Articles - Wednesday, February 13, 2008 12:48 - 1 Comment

Jackie Chan in Around The World in 80 Days

It is a little after 11am. This is our first day on set. One thing that I am excited about apart from the fact that we are on a Jackie Chan film set is that we are in Germany too. I have been to Germany a couple of times before but only as a stop over before connecting to another flight. From my own experience and Jackie Chan knowledge I know very well that Jackie is HUGE in Germany! In fact I receive many e-mails and letters from German Jackie Chan fans most days! It will be interesting to see how the fans treat him here…

The set is an abandoned slaughterhouse just on the outskirts of Berlin’s city centre! It’s filthy inside! I should have perhaps checked the location in more detail before pulling up in the car - I feel somewhat overdressed shall we say!

One thing I am impressed about before we drive onto the set location is the security. Having been on numerous films sets before I have marvelled how easy it has been sometimes to just walk on but in this case of Around the World in 80 Days it has proved very impressive.

On this particular set you have to drive through a main entrance first of all which comprises of a couple of chaps with walkie-talkies. “Let’s see how easy we get in!â€? I tell Rebecca as we pull up to the main gates…

Our car is stopped dead in its tracks as soon as we bank into the entrance and then asked who we are and what we want. From my past eight years experience of ‘Jackie Chan Worldwide Film Sets’ I know that it’s always a good idea to bring along a few copies of the supreme mag! In most cases, if you just say, “I am here to see Jackie Chan!â€? it usually does nothing for you…

Upon entering the main entrance, we wind down the car window and show the security guys a copy of Screen Power. They take the magazine and then speak into their walkie-talkies in their native German tongue and after a few minutes we are ushered on through to the main car pack not too far up ahead.

If I was asked what Jackie Chan Film had the worst security then I would have to say, Shanghai Knights shooting in Greenwich, London. On that particular set over two days in the summer of 2002 - anybody could and did walk onto the set and take photos galore!

The car pack is huge - although on closer inspection it isn’t a car park but just a big concrete wasteland surrounding a huge warehouse which must be the abandoned slaughterhouse…

The weather is really beautiful today - shame they are filming indoors, I bet Jackie is thinking the same thing! Today will be our first time meeting the films Publicist Julia. Up until now she has been so nice and helpful to us - sometimes Publicists for films are not so nice and not so helpful…

Soon enough we meet Julia and make our first impressions of her - our first impressions last through to the day we leave - she is great! A real pleasure to work with…

This will also be our first time seeing Jackie here in Berlin although we have been here three days already. Quite understandably though, while we have been sightseeing and enjoying the sun - Jackie has been working hard and pretty much non-stop! Time for us to get down to some work too!

As soon as we hook up with Julia we walk down to the sets main entrance… it takes around ten minutes to walk from where the car is parked to where the set is… We pass a number of motor homes on our way, it is easy to identify Jackie’s as not only is it the biggest but also there is a Mitsubishi Pajero parked outside it! A few smaller motor homes are situated next to Jackie’s with various “JC Teamâ€?, “JC Action, Power, Sportâ€? stickers on… these are no doubt for Jackie’s Stunt Team…

On the way to the sets main entrance there are also various food and drink tables… we stop for a quick coffee before we go on in… As with all Jackie Chan film sets and no doubt any film set in general - as soon as we walk in we get numerous stares and looks from the crew… This is quite usual and I think it is the case that we are the strangers in their environment… This has always been the case! I guess they are just curious as it is almost a family atmosphere on set for them and working together for over three months and then suddenly receive unknown visitors… In these cases one can only smile back at all who stare!

We walk onto the set and it is all hustle and bustle… One thing you automatically feel inside when you get onto a set is that you are in the way as crew are working all around you so the best

thing to do, and I am an expert at this now, is to look for a unique little part of the set behind the cameras and monitors and out of the way of the crew - if you look hard enough on a set you will always find at least one suitable place - this is what I call the “Safe Placeâ€? - and this is where you can take off your jacket and put down any belongings and observe all the glory…

I clock a great “Safe Placeâ€? over the far corner of the set behind all the hustle and bustle and when I get closer I get a nice surprise as two familiar faces are already there! Osumi Yahagi, Jackie’s P.A. and Diana Weng, Jackie’s Dialogue Coach. Osumi is giving Diana a shoulder massage in between all our talking… Osumi tells Diana that she remembers me as a young boy! I tell Osumi that was many years ago in 1997 on location in Rotterdam, Holland, for Benny Chan Muk-sing’s Who Am I and so much for being a young boy! Next year I will turn 30… although I am still a young boy heart and by nature, of course…

by Richard Cooper.

For the rest of the interview please see SCREEN POWER VOL. 5, ISSUE 5