Both films are totally different from what I've done in the past. I'm more known for R-rated action movies, where there is violence and nudity and cussing, and these are family movies. I always wondered why actors like Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger and The Rock want to do family movies and romantic movies. For thirty years, I did the same kind of movies, always being the good guy, with fights always around the corner. I never went to extremes with any of my characters. I was the the every day guy, the guy everybody is meant to identify with. Directors would try to get me to play it extreme but it wasn't what I wanted to do. In PAYING MR McGETTY I play a bad guy and a man of few words. Even though this is a martial arts action comedy, in the opening scene I kill a guy. It's really a black comedy, and I compare it to Scorsese's AFTER HOURS (1985). In THE MARTIAL ARTS KID, I am Uncle Glen, a family man who runs a dojo and wears Hawaaian shirts. Now I know why those other guys like to change things up. It was a blast.
My agent recommended I do different kinds of films, so I could show I was an actor and that I didn't have to take my shirt off in every film and fight the bad guys. I did a movie called THE LAST SENTINEL (2007), which was a sci-fi movie with no martial arts in it, and sure enough, I started getting offers to do other kinds of movies where I could just act. I found that I could do different kinds of movies and my fans would support them. I'm been acting for over thirty years now, and I am not just being hired now for my martial arts background, although I love making action movies and I will continue to make them.
Is it important for
you to maintain creative control on your movies?
Roger Corman started me
in the business and he told me ''Don, you need to take control of
your movies. '' I asked him how I would do that and he said ''You
have two contracts. You have one as an actor, which your agent
negotiates, and you have one as a producer, which your entertainment
attorney negotiates. '' So from the early 80s onwards, I got certain
mutual approvals over creative aspects of the films – the director,
the cast, the script and even the poster. Roger wanted to have a long
history with me so he didn't want me to burn myself out by making too
many movies and letting the quality slip. I've starred in over sixty
films and there's only one that I can say I'm embarassed and ashamed
to have been a part of. I'm not going to say the title because if I
do people will go out and rent it, and I don't want that!
The writer/ director
Michael Baumgarten and the producer, my brother James Wilson, are the
real creative forces behind these films. Most of my movies, and
movies in general, are rollercoaster rides and nothing more, but why
not aspire to have some kind of positive message? We snook in some
things within the context of a fun 90 minute movie. Both films are
about characters wanting to better themselves. In THE MARTIAL ARTS
KID, Robbie (Jansen Panettiere) is a teenager who wants to improve
himself by learning martial arts, and he manages to learn confidence
and skills that he can use in his everyday life. In PAYING MR
McGETTY, Tyrell (played by R. Marcos Taylor) is working
this dead-end job in order for his career as a music producer to take
off. He also wants a stable relationship. He's really as good a guy
as you can get. Tyrell finds himself in a situation with a beautiful
woman and behaves honorably. All married men should aspire to be as
good a man as Tyrell.
If you teach people how
to fight, without the morals and ethics, you are going to create
bullies. It is also best to learn as many different disciplines as
you can. Bruce Lee really believed this, and he was the first ever
mixed-martial artist. He was a philosopher above everything else. He
also believed that martial arts are only for self defence or to
defend others. These are the things both Cynthia Rothrock and I teach
to our students.
The first thing you
learn when you're a martial artist is how to bow, how to get your
'jion' right. You learn respect for the dojo. Take your shoes off.
Have clean feet. You learn certain life lessons that translate to
life outside of the dojo. You learn respect and honor, and openness
and kindness. Before you learn martial arts skills, you have to have
this core of integrity first. If you allow it, learning a martial art
will transform you and become a way of life, like it has with me.
I first met him in
Florida in the 90s, and he told me he wanted to get into the film
business. I told him that I couldn't give him a career, but I would
promise to give him his first job. He came out to L.A., and I gave
him a job as a production assistant, which is the lowliest position
on a set. Now, I'm lucky to work with the guy! He's a director, a
producer and a writer, and very talented. There are so many B-movie
comedies that are not funny, just stupid. It's difficult to make a
funny movie. Michael's comedy sense is not slapstick, it's
situational. He creates good characters and they hold your interest
throughout the movie. I love the moment when Robbie is trying to
impress the girl he likes in THE MARTIAL ARTS KID and Michael has me
squeeze the bicycle horn. It's a heartwarming, funny moment, and it
comes from strong characters, behaving in the moment.
How much of a fan are
you of THE KARATE KID (1984), with which THE MARTIAL ARTS KID shares similarities?
I love the film. That said though, it is unrealistic that Ralph Macchio would have become a champion by 'waxing on and off'! We poke a little fun at the film in THE MARTIAL ARTS KID when I tell Robbie ''You can wax on and off all you want but you're still not going to drive any of our cars. '' ROCKY (1976) is also unrealistic. I fought for twenty years as a professional kickboxer and chasing all the chickens in the world is not going to stop you from getting knocked out in the ring! I was adamant we had to be more realistic in THE MARTIAL ARTS KID, and all the stuff I teach in the movie is stuff I would teach in real life.
I love the film. That said though, it is unrealistic that Ralph Macchio would have become a champion by 'waxing on and off'! We poke a little fun at the film in THE MARTIAL ARTS KID when I tell Robbie ''You can wax on and off all you want but you're still not going to drive any of our cars. '' ROCKY (1976) is also unrealistic. I fought for twenty years as a professional kickboxer and chasing all the chickens in the world is not going to stop you from getting knocked out in the ring! I was adamant we had to be more realistic in THE MARTIAL ARTS KID, and all the stuff I teach in the movie is stuff I would teach in real life.
We weren't doing
Shakespeare so if I forgot a line here or there, we wouldn't do
another take. It was slightly improv, but we went from the script as
much as possible. Hopefully the film has a feel of being in the
moment.
How involved did you
get in planning your one action scene in the film, when you fight the
protagonist Kaine (T.J. Storm) in your traditional 'dragon' clothes?
It was my idea to have
the fight in a batting cage. Originally, it was meant to happen in
the car park, but I thought a batting cage would be more interesting.
I liked the fact that T.J.'s character gave me a bat. It showed he
still had honor. He wasn't a real bad guy.
The script is
being written now. It will be a buddy picture, and my character,
Uncle Glen, will join forces with Kaine, and we will fight against
Frank (Chuck Zito) and a character played by Sasha Mitchell, who was
the star of KICKBOXER 2 (1991) and 3 (1992).
Did you look at any
other films when preparing for your hitman role in PAYING MR McGETTY?
I looked at two films I
really like – Jean Reno in THE PROFESSIONAL (1994) and Javier Bardem in NO
COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (2007). I have a very simple wardrobe in the film, like
those guys. I'm not Tom Cruise in COLLATERAL (2004).
Part two of the interview.
You can read more about THE MARTIAL ARTS KID here. PAYING MR McGETTY will be released later this year.
Interview by Paul Rowlands. Copyright © Paul Rowlands, 2017. All rights reserved.
Part two of the interview.
You can read more about THE MARTIAL ARTS KID here. PAYING MR McGETTY will be released later this year.
Interview by Paul Rowlands. Copyright © Paul Rowlands, 2017. All rights reserved.
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