Not just any Hollywood role for Daniel Wu & Jackie Chan
Posted: 31 March 2009 1625 hrs

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SINGAPORE : With box office hits like “Shanghai Noon”, “Shanghai Knights” and the “Rush Hour” franchise, there's no doubt that Jackie Chan is one of the most sought after Asian actors in Hollywood.

But the kung fu star revealed that while the money is good, he dislikes those action slapstick comedy roles he often plays and is disappointed that he is not able to get away from them.

Referring to his new Hong Kong film “Shinjuku Incident” in which he plays a refugee who escapes to Japan and gets hounded by the yakuza, Chan said, “Hollywood would never pay me that kind of money and spend hundreds of millions making this kind of film. Robert De Niro, yes... but not Jackie Chan.”

Chan’s "Shinjuku Incident" co-star, Daniel Wu, agreed that the role is very important.

Like many Asian actors, the American-born actor said that he too is keen on breaking into Hollywood but he will not take on just any role that comes his way, it's got to be "on my own terms".

“It’s different because I’m not superstar Jackie Chan, and I think being an Asian American, growing up in the States is different because I’m tired of the stereotypes, tired of seeing the nerd Chinese guy or the gangster Chinese guy on TV. And they’re still doing that," he told Channel NewsAsia.

"When Jackie goes, he’s going as Jackie Chan, when I go, I’m going as an actor and I don’t want to be pushing that stereotype.

“If it’s not a character that’s not necessarily written for a Chinese or if it’s a character that the part is really juicy then I’ll go for it, but if it’s purporting a stereotype then I don’t think I’m going to do it.”

Wu even has a “dream role” in mind for his Hollywood debut.

“There’s actually a really famous story about a real person that existed in America, an Asian American character, I really can’t say who it is because it’s a really a dream product. Let’s just say he was influential in the Italian mafia... and this story is a real compelling true story and I would really love to play that character some day if that movie would ever get made,” he said.

- CNA/il