Jackie Chan did not want to become an action star, The Karate Kid helped him change perception: ‘I wanted to be like Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman’

Whenever there are jaw-dropping stunts and intricate fight sequences involved in a Hollywood film and a certain ‘Mr Tom Cruise’ isn’t running across your screen, chances are that you are watching a Jackie Chan movie. Even though the actor goes hand in hand with action and will be seen showing off his fighting chops in the upcoming Karate Kid: Legends, Jackie didn’t want this correlation to exist. The actor revealed in an interview that he always wanted to be considered a serious actor who could also fight and revealed actors who influenced him in his career.

At the red carpet for the Karate Kid: Legends premiere, Jackie talked about working alongside Ralph Macchio and also revealed how he got cast for his role as Mr Han back in 2010. “When I was young, I watched The Karate Kid, and at that time I used to think, ‘Why Ralph and not me? Even I can do that role.’ A couple of years later, Will Smith called me and told me he wanted to remake The Karate Kid. I told him that I’m not that young anymore; he clarified that he wanted me to play the role of the teacher and not the ‘kid’. Jackie played the role of the teacher that teaches young Dre Parker (played by Jaden Smith) Kung-Fu in order to defend himself from bullies.

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He added that the role couldn’t have come at a better time because he wanted to change how people perceived him. “It was a great opportunity for me because I did not want to be an action star. I wanted to be perceived as an actor who could fight, so that’s why I got involved with the series, and I spent almost 10 years trying to change that thinking in people’s minds, that I am not just an action star but a serious actor like Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman.” Though the 2010 movie had a few scenes which had Jackie in action, it was a much more layered role than that and gave him the opportunity to do something extra with the character.

Karate Kid: Legends is releasing in India on May 31, and the cast of the film includes Jackie Chan, Ralph Macchio, Ben Wang, Sadie Stanley and Aramis Knight. The Hindi dub of the film will feature actor Ajay Devgn voicing Jackie Chan’s character, and his son Yug Devgn will be lending his voice to the character played by Ben Wang.