片方亦首度曝光了成龙剃头的照片，说起这次彻底改变30多年的标志性发型，成龙坦言是出于对新片的重视：“早年间我在嘉禾拍戏的时候，有一次刚剪完头发就受伤，结果我的义父，也是嘉禾的创始人之一何冠昌，就下令说以后都不许我再剪短头发。倒不是迷信什么，其实也没少受伤，每一部片子都受伤，就是习惯了一直没剪过短发。那这次完全是因为《警察故事2013》这个角色，我特别喜欢这个剧本，有很多新鲜的角度和尝试，这个角色要求必须剪一个板寸，开始他们还担心能不能说服我，其实完全不用担心，因为我看完剧本就决定我要演，我愿意为这个角色改变这么多年保持的发型。” 不过到了真正剃头的时候，成龙还是有点舍不得。“毕竟是留了这么多年的头发，那天开拍前剃头的时候，我就跟发型师说你要快点下手，要不我该后悔了，结果他手还真快，我话还没说完，他就拿个推子三下两下就给我都剃了。好了，这下没得后悔了，为了新电影的角色，我不后悔。”
The production release a first exposure to the barber's photo of Jackie talking about this revolutionary change to a 30 year iconic hairstyle. Jackie Chan admitted that he cut his hair because of the great importance of the new movie: "In the early years, when filming in Golden Harvest, once I was injured just after having my hair cut, my adoptive father, also one of the founders of Golden Harvest Leonard Ho, decreed that I am not allowed me to cut my hair. Not for superstition because, in fact, every movie that I was not injured in my hair had not been cut. This is entirely because of the role of the "Police Story 2013" I particularly like the script. There are many fresh points of view. This role requires a short crew cut. At the start they also worried that they can not convince me to cut my hair, in fact, there was nothing to worry about, because I read the script and decided that I want to play, and I am willing to change after so many years to keep the hair for the role. "
But when it comes to a real barber, Jackie Chan was still a little reluctant. "After so many years of hair cuts the day before the shooting, I told the hair stylist "you have to be quick to start with, or else I regret the results of his hands really fast and I would not finish. He took a clipper gave me a shave. Well, I do not regret this for the role of the new movie. I do not regret it. "
The Zodiac Thriller: One more jolt from Jackie
The action superstar says that his latest film 'CZ12', based on ancient Chinese lore, will likely be the last time he puts his body through the pounding it's become accustomed to over the years. But while he might be moving to safer ground, the irrepressible actor is nowhere near ready to leave the limelight
Jackie Chan has acted in more than 100 movies and with his intense style of film-making and love of stunts, he's had a similarly high number of bone breaks. While the star once quipped, ''It only hurts when I'm not laughing,'' the aches appear to be catching up with Chan.
The 58 year old says that following the gruelling experience of filming his latest movie, CZ12, he's going to be pursuing a less ache-inducing line of work. Chan says he will focus on roles that ''are less painful to my body''. And he's already well experienced in that regarded having, in addition to being the film's star, acted as its director, an actor, producer, action choreographer and investor.
Chan talks about his film, the the title of which is a reference to the 12 ancient symbols of the Chinese zodiac, the challenges and dangers of working with a team of costars, and the dangerous stunts that left even Jackie Chan thinking: enough is enough.
How did you come up with the storyline for 'Chinese Zodiac'?
I wanted to make a film about Chinese artefacts being returned to the homeland. About six years ago, I saw my first [ancient Chinese] bronze animal head in an auction. At that time, I wondered why our national treasures are always lost overseas. And then last year, there were another two bronze heads being auctioned. Meanwhile, many people from other countries say that these artefacts are part of the world's heritage, and taking custody of them is actually appropriate. So this gave me the idea for the story in CZ12.
Can you talk about your character?
I play JC. He is a modern-day treasure hunter, an adventurer-for-hire who is ready to tackle any job for a price. To start with, he's happy enough to work for the shady Corporation, criss-crossing the globe in search of the missing bronzes from a set of 12 Chinese zodiac heads. But then he discovers the hidden activities of his employers _ and he learns the age-old lesson that ''to live outside the law, you must be honest''. I think in the end JC is twice the man he was before.
In your past films, you are often featured as a hero acting alone, but Chinese Zodiac is a team affair; why the change?
