June 18, 2007

Transcripts From The Forbidden Kingdom Press Conference

On Thursday, June 14, 2007, the first official press conference for The Forbidden Kingdom was held at Hengdian Studios in China. During the event, Jackie talked about having to wait so many years to work with Jet Li, about how wonderfully the two of them got along, and about his desire to help promote China as a place for filmmakers from all over the world to work. Jet Li presented Jackie with an Honorary Chairmanship to his One Foundation, and several of the American crew talked about their experiences on this production. Below you can read a transcript of comments from Producer Casey Silver, actor Michael Angarano, and Director Rob Minkoff:

Casey Silver (Producer):

Good morning everyone. I just want to say how honored I am to be producing this movie. For me and for the filmmakers making this movie, it’s a celebration of Chinese popular culture and Chinese cinema. I feel we are lucky and honored to have a cast with Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Liu Yi Fei, Collin Chou, Li Bing Bing, and of course Michael Angarano.

Also we have the privilege of working with great artists: cinematographer Peter Pau and action director Woo Ping all under the direction of Rob Minkoff who directed The Lion King. I’d like to qualify that the story we are telling is not based on Journey to the West. It is a story that takes from all of the elements of popular culture and Chinese cinema through the imagination of an American boy. Through his experience with all things Chinese, he grows to become a man and learns to dream, even of kung fu.

Michael Angarano (Jason)

Ni hao. I would like to talk about how honored I am to be a part of a project such as The Forbidden Kingdom. I had never been to Asia before; this is my first time and my own journey that I’m going through as an actor is very similar to that of my character’s journey in the film. I was able to train for two weeks with Master Woo Ping before the film and then once I started the actual film, I was able to learn from Jackie and Jet some more techniques and I learned more about the real philosophy of martial arts. It’s everyone’s dream I think to have this experience with these people in a place like this, so I’m trying my best to experience it to the best of my abilities. Xie xie.

Rob Minkoff (Director):

First of all I want to thank all of you for being here and of course thank everyone on the stage for joining me on this adventure. The first time I came to China was in 1997, so it’s been 10 years since I’ve first been here. And in that time, China has gone through so many incredible changes. When you drive down the street and you see construction cranes, literally hundreds of them, and buildings going up everywhere, it’s understandable that China is on the minds of the entire world. With the Olympics coming up, there is so much excitement and enthusiasm and I not only share that excitement, but I’m so honored to work here, to be here and to work with all of the incredible, the best Chinese filmmakers working today. Jackie told me a story that he and Jet have talked for maybe 15 years about working together. So this dream, this vision that they had so long ago has finally become reality and I’m honored to be a part of it. Thank you.