1905 movie network feature "When you see the Golden Rooster Trophy, will you remember the situation where you won the prize?"
In this issue of "Blue Feather Parlor", the heavy guest sitting opposite Lan Yu is the eldest brother of the "Chinese movie business card" who has won numerous awards. As mentioned above, Lan Yu was the first to throw the first question to the interviewee.
"Every nominated actor sits in the audience and probably thinks it’s me. So do I. The moment I announced the winners, I looked around and thought, ‘Could it be me?’"
In 2005, Jackie Chan became the first Hong Kong actor to win the Best Actor Award at the 14th China Film Golden Rooster Awards.
Now that he recalled the feeling of winning the award again, he bluntly said that few actors would win awards for action movies, and he didn’t think he would win awards at that time. Until the awards guest read the name, his mind was still blank, "I dare not imagine!"
Jackie Chan believes that the Golden Rooster Award is a very representative award, and he values the Golden Rooster Award very much. Especially around 2005, from to "New Police Story", Jackie Chan actively tried to challenge different types of characters and went through an extremely difficult transition stage.
Standing at the crossroads of his acting career, he hoped that everyone would realize that Jackie Chan was not just an action actor, and the recognition of the Golden Rooster Award was fulfilling his wish, "affirming that Jackie Chan is a real action actor."
The Golden Rooster Award has given Jackie Chan great recognition and become a powerful driving force on his way forward.
As 2021 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Chinese Film Golden Rooster Awards, China Film Report "Blue Feather Parlor" has specially launched a series of interviews on the 40th anniversary of the Golden Rooster Awards. Looking back on the glorious years and talking about the future of Chinese film, this episode of Blue Feather talks to Jackie Chan and listens to the moments of struggle of this world-class film actor.
01
"The Golden Rooster Award is such an important award, I can get it with an action movie, it’s really incredible!"
In the past, few actors were able to win the best actor honor for an action movie. Even Jackie Chan, after winning the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor, lamented his luck with "incredible".
"New Cop Story" came during Jackie Chan’s transition. Jackie Chan realized that some actors who could only act would not be able to act after a while. Especially for action movie actors, they were more limited. So he decided to seek change.
Learn screenwriting, learn photography, learn to be a director, and expand as many theatrical paths as possible. In his own words, "I want to have many talents. If I don’t change, it will be too late to change!"
In fact, from the very beginning, Jackie Chan has consciously challenged himself to play roles other than pure action actors. "Look at’Kung Fu Dream ‘, I played an old man; here, I played an older one; all the way to’Police Story’, I played a very cowardly and depressed police officer. I kept changing my role, just to make the audience accept a new Jackie Chan slowly."
From "Police Story" to "New Police Story", in addition to action scenes, Jackie Chan in the play began to experiment with tragic plays, striving to integrate delicate and tender expressions on top of the tough guy style. He performed hard from beginning to end, striving to bring richer portrayals to the characters. While working hard in literary and opera, he was even more unequivocal about his own action scenes.
Looking back at the thrilling scenes Jackie Chan created in the play, Lan Yu couldn’t help but sigh. Compared with the modesty when talking about the play, Jackie Chan, who talked about the action scenes, was obviously excited, "Every action scene is incredible, I am proud of my team and myself!"
Jackie Chan shared with Lan Yu that he once was in the cast and vomited blood while eating breakfast. Afterwards, he went to the doctor and the doctor told him that his blood vessels had burst. He asked the doctor if he would die, and the doctor said no, so after dinner, he went back to the cast to continue work. Work started on the spot when his hand was broken, and work started in the morning and afternoon when his foot was broken. Jackie Chan described that this is his life as an action actor.
Jackie Chan became the first Hong Kong actor to win the Golden Rooster Award for Best Actor for "New Police Story". Lan Yu couldn’t help but sigh that this is an inspiration for all action filmmakers.
After returning to Hong Kong, Jackie Chan also followed the custom of who won the award and invited dinner, hosted banquets, dinners and other friends to celebrate, and shared the joy of the Golden Rooster Award with a group of action filmmakers.
