Jackie Chan Interview

He may be treated like a God in his home country and is arguably one of the biggest movie stars in the world, but just a couple of years ago Jackie Chan couldn't even pitch an idea in Hollywood, let alone get a film made.

However, all that changed for the Hong Kong star after the success of his 1998 movie Rush Hour. It took more than 100 million dollars at the box office and suddenly made him a force to be reckoned with in Tinseltown.

It's a dream come true for the martial arts maestro, not only can he finally high kick his way around Hollywood after years in the mainstream movie wilderness, but more importantly it means he's at last achieved his life-long ambition - to play a cowboy.

His new movie Shanghai Noon, an East-meets-West cowboy flick would never have been made if Rush Hour hadn't been such a success.

"I've been sitting on the script for 15 years," explains the versatile star, "but I could never get the funding. Before I did Rush Hour my character was always a policeman but now American companies are interested and they stumped up 60 million pounds to make Shanghai Noon," he adds.

Even so the acrobatic actor is an unlikely choice to star in a Hollywood western, yet despite his Oriental background Chan has always felt a great affinity towards the cowboy.

"I loved cowboy movies when I was a kid," he beams. "When I was five-years-old I was already wearing a cowboy hat and suit. When I grew up I knew John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Kirk Douglas and so on," he continues. "I like the way the cowboy lives with his horses in the desert with all the cooking of the coffee beans."

Shanghai Noon tells the story of a kidnapped Chinese princess - Ally McBeal star Lucy Liu - who is held to ransom in America's Wild West. Chan plays Chon Wang a fierce Imperial Guard who sets out to rescue her.

The big budget affair was a million miles removed from Chan's usual experience of film-making in Asia where money is tighter and he admits it was a big culture shock.

"It is totally different making films in the East than in the West," he says, "In the East I make my own Jackie Chan films and it's like my family. Sometimes I pick up the camera because I choreograph all the fighting scenes, even when I'm not fighting. I don't have my own chair. I just sit on the set with everybody. We talk and eat lunch. It's a Jackie Chan family.