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Jet Li in Hollywood: how the martial arts superstar fared in America with films like Romeo Must Die and The One
- Li joined an exodus to Hollywood of Hong Kong movie talent in the late 1990s that included Jackie Chan, John Woo, and Chow Yun-fat
- He made enjoyable action movies such as Romeo Must Die, but never got the chance to show the full range of his kung fu skills or his acting chops there
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There was an exodus of top Hong Kong talent to Hollywood in the late 1990s, and Jet Li Lianjie joined filmmakers and actors such as John Woo, Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-fat, who hoped to forge an international career from a base in the United States.
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Li did manage to establish himself in America, but he was never given roles that allowed him to fulfil his potential, either as a martial artist or actor. What’s more, the action and martial arts scenes in his US films do not come close to matching those of his Hong Kong films.
Li made his US debut in 1998, as a villain in Warner Bros’ Lethal Weapon 4, a continuation of the successful action franchise starring Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. His success in that film – market research apparently showed that he was a hit with female audiences as well as male viewers – led to his first leading role, in the custom-made action film Romeo Must Die.
Joel Silver, Romeo’s producer, asked Li to appear in The Matrix sequels, for which Li’s friend Yuen Woo-ping was handling action choreography. But Li turned it down, reportedly because the fee he was offered was significantly lower that of the non-Asian stars. Average but often enjoyable action movies like French-US co-production Kiss of the Dragon and The One, discussed below, followed.
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