While the media is reporting that “Jet Li’s Fearless” is his last foray into the martial arts films, The Rafu Shimpo sat down with the action star last Wednesday to find out the real truth about his career decision.

“Yes, it is my last Wushu movie,” asserted Jet Li, who portrays Huo Yuanjia, the legendary fighter in the turn-of-the 20th century China.

The Chinese word “Wushu” means martial arts, or the art of fighting. Li explained that Wushu films consist of three significant elements: physical contact against your enemies; all the actions including knowledge and languages that can scare your enemies before the physical contact; and using your honor, belief and love to turn your enemies into your friends.

“All the three levels of a Wushu film, and everything I believe in—the physical part and mental part—I put  everything in this film. That’s why I said this is my last Wushu movie,” he said. “But, in the future, I will continue doing acting in different kinds of movies. I still want to show different angles about life, maybe not with martial arts, just life.”

Born Lian Jie Li in Beijing, Li started his martial arts training at age of 8. After three years of extensive training, he won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu team. For the next four years, he remained the All-Around National Wushu champion of China. Li retired from professionally competing in the sport after sustaining a knee injury at the age of 17, and started acting with a starring role in Chang Hsin Yen’s “Shaolin Temple.”

Regarding his future films, he noted that he has just finished shooting a new action movie “Rogue” a few months ago, playing an infamous and elusive assassin who murders a FBI agent. He also said he and another action star Jackie Chan will start filming a movie in next April.

“The story has been in my mind for 10 years,” he said. “I found the story that I believe in the philosophy, physical and mental both ways. I produced this film, I made everything happened, to find writers and director, martial arts director, put everybody together to make this film.

"In the past, we only (made movies about) who is physically strong, who is the tough guy, who beats the bad guy. These are the only messages we gave (the audience) in the past movies. I didn’t do wrong, but I just wasn’t good enough because it’s still just one part of the martial arts. I want to share more, different angles, different levels.”

Li said he found many similarities between himself and his character Yuanjia, as he became more personally involved in the movie.

Both started learning martial arts at an early age and became successful fighters. In an interesting coincidence, the character Li portrays dies at 42 years old—same age when Li ended his career in martial arts films.

“I have five years of championships and became famous, and suddenly I made a movie, and become a well-known actor in Asia. And then, a lot of people love you, and you become selfish, like saying, ‘I’m the one who can make everything happens,’” he said.

“If people become successful at an early age, you make a lot of mistakes. It’s not just me. I see a lot of actors in Asia to go through the same journey. And, of course it’s not like your whole family dies (as in ‘Fearless’), that’s a movie, a drama, but you experience being hurt and going bad, and learn about life. And then, you’ll know a movie is team work, not just you, and you’ll appreciate people who work with you, and listen to different good opinions in your life.”

One of the motivations for him to create this movie was the growing number of teenagers who commit suicide in China. He feels that young people today have forgotten how to believe in themselves, he said.

“I just wanted to try to share some different angles about life because the media, news, magazines, everything, they are only showing the shiny part about a lot of people, a lot of singers, sports athletes and actors. But, everybody has a hard time on the other side, but [people] don’t know. So, that’s why I made this film to show even this successful hero in the past century, but on the other side, he was also struggling, in pain.”

Li has become a seasoned Hollywood veteran since he first gained notoriety in the U.S. in a pivotal role in “Lethal Weapon 4,” the 1988 film starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover.

“I knew how to handle a movie business in Asia, but first time I went to Hollywood, you’ll see a lot of things that aren’t fair. The scripts (I’ve received were) for only one kind of movie. But, I don’t like to complain outwardly. I only complain to myself because the biggest enemy is myself. What I can do is to do my best to prove that I can do something else. You need to try, maybe it won’t be successful, but at least I tried,” he said. 

“I think now it is not just a movie on the screen. I think in different kinds of jobs, Asian people are doing much better than before, and you just need to continue to prove that you can do better job.”

________________

“Jet Li’s Fearless” is now showing at theaters. For more information about the film, visit Jetlisfearless.com