picture.
Warner Brothers, "Romeo Must Die," which Fleming describes as
producer Joel Silver's version of Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet"
was originally conceived for a Caucasian star and is being re-drafted
for Jet Li. "Romeo Must Die," effectively delays Jet's
starring role in Universal Studios', "Art of War" movie which
is now scheduled to be filmed right after shooting is completed
on "Romeo Must Die."
While there was no news on the final storyline of Jet's next
two movies, his Hollywood spokesperson assures us, Jet is cast
as the hero and in at least one of the films, he gets the girl!
Congratulations, Go - Jet!
Li was born in Beijing, where at the age of eight he was enrolled
in the Beijing Amateur Sports School for wushu training. After
several years of intensive instruction led by his mentor, Coach
Wu Bin, Li won his first and subsequently four more national
championships for the Beijing Wushu Team. As part of a world
tour in 1974, at age eleven, he had the distinction of performing
a two man fight set on the White House lawn for President Nixon
and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.
Jet Li's entrance into American films has special significance
to those of us who care about stronger and better Asian representation
in the media. As an Asian American who has been working within
America's mainstream broadcast journalist community, I have
been more than an impartial observer of Asians in the media.
Years ago, as an official board member of a state film commission,
I visited the desert set in Tucson, Arizona of "Cannonball
Run" and was excited to meet a young new Asian star named
Jackie Chan. I still clearly remember that my friends accompanying
me to the shoot and I were thrilled to get a glimpse of Jackie
and shake his hand. The other movie stars, and there were plenty,
including Burt Reynolds and Dean Martin were just gravy for
the long, dusty drive through the Arizona desert. (We were all
similar in age to Jackie, in our twenties and had decided we
couldn't ask for his autograph because as members of the Governor's
Film Commission, we had to act "dignified," even though stars
and crew members alike, were busy taking photos and getting
autographs from each other.)
We remember hoping that this film would be Jackie Chan's big
break into American motion pictures, so we wouldn't have to
rent those dubbed in English Hong Kong made films where people's
mouths don't match the English translation. It wasn't to happen.
It took him nearly fifteen more years to really make it in Hollywood
as a big box office draw. Watch for AsianConnections' upcoming
features and video clips on Jackie, his new inspiring autobiography
and latest American movie, "Rush Hour " with Chris Tucker,
his first in ten years.
While it has taken Jackie Chan, a martial arts master, comic
genius and Asian mega star in his own right, many years to successfully
cross the Pacific to star in mainstream American movies, we
hope Jet Li can capitalize on his current momentum in "Lethal
Weapon 4." Sure, we've read the usual cynical criticism
particularly from the Asian press that he's been cast in yet
another stereotypical role, but hey, chill out for just a moment
guys, let's celebrate Jet Li's English-speaking American
debut, tell Hollywood what a treasure they have in their hands,
and actively encourage Hollywood movie producers and
writers to create more films with better multi-dimensional roles
for him as well as all other Asians.
Motion picture studios make money not only from U.S. audiences
but increasingly depend upon a global audience to bring home
the money. Message to Hollywood: we want to see Jet Li in more
movies with better roles! Look at his close-ups in "Lethal
Weapon 4," he's a leading man if we ever saw one! In San
Francisco, three young women sitting next to me at a screening
of "Lethal Weapon 4" told me they came to see Jet Li,
not Mel Gibson or Danny Glover!
When Jet Li smiles on-camera you can see the potential of a
Hollywood big box office star in the making. Let's buy tickets
to go to his films, send him lots of fan mail of moral support*
and let Hollywood know who they are dealing with.
- By Suzanne Joe Kai, co-founder, AsianConnections President,
CSI International, an international investment firm in San Francisco
and Newport Beach, and former Emmy nominated broadcast television
news journalist. Ms. Kai was one of the first Asian Americans
and women to be on-camera at mainstream news media organizations.
Her broadcast career included news reporting, documentary producing
and talk show hosting at KRON-TV (NBC) San Francisco, KCBS-Newsradio
(CBS), KTVU-TV (Cox), and KGUN-TV (ABC). Ms. Kai holds a BA
in Sociology and Economics from Mills College and a Masters
Degree in Communication from Stanford University, and is a member
of AFTRA.
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