Word: actions
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...that their careers have outlasted those of Western action stars? Chan has been in nearly 100 films since he did bit parts as a child actor. Li's been making movies nonstop for 26 years. Shouldn't their bodies, let alone their audiences, have given up by now? Steven Seagal made fewer than 20 features. Jean-Claude Van Damme had about a decade's worth of wide releases. Arnold Schwarzenegger managed 20 years of action stardom, and he's considered the gold standard...
Then there's the work. Contrast Chan's and Li's homemade, our-pain-for-your-gain, almost literally death-defying feats with those of Hollywood action stars from the same generation. Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris--they all looked fit and muscular, and some had martial-arts backgrounds. But when it came time to do the heavy lifting, especially as they reached midcareer, the doubles were usually called...
...that these men lacked the guts to put themselves in danger but that they worked in a system in which that sort of bravado wasn't necessary or even allowed. Hong Kong saw action realism as a badge of honor; Hollywood was the fantasy factory. And its action-film stars were such valuable commodities, they had to be handled like preemies. The studios were breeding these men for 20-to-30-year careers. Let them perform their most daring stunts? Nah, we have people who do that...
Today these one-time Hollywood studs are only occasionally doing action films, or they are working in the direct-to-DVD subbasement, or they have retired to government service. And Chan, 30 years after he became an East Asian star with Drunken Master, still has a two-continent career: Cantonese-language films at home, the Rush Hour movies here. Li, who became a Hong Kong superstar with the Once upon a Time in China series, segued to the West with hit movies in Hollywood (Romeo Must Die) and France (Fearless...
...Chan went to live and learn at a draconian martial-arts school. By 11, Li was the star of China's junior wushu team; in 1974 he performed on the White House lawn for President Nixon. So Chan's and Li's real ages, in Hong Kong action-movie years, are about 108 and 90, respectively. It's amazing that these guys can lift a fork, let alone a foot...