Jet Li was in Philippines recently to shoot Hero, the new television commercial of San Miguel Beer, which premiered on local TV over the weekend. Perhaps the most ambitious campaign of the country’s most popular beer brand, this TVC starring the iconic kung fu master and star of such blockbusters as ‘Romeo Must Die’, ‘Cradle To The Grave’, ‘Hero’, ‘Fearless’ and ‘The One’ is also set for release in Hong Kong, mainland China, and the rest of Asia. He recently shared his thoughts on this new project, his movies, his being a hero to those in need, and his coming “home” to the Philippines. Here are excerpts of that interview. What are your thoughts about coming to the Philippines to shoot the beer ad? Jet Li: After 31 years, I am back again and I’m very happy because I met a lot of people. Everybody smiles, everybody works very hard. And it’s very nice, you know, a lot of Filipinos work in Hong Kong and everywhere I go, they’re always smiling, they want to take pictures. I’m very happy because they have always inspired me. That’s why I feel very good that I can come back to home. Filipinos have had a long love affair with martial-arts movies. Did you have any idea you were so popular here? First time I came here—I was very young—for a gongfu (kung fu) demonstration. So I had an idea that Filipinos also embraced the art. As for movies, I have always been very grateful to (the) Philippines. It holds a special place in my heart because this is one of the first countries outside China to accept me. That’s why I say I feel good coming back to home. We heard that you got your screen name “Jet Li” from the Philippines. What is the story behind this? Yes! That’s another connection I have with your country. My Chinese name is Li Lian Jie. Everybody knows that in China, the family name comes first, so when they first translated it to English, my name became Lian Jie Li. My first movie came out in 1982. In the Philippines, a certain company bought the rights to distribute the movie. When they were doing the publicity, they saw “Lian Jie Li,” they thought the name was too hard to pronounce; it wasn’t catchy enough. “Why do we need the ‘Lian’?” they said. So they took off the “Lian.” They felt that “Jie Li” would be easier for people to remember. Then someone said that my career was like a plane with a big engine, because it could take off so quickly! “This kid from China makes a single movie, suddenly everybody in Asia knows who he is. Maybe we need to change the ‘Jie’ too!” Big engine, very fast, very powerful—whoosh!—Jet. It was an interesting comparison. So they put “Jet Li” on the movie poster. Soon everybody was calling me by this new name. What can Jet Li fans expect from you? Any new movies? I have two movies coming out soon, one is called ‘Rogue’, co-starring Jason Statham, where I play an assassin. The other is ‘Warlords’, with Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro. It is a movie based on the assassination of General Ma Xin Yi set during the Qing Dynasty. Right now, I’m also working on a movie called ‘Forbidden Kingdom’ with Jackie Chan. This is the first time that we will be working together. We are both very excited. Are you familiar with the San Miguel Beer brand? Of course! Everybody knows about San Miguel Beer in Hong Kong! If you live in Hong Kong, you’ll know what I mean. The commercials are everywhere. There are big billboards. When I was little I already knew San Miguel. But I didn’t realize it was made in the Philippines! I thought it was a product from Hong Kong because there’s a big factory there. So I’m very happy to be part of the San Miguel commercial, and I hope in the future we have more things to do. We understand you are now so involved in charity work? Yes. In China I started The One Foundation, also in America and Hong Kong. I hope one day in the Philippines. I truly believe the world is one large family. You have different religions, different politics, different cultures, but we are people living in one and the same earth. And we need to help each other, especially right now because we can, because the world (has) become smaller because of technology. Tell us more about the One Foundation. The idea is that everyone will donate $1, join the family, and help each other. I just started now and I have a lot of work in China. A lot of major stars like Jackie Chan, Chow Yun Fat have become one in here (the project). So I hope after starting in China, in the future, it will grow throughout Asia and we can help more people. Someday, maybe even the world. Source: Manilatimes, asianbite
wow, I didn't know he's making three movies. That's awesome. I thought I heard that Fearless was his last movie, but I'm glad to hear that he's making more b/c I absolutely love his movies. I look forward to the one with Andy Lau and the other one with Jackie Chan!!! Can't wait!!!
I think that "Rogue" Movie is actually call War in the U.S. but still that warlords movie with andy lau and takeshi sounds pretty cool
