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Jackie Chan is back on the big screen in the action thriller The Foreigner, his first English-language release since the 2010 reboot of The Karate Kid. With this new role he’s taken a radical departure from the action-comedy roles he’s played in the Rush Hour and Shanghai series. From what he’s told the press lately, he really wants to spread his wings even more and treat us with a little song and dance.
In The Foreigner Jackie plays a father seeking justice after his daughter is killed in an IRA bombing in London (a/k/a the Chinese counterpart to Liam Neson’s character in Taken…and pretty much every movie he’s made since then). The film has become a minor worldwide hit, earning around $13 million over the weekend on a $35 million budget. Jackie was eager to take on a more serious role, telling Peter Travers “I try so hard looking for this kind of role because I always do [this for] so many years, action comedy, action comedy. I just wanted to do something different. I wanted to do like Robert DeNiro, like ‘Meet the Parents,’ all kinds of role[s], not only action-comedy.”
And when Jackie says he wants to take on “all kinds of roles” he’s not kidding. In an interview with People Chica, he said “Doing comedy for so many years, I just want to do something different. When I look at other American movies like Taken, it’s like ‘Wow, those kinds of movies are suitable for me,’ as well as some others like La La Land. I can dance, I can sing. If Pierce could do it, I think I could do Mamma Mia! too.” He added, “I want to prove I’m a real actor. I’m not [just] an action star. If a director hires me to do a slow-motion [movie], singing a song, I’d like it!”
Before you go thinking that Jackie is just talking crazy, the guy has pipes. He’s released a number of albums and has sang a lot of the theme songs for his own movies – and he’s got quite a nice voice. Here’s a quick example of his vocal stylings:
Hmm? Pretty good, right? He’s certainly much better than his Foreigner co-star, Pierce Brosnan, who mutilated an ABBA classic in Mamma Mia. I’d give Jackie a chance to showcase his musical ability. And, with all of the acrobatics he’s employed in all of his elaborate fight scenes, is there any doubt that he couldn’t dance as well?
A big screen musical isn’t the only thing on Jackie’s Hollywood bucket list, the 63-year-old actor, who won a honorary lifetime achievement Oscar at the Governors Awards last year, still wants to add a Best Actor Oscar to his collection, as he told The Hollywood Reporter:
“Right now, for me, it’s not about box office. What’s more important is the audience. I’ve been working so hard for all these years in the film business. I wanted to prove that I’m a good stunt man, I’m a good stunt coordinator, I’m a good director, I’m a good producer, that I can write. Now, I want them to say, “That Jackie, he is a good actor.” After I got a life achievement Oscar, I want to get — I hope one day to get — a best actor Oscar.”
All I have to say here is dream big, Jackie.
Photos: Getty Images, WENN.com
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