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SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Actor and kung fu expert Jet Li says he's given up the martial arts genre for more sensitive fare, Shanghai newspapers reported Monday.
Li told students at elite Fudan University his coming film Fearless would be his last movie of the type since he wants to make more philosophical family oriented movies, the Youth Daily said. "I've said more than once that this will be my last martial arts film," the paper quoted Li as saying.
Fearless, the story of Chinese martial arts pioneer Huo Yuanjia, is due for release next year.
Li was on to be a national champion in Wushu, or martial arts, before starting acting at age 16. His films include more than two dozen Chinese action movies along with violent Hollywood productions such as Lethal Weapon 4 and Romeo Must Die.
Li said he started in martial arts because he wasn't considered physically suited for other sports.
"The teacher assigned everyone a sport and picked the tall students for basketball and the fast ones for athletics," he said. "Since I wasn't tall enough or fast enough, I could only do martial arts."
Li, 42, said he began taking a greater interest in spiritual matters in his mid-30s when he realized "it wasn't enough to have a strong body, you had to have a strong soul."
A practising Buddhist, Li said he now divides his time between charity work and show business.
Li said future projects could include another collaboration with French filmmaker Luc Besson, who wrote this summer's Unleashed, in which Li starred alongside Morgan Freeman and Bob Hoskins, along with Li's 2001 hit Kiss of the Dragon.
However, Li added he was in talks concerning more than 20 Hollywood productions and will "shoot whichever one comes to fruition first."
His university talk was part of a lecture series organized by the Chinese Red Cross to promote psychological health among students. |