Why did you want to make "Kiss of the Dragon"?
I wanted to make a movie with strong characters. The story - not martial arts - came first. I didn't want a big super-hero saving the day, he had to be a real person. He may have very special skills but he's vulnerable. A lot of the audience complained about the fighting in "Romeo Must Die". They said it was fake, that it was no good. My hardcore fans said I could do much better than that. So, I decided to go back to old-style fighting: no cable, no computers!
Do you prefer to play the good guy or the bad guy?
Bad guys are easy to play because they don't care about the other person, they just care about themselves. It's just selfish! The good guy is tough. You have to care and you need more depth.
Why did you turn down the chance to appear in the "Matrix" sequels?
The Wachowski brothers are friends of mine and they wrote a small, unique part for me in part 3. I thought, The film is still going to be successful, so why did they need Jet Li? We don't want to see one action movie with everybody in it. The audience won't know who to choose! Right now, you can see Jackie Chan in "Rush Hour 2" or Jet Li in "Kiss of the Dragon".
Are you afraid of anything?
I'm scared of dogs, heights, I don't know how to swim... a lot of things really. Despite the fact I've trained in martial arts since I was young, the character is the hero. Jet Li is not a hero. He's just a normal guy whose job is a martial artist.
"Kiss of the Dragon" opens in the UK on Friday 9th November 2001.
