Steven Spielberg is a filmmaker that many actors aspire to work with, including action star Jackie Chan. But when Chan asked to be a part of one of Spielberg’s biggest franchises, Chan claimed he didn’t get the desired response.
Jackie Chan has always wanted to work with Steven Spielberg
Chan has never minced words when it came to his admiration for director Steven Spielberg. Spielberg was less than a handful of filmmakers who Chan would’ve worked with for free if he needed to. George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, and James Cameron were other directors he would’ve been fine collaborating with without pay.
“I want to find out what happen, my action and their technology,” Chan once told The New York Times.
Chan would finally get the opportunity to meet the Oscar-winning filmmaker for a project Spielberg had in mind.
“Well, at first my manager told me about this DreamWorks movie by Steven Spielberg and said, he wants to meet you. So I said, O.K. When I came to Hollywood, there were two people I wanted to meet. One was Steven Spielberg and the second one was George Lucas.” Chan once said in an interview with Tribute.
In the end, Chan was pleasantly surprised to discover how down-to-Earth his idol was.
“When I met Spielberg I was so excited, but he was just like a normal person. But what made me so happy was the first time that he saw me, he held out his hand and said, ‘Jackie, hi, can you give me your autograph because my son just loves you,’” Chan recalled.
Jackie Chan once claimed Steven Spielberg refused to cast him in ‘Jurassic Park’
Jurassic Park is one of Spielberg’s most popular and iconic sci-fi franchises. He directed the first film and its sequel The Lost World before handing off the franchise for other filmmakers to handle. The series is known for pitting its scientifically bred dinosaurs against an ensemble of A-list actors. At one point, Chan would’ve liked to be recruited to take on the extinct species.
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“I want to walk with dinosaurs. This kind of movie is one audience,” he once said according to Black Film.
But when asked if Chan told Spielberg about his Jurassic Park aspirations, Chan claimed that Spielberg turned down the idea.
“He said No! What we like you in is Jackie Chan action. That’s what we like,” Chan said.
Jackie Chan wouldn’t have done ‘The Tuxedo’ if it wasn’t for Steven Spielberg
It turns out that the film Chan and Spielberg originally met for was The Tuxedo, which saw Chan as a suit-wearing super spy. Spielberg would be attached to the project as an executive producer. Chan shared that Spielberg was his only real motivation for doing the movie. Otherwise, the actor might have avoided it.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that this film was made by Steven Spielberg’s company [DreamWorks], I wouldn’t have done this,” Chan once said in an interview with Jae-Ha Kim. “But I trust them. I wanted to do this movie because it was different from the scripts I usually get. My character wasn’t a policeman or a martial arts expert. In Asia, I made whatever movie I wanted to. But in America, all the scripts I receive are about the police, police, police! I read this script and thought it would be fun.”
Chan explained that the film’s performance would indicate where he’d take his career going forward.
“I want to know how the audience reacts to this kind of movie,” he continued. “I have to see if they like seeing special effects or if they’re disappointed. Then I’ll know the future of where I’m headed.”
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