I think audiences will find it more fun. In this film I have a lot of backup from a group of amazing actors. But that means I have to work twice as hard, as I have to watch over them in the stunt scenes. If a fight was called for, some danger was OK. When they were fighting, I would stay next to the lens, and if they looked tired, or simply had no understanding of their fight moves, or had to be sped up, then it fell to me to tie everything together. But everything came out all right, especially with Zhang Lanxin, who performed her stunts very well.
Can you talk a little bit about Zhang Lanxin?
In my view, Zhang Lanxin is one of our best female martial artists. I can't rate her highly enough. First, there are many who can fight, but they're small in stature. Zhang Lanxin is 177cm tall, with very long hands and legs, and very quick. In the movie I tried to show all of her special strengths and qualities. Plus, Zhang Lanxin has extraordinary staying power.
It was only yesterday at the airport that I saw photos on her mobile phone taken at the hospital where she was having blood clots in her knee cleared up, and I hadn't known till then that she had this problem. I told her that had I known of the condition, I wouldn't have let her do the fight scenes.
The film also features Kwon Sang-woo, who's already a superstar in South Korea. Can you talk about the experience of working with him?
I didn't choose Kwon Sang-woo only because he's a recognised face; he is also an immensely talent actor. And he knows how to do stunt scenes; his punches and kicks have power! He is also very smart. His ability to grasp stunts is very high, clean and crisp. His dedication was always appreciated. He would spend two hours on his own to train. When I watched through the camera I too was attracted. I think he has the potential to become a new-generation action superstar.
What about the scene where you were in some kind of special suit?
It's called a ''buggy rollin'' suit [a padded suit fitted with inline skate wheels], and it's very hard to control. Some people need to practise more than a year to control it, but I had to learn how to use it in three weeks. The highway that we shot the scene on is so steep and there are fast, sharp curves that could have killed me. The most dangerous action was to slide under a car. I had to maintain absolute balance; otherwise I would be drawn into the wheels. I am not Superman _ I was afraid during the shoot, but I desperately wanted to do the scene. And since everyone was looking at me, as soon as the cameras rolled, I had no option but to risk my life.
Was the climax scene that you shot in Vanuatu at the site of an active volcano as has been reported?
Yes, we travelled to the volcano of Mount Yasur in Vanuatu to shoot the last part of film, which ran about four minutes. But we had to wait for two months to film, because I wanted to film when the volcano was erupting. I think the risk and level of this scene is comparable to the jump from the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai by Tom Cruise in the latest Mission Impossible movie. When filming this scene, I could see the volcanic debris flying over my head. This is definitely the most dangerous situation I've ever been in.
There's a rumour that you will retire from action movies after 'Chinese Zodiac'; can you elaborate on that?
For the past decade, there have been a lot of friends or directors telling me that I shouldn't be doing action movies at my age. And to be honest, I really am getting older. So I thought, all right, but before I retire I'd like to make one last major action film, one good one. Now everyone is saying that I'm retiring, but I want to solemnly declare that I don't want to retire, I just want to do things a bit less dangerous to my body. So I want to really stress this: I am a director, an actor, producer, action choreographer and I'm also an investor. I've been preparing this movie for seven years, spent seven years on writing the script, spent over a year on filming it. I wanted this film to be the best it could be. But it's definitely not the last one.
- Прошло больше двадцати лет с момента выхода второй части «Доспехов бога». Когда вы решили снять третью?
- Я писал сценарий к этому фильму 7 лет. Очень долго думал, как продолжить эту историю, этот сюжет. Как только у меня рождалась небольшая идея — я ее откладывал на несколько лет, потом рождалась еще одна — и тоже ее откладывал. Много думал, какую же из них можно реализовать. И семь лет назад у меня появилась идея о создании «Миссии Зодиак». Я начал потихонечку писать сценарий. И через несколько лет решил снять фильм. Сначала у «Зодиака» должен был быть другой режиссер. Но потом я понял, что раз сам придумал - должен снимать. Если бы я доверил его снимать кому-то другому, едва бы получилась хотя бы половина задуманного, ибо фильм контролируется продюсером, инвесторами, деньгами и прочим. Я решил, что это мое детище, и мне нужно довести его до конца.
