The “Rush Hour” actor discussed with GQ how in the East Asian film industry, several action stars had come and gone. To be memorable and relevant year after year was a challenging task, and Chan thinks in order to do that, every performer needs to change and dabble in different kinds of films. Like Sylvester Stallone, who Chan seems to look up to.
“If I’m [to] continue on in the film industry … I have to change. Otherwise, you gone. You see—in Japan. Korea. America. China. Hong Kong. How many action star all gone? Only few can stay. Stallone’s different. He’s a legend. Other action stars already gone.”
Chan also detailed how stars like Clint Eastwood, Al Pacino, and Robert De Niro had taken over multiple roles in the film industry — they’d all gone from acting to directing to producing films. It’s something that interests Chan too.
“So that’s why I’m looking for different script, different character, different Jackie Chan. I want the audience look at Jackie Chan as an actor. Not the action star. Actor who can fight. Look at Clint Eastwood. If he continue to ‘Make my day’? Gone. So he change to directing. He change some other things. Look at Al Pacino. Robert De Niro. I wanna be an Asian Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino.”