Inside Kung Fu: Donnie Yen Interview (September edition)
Inside Kung Fu: The gang was happy to hear that they're planning to show the entire climatic fight between you and Jackie on Shanghai Knights DVD, because the theatrical version was obviously heavily edited.
Donnie Yen: I don't know if it's true that they're going to put the entire fight on the DVD, but I hope so. I didn't really like the way they cut the film. It's one of those very typical Hollywood tings. When I first met Jackie he was all, "Let's make a classic fight scene," because he really appreciated the scenes between Jet and I. And in the movie it was probably the most anticipated fight scene. But Jackie had too much to do. At the end we were also having a little problem with the amount of time the producer was giving us. We just kind of accepted whatever time that was given to us to do the fight.
Inside Kung Fu: At least the incredible scene in Hero is essentially whole. Tell us about that experience.
Donnie Yen: They called me when i was in L.A. and, at first they sent me the English script. I really liked it. I said to my agent we really have to take on this role. This film is going to be incredible. Then I called the producer myself and asked him to send me the Chinese script, because only in Chinese could I see the true essence of the characters and film. Obviously it was pretty clear that they wanted to create the best action scene between Jet and I since Once Upon A Time In China 2. So when I went there, we had a lot of discussion on how best to do that scene. We actually spent 22 days shooting that scene. Normally, especially in Asian films, the time and budget is always constrained. But when were there, the producer would come in and say, "Take your time. We don't want the best of the best scene...we want the best of the best scene!" So every shot, both Jet and myself would examine every angle and really, really work at deciding the right way to do it. Because we know we not only have to top ourselves after Once Upon A Time In China II, but we also, half-jokingly, half-seriously, wanted to top the Michelle Yeoh/Zhang Ziyi fight scene in crouching tiger, hidden dragon So a lot of times Jet and I would joke around, saying, "Hey, no offense to the women, but we can't lose it to Michelle and Zhang!" So we really took our time to really nail every shot.
Inside Kung Fu: Well, that's a shock to me and my screenwriter friends, who are only one of seemingly dozens of American studios are using on each film these days! But no matter. Your character, Jin (Highlander: Endgame), was a small but telling role.
Donnie Yen: Yes. I also worked as Martial Arts choreographer on the film, which was shot in Romania. I really wanted to incorporate into him the character of the assassin who fails - like the one in The Emperor and the Assassin (which features the same historical story as Yang Zimou's Hero but as directed by Chen Kaige). It is now available on Columbia/Tristar Home Entertainment. I tried to give him Confucian values and make an honorable man.
Inside Kung Fu: Next up was another small, but potent part in Blade 2.
Donnie Yen: I was already traveling to Europe. In fact, I actually spent almost eight months in Berlin to co-direct and action-direct the German TV series Codename: Puma. So in between times, to start up my new career in Hollywood, I flew back to L.A. My agent asked me about Blade 2. I went to see Wesley Snipes, because he was also producer, and the director Guillemo Del Toro. They're big fans of Hong Kong films, love Iron Money, and expressed themselves as my fans, so they wanted me in the film. In the beginning I wasn't really that interested because the role was kind of small. All I wanted to do was be martial arts choreographer. Hopefully I could've used some of my knowledge to translate my passion through Wesley. So it ended up that I also did a cameo. Unfortunately, again, small role, but the response was good.
all credits toward Inside Kung Fu. To read the full article, purchase a copy of Inside Kung Fu Septembers 2003 Edition.