- Вы в отличный форме и, я думаю, многие молодые актеры могут вам позавидовать. Как вы ощущаете себя в своем возрасте?
- Если вы скажете, сколько мне лет, мол, Джеки, тебе уже 58, тогда я, конечно, вспомню - ой, да я же старик. Но когда я встаю по утрам и тренируюсь, или когда я занят на съемках, мне не больше 30-ти. Я не ощущаю возраста, когда учу людей трюкам, показываю им — ты иди туда, а ты держи это - и так далее. Правда, теперь, когда я падаю, люди пытаются мне помочь подняться. Но я, наоборот, их прогоняю. Потому что чувствую себя старым, лишь когда мне говорят об этом.
- It has been over twenty years since the release of the second part of the "Armor of God." When did you decide to make the third?
- I wrote the script for this film for 7 years. A long time thinking about how to continue the story. As soon as I had born a small idea - I postponed it for a few years, then developed it some more - and also kept putting it off. A lot of thought, which of them can be implemented. And seven years ago, I had the idea to create a "Mission Zodiac." Little by little I started to write the script. And after a few years decided to make a movie. First, "Zodiac" was supposed to be another director. But then I realized that once he came up with - should take off. If I entrusted it to shoot someone else, just to get at least half of his plans for the film is controlled by the producer, investors, money, and other things. I thought it was my baby, and I need to see it through.
- You are in great shape and I think a lot of young actors might envy you. How do you feel at your age?
- If you tell me how old I am, say, Jackie, you're already 58, then of course I remember - oh, yes I'm an old man. But when I get up in the morning and train, or when I'm busy on the set, I am not more than 30. I do not feel old when I teach people tricks, show them - you go there, and you keep it - and so on. However, now, when I'm falling, people are trying to help me get up. I feel old when I talk about it.
"Мой вопрос касается Вашего всестороннего участия в съёмочном процессе. Мне не по наслышке известно, какой тяжёлый труд – съёмки, и я просто ума не приложу, как можно совмещать столько обязанностей. В принципе, довольно не редко в киноиндустрии совмещаются режиссёрские и актёрские обязанности, но чтобы режиссёр ещё и одновременно выступал в роли сценариста, оператора и художника – для меня это нечто удивительное. Так вот, хотелось бы узнать: в чём Ваш секрет? И, всё же, какая из этих обязанностей Вам ближе всего по душе? Что больше всего нравится?"
“Как я уже говорил - я снимаюсь в фильмах уже 52 года. Можно сказать, что я был рождён на съёмочной площадке. Ведь я провёл на ней почти всю свою жизнь, перепробовал столько различных профессий: от осветителя до оператора… И поэтому для меня это как часть жизни. Многие люди могут подумать: «Как? Как же Джеки всё это делает? Как он справляется со всеми этими обязанностями?» Но для меня это не сложно. Потому что я был рождён с этим. Конечно, есть и такие вещи, которые кажутся для меня сложными, например, работа с компьютером, но быть на съёмочной площадке – для меня очень легко. Безусловно, мне нравится быть режиссёром, ведь в этой роли я могу контролировать весь съёмочный процесс, все меня слушают, я знаю, чего я хочу, я знаю, что я хочу увидеть на экране. Именно поэтому быть режиссёром мне нравится больше всего”.
"My question is about your full participation in the shooting process. It is not by hearsay that we know what hard work it is shooting, and I just can not imagine how you can combine so many responsibilities. Actually, it is not quite rare in the industry to combine the duties of directors and actors, but also to the director at the same time served as a writer, and artist statement - for me it's an amazing thing. So, I would like to know: what's your secret? And which of these functions do you most prefer? Which do you like the best? "
As I said - I'm in the movies for 52 years. One can say that I was born on the set. After all, I spent almost my entire life, have tried so many different professions from the lighting technician to the camera operator ... And so for me it's part of life. Many people might think, "What? How did Jackie do this? How does he deal with all these responsibilities? "But for me it is not difficult. Because I was born with it. Of course, there are some things that seem to me to be difficult, for example, working with a computer, but to be on the set - I found it very easy. Of course, I like to be a director, because in this role, I can control the whole filming process, everything I hear, I know what I want, I know what I want to see on the screen. That is why to be a director I like best. "
2009 ·SuperChan's Jackie Chan Blog by TNB