since Russell Wong is american raised, it would have been interesting for him to be the lead character, and have Jet Li be the loyal Lieutenant of Han.. it would have been less of a drastic leap for him to fall for the Trish character..
it's too bad his own career has been generally limited to backup roles..
"With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility"
Stan Lee, 1962
Good question!
Honestly, they probably knew that Jet Li would be more of a box office draw
I totally agree. He's a lot more handsome and charismatic as well, and I say so with all due respect for Mr. Li.
shareBecause he wasn't hot property like Li. Li was the main draw. Without him, no one would have gone to see a movie with a DMX cameo.
Wong is definitely a better actor though.
It seems to me that Asians like Joan Chen, Lucy Liu, John Lone, and John Cho who were born and live in Asia before coming to the USA seem to land good parts and manage to have good acting careers while those Asian Americans like Russell Wong who were born and breed in the USA have a hard time having a steady acting career and landing good parts that would help turn them into superstars.
shareErr...Lucy Liu was born in Queens...
"Don't BS me, don't soft sell it"
"I killed someone"
"Ok maybe you can soft sell it a little bit"
"It seems to me that Asians like Joan Chen, Lucy Liu, John Lone, and John Cho who were born and live in Asia before coming to the USA seem to land good parts and manage to have good acting careers while those Asian Americans like Russell Wong who were born and breed in the USA have a hard time having a steady acting career and landing good parts that would help turn them into superstars."
I disagree with you there. There are plenty of successful asian american actors who've been working for years and decades like Sandra Oh (Canadian) and Ken Jeong, Paul Chan, Ian Anthony Dale, Rosalind Chao, Mark Dacascos, Margaret Cho, Tia Carrere, James Hong (who is arguably one of the most successful asian actors in Hollywood is US-born), Lucy Lui, Will Yun Lee. The list of successful asian americans actors is endless. And that doesn't even include actors/actresses like Keanu Reeves, Rob Schneider, Kelly Hu and the girl from Nikita who are of mixed asian heritages.
John Cho could be considered more asian american than asian because he moved to the US as a child.
I'm trying to picture Russel Wong playing Han he is handsome but I think he was great playing a bad guy. I was watching the DVD yesterday and the making of the movie the guy that did the movie I think he casted Jet Li because he was hot at the time.
shareYes I like Russel, but I don't think he speaks mandarin well, although I'm just basing that on his lines in The Mummy 3.
also, in his fight scenes, he moves a lot slower than Jet, especially in the wide shots.
therefore the character of Han would have to be changed. Much more speaking, less action, since obviously english isn't a foreign language to Russel. Maybe make the movie more of a rom-com...
Tia Carrere is a Philippina, dimwit.
share... it's too bad his own career has been generally limited to backup roles..He was pretty good in this. You might well have thought he'd have used it as a stepping stone to bigger things, but it hasn't really happened.🐭 share
He was pretty good in this. You might well have thought he'd have used it as a stepping stone to bigger things, but it hasn't really happened.🐭
to simply put it. its because Li is a better actor as well as a better martial artist
shareThis movie was made to introduce American audiences to Jet Li, so having Wong play the lead would have defeated that purpose and effectively turn the film into another Lethal Weapon 4.
shareRussell was so hot
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