Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan star together in the remake of the 1984 film, that made Cobra Kai, the Crane Kick and the expression of “wax on, wax off” famous, The Karate Kid.
Smith plays Dre Parker, a new kid who moved to Beijing because his mom (Oscar-nominee, Tariji P. Henson) had to relocate for her job. When Dre has had enough with getting beat up by bullies, he seeks the teachings and guidance of Mr. Han (Chan), who will teach him martial arts in order to get ready for a local tournament.
Smith and Chan were in town for the movie’s press tour and The Beacon had the privilege to sit down with the two actors about their movie.
Smith got familiar with the original movie when he was offered the role by his dad, Will Smith. Chan has also seen the movie as well, he says that the movie was good but the action scenes were silly.
Smith had to train vigorously for the fight sequences he takes part in The Karate Kid.
“It was difficult because I had to train three months before shooting the film, four months during the making of the film and now I am training again which together has been a year of training,” Smith says.
Chan was interested in taking the role of Mr. Han because he always wanted to work with Will Smith.
“I love Will Smith,” Chan says. “I have known him for many years when I met him in different countries like China and Japan, but we have never [worked] together.”
At first, Chan was hesitant about Jaden’s fighting skills until his stunt team, who was working with Smith before Chan got to meet him, told Chan that Smith is good.
“I liked training Jaden because he learned martial arts and also learned to respect other people and his family,” Chan says.
Smith said his most difficult scene in the movie to film was his first on-screen kiss because he hated being told specifically how and where to position himself when he was kissing his co-star, Wenwen Han.
Chan’s most difficult scene to shoot in the movie was a car scene he shares with Smith in which he had to remember an emotional dialogue that needed to be said in perfect English.
“When you remember the dialogue, you forget acting,” Chan says. “You have to act, speak and cry at the same time and the director wants me to do it again so he can shoot in different angles.”
Chan said that he wants to be more than just an action superstar; he says he want to be the “Asian Robert DeNiro.”
“If everybody still treated me like an action star, I would not be where I am right now,” Chan says. “I want to do all kinds of different characters just like Dustin Hoffman and Al Pacino.”
Smith is hoping to make another Karate Kid movie in the near future, while Chan will be working on a movie called Chinese Zodiac where he will working on fight choreography, the screenplay and scouting the locations for the upcoming film.
The Cinematic 