Li Lian Jie, or Jet Li as he's known today, was born April 26th, 1963 in Heibei, Beijing, China. At the tender age of two, his father passed away and the young Li was left to take care of his mother. As with most women who lose their husbands, she was extremely overprotective of her son. In fact, she wouldn't even let him ride a bicycle. This type of strict parenting resulted in Jet Li becoming very timid and fearful.
To combat what she saw as negative traits in her son, Jet Li's mother enrolled him in an amateur sports school in Beijing to learn the martial art of wushu. Training under the watchful eye of coach Wu Bin, Li quickly established himself as the most talented student in the class. During this stage of his life, he acquired the nickname "Jet" for his blazing speed.
Still, the physical and mental strains of wushu began to wear on Li and he seriously considered quitting during his first year in the program. Coach Wu Bin, recognizing an almost limitless potential in the child, personally asked for Li to remain in the program and offered to give him special attention. No one could have imagined what was yet to come.
In 1974, at the age of 11, Jet entered the National Wushu Championships and was crowned all-around Champion for his mastery of spearplay and swordplay. Almost overnight, he became a sensation in China as a sort of child prodigy. Rather than let the fame get to his head, Li plunged himself back into a rigorous training schedule with Bin.
That work resulted in championships in 1975, 1977 and 1978. Finally, in 1979, Li received his highest achievement in martial arts when he was crowned Gold Champion at the Chinese National Martial Arts Competition. To this date no other man has won more titles.
Jet Li's celebrity in China was so great, that the government selected him to represent the country in over 45 countries by performing martial arts at various state functions. The most famous, in terms of history, was his 1974 performance on the lawn of the Whitehouse for President Richard Nixon, after he had just reopened American diplomatic relations with China.
During this period of diplomatic travel, Li was asked the same question at virtually every stop: "When are you going to star in kung fu movies?" Since the success of the legendary Bruce Lee, it was a given that a martial arts master would eventually make a move to the silver screen. And Jet Li was no exception. Li's first foray into film was 1981's Shaolin Temple, in which he played a man who sets out to avenge the murderer of his father, with the help of kung fu skills and monks.
Shot on location in Hu Nam Province, the film featured the real Shaolin Temple. Yet again, Li was part of history as the movie was the first film to be released worldwide that showcased China's red curtain. Upon its release, it broke all kinds of box-office records in Hong Kong, China and Korea.
The success of Shaolin Temple propelled Li from a mere martial arts master to a full-fledged Chinese movie star and celebrity, almost overnight. His star shone so bright that almost any picture with his name attached became an instant success. Kids From Shaolin and Martial Arts of Shaolin, Jet's second and third films respectively, also enjoyed box-office success despite less than favorable critical reviews.
Like all movie stars, Jet Li then fell into the bust part of the boom-and-bust trajectory of big screen success. He directed and starred in Born to Defend, a World War II epic that fared miserably, both critically and financially. No longer was Jet Li such a marketable actor, and few studios would allow him to make any film that didn't feature him in a role similar to his first three films.
Frustrated and dejected, Jet began trying to gain US citizenship, which he hoped would allow him the artistic freedom denied him in China. On one of his frequent trips to the West, he met Tsui Hark, who cast him in the historical martial arts film, 1991's Once Upon a Time in China. The film was a massive global success with critics and fans, so much so that it spawned two successful sequels, both starring Li.
Again he became the most in-demand star in China, and movie studios began a bidding war for his services; a war that claimed the life of his personal manager, Jim Choy, who was shot to death in Kowloon allegedly because Li refused to star in an unscrupulous Triad (China's most powerful organized crime syndicate) production.
Jet Li's Midas touch seemed to return as he starred in a string of highly successful and profitable films throughout the early '90s. He established himself as mainland China's biggest star (and one of Asia's biggest, along with Jackie Chan), a title he has yet to relinquish.
The opportunity to expand his fame outside of China's borders came when Miramax enlisted Quentin Tarantino to help them develop a project to rival the success of Jackie Chan's crossover hit, Rumble in the Bronx. Tarantino had exactly one name on his list: Jet Li.
Unfortunately, the collaboration between the two never came to fruition, but Li's name began appearing in the Hollywood trade papers and he soon found himself inundated with scripts and development deals. When the dust settled, he had to choose between Jean-Claude Van Damme's Knock Off or Lethal Weapon 4. Wisely, Li selected the latter where he capably played a villain and instantly proved that he was a star that Hollywood could work with.
Since his American debut, Jet has appeared in films like Romeo Must Die (apparently, Jet Li was originally cast as the lead in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which eventually went to Chow Yun-Phat, but he turned it down to star in the modern and loose adaptation of Romeo and Juliet), The One and Kiss of the Dragon, which co-starred Bridget Fonda. Currently, he has plans to work with Oliver Stone and is hoping that his production company will get the chance to put together a big budget American martial arts film.
The timid boy from Beijing has met presidents, dominated box offices across the globe, and worked with some of the biggest movie stars. Even a man as determined and modest as Jet Li cannot deny that it's a nice start.
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