"It used to be said that we action actors should not have awards," Jackie Chan said.
He explained that, unlike a literary film performance, which can go from having no tears to having tears, a romance film can spend a lot of time depicting a relationship, and an action film has no time to say I love you or you love me. "We usually focus on action, and the plot and characters are not important. We just rely on fighting, not acting. The fight may be played for half an hour, and the emotional drama is over in two minutes."
Jackie Chan could feel that it was becoming more and more difficult for both the action actors and the stuntmen behind the scenes. "No matter who it is, every award is almost impossible for us action actors."
So, since 2015, Jackie Chan has created "Jackie Chan International Action Film Week", dedicated to giving a voice to action filmmakers. In Jackie Chan’s view, this is a series of awards for all action filmmakers in front of the stage and behind the scenes, hoping to let people all over the world see the efforts and hardships of action filmmakers. So far, Jackie Chan International Action Film Week has been successfully held for six sessions and has become a well-known brand in the international action film industry.
02
Jackie Chan has made hundreds of movies and won numerous awards, but he still has consistent requirements for himself, "Every play insists on the filming method of the first play, and every play is done with heart."
Jackie Chan has performed difficult moves more than once in the play. In "Hongfan District", you have to jump off the building; in "Plan A", you have to jump off the bell tower; in "Dragon Brother Tiger Brother", Jackie Chan has to jump out of one wall, grab a branch, and leap to the opposite wall.
At that time, the branches were about 15 meters away from the ground, and the ground was covered with large stones. In order to create a sense of authenticity, the crew could not set up solid protection measures on the ground. Jackie Chan jumped three times under such conditions and accidentally fell from the sky.
When filming high-altitude falls, Jackie Chan often looks down, "What will happen if I fall? If one misses, there will be no more." But every time at the end, he still insists on going into battle himself. Injuries are commonplace for Jackie Chan, and he has seen too many of his peers disabled due to action scenes.
Jackie Chan admitted that he sometimes felt afraid, "If I really want to die, I have died many times. I have broken my hands and feet, and now I can walk, eat and sleep healthily, and God really takes care of me."
In Jackie Chan’s heart, he admires those action filmmakers who never give up and stay at their posts, and he always remembers what his father said to him, "Don’t give up anything easily, as long as you work hard, one day the audience will see it." As a veteran, he is also eager to share with young people, "You work hard to do what you do now, and one day, you will be grateful for your efforts today."
Unfortunately, Jackie Chan has noticed in recent years that some young actors are too squeamish. They often arrive late, but leave early. They can’t sweat when they arrive, saying that sweating will lose powder, and they can’t be swaggering, and they can’t do dangerous things. "I won’t say who, are you worthy of so many staff members lighting, waiting and waiting for you on the scene?"
Jackie Chan specifically mentioned that when filming "New Police Story", Nicholas Tse sat next to him whenever he had time, and very humbly asked him how to practice movements and what movements to do. Jackie Chan also did not hesitate to teach him skills, "He is very flexible and has a high absorption rate. He shot" New Police Story "by himself, and he jumped down by himself at such a high place in the exhibition center."
Jackie Chan commented on Nicholas Tse. Although he was not trained in science, he became a monk halfway through and is now a professional kung fu actor. What’s even more rare is that until now, he still practices kung fu when he has time, "I like these little young people."
Nicholas Tse and Jackie Chan used to tell them when they were young, "You don’t need to tell others, the effort of one play is the same as the effort of ten plays. Keep doing every job well, and you will win and get what you want."
Based on the present, he also called on the young actor team to respect the efforts of all the staff on the scene. It cannot be said that the actors have only arrived for a while and have to take them away.
2022 is Jackie Chan’s 60th week in the industry. As a witness to Chinese and even world films, he still believes that the experience is not easy and persistence is valuable.
As the Golden Rooster Award has passed 40 years, Jackie Chan finally sent his sincere wishes: "In the past 40 years, I have witnessed the strength of our China, the prosperity of our films, and the efforts and dedication of all filmmakers. In the future, I hope the Golden Rooster Award will be better and better. See you in the next 40 years!"