by Katharine Schroeder

Wishes do come true, even little ones.  My last visit to the set of Jackie’s new movie included climbing nine flights of stairs and I secretly hoped I wouldn’t have to do that again any time soon.  Happily, that wish was fulfilled.  The location for this nighttime shoot was the wholesale fruit market in Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, an easy walk from the MTR station. 

My colleague Fibe and I arrived at the market at about 9:30 PM on a chilly night in January.  The fruit market was dark and deserted except for the film crew, the actors, and a few visitors.  During the day the market is bustling with sellers and buyers noisily bargaining on prices and trucks picking up and delivering cases of every kind of fruit imaginable.   But that night it felt eerie and almost menacing so I stayed close to where everybody was and didn’t engage in my usual wandering.     

When we arrived Jackie was just heading in to the small area cleared for a makeup table and dressing room.  He immediately spotted baby Matthew and headed straight for him to begin his ritual of kissing, cooing, and hugging.  Matthew burst into tears. 

“Poor Jackie,” I thought as I held my hand up in front of my face to hide my grin.  I needn’t have wasted my sympathy since Jackie wasn’t the least bit put off by Matthew’s reaction.  He told Matthew’s mom to bring the baby into the dressing room so Jackie could visit with him while his hair and makeup were being done.  I had to give Jackie credit – he was determined to get Matthew to be comfortable with him and worked pretty hard at it.  It was amusing to watch all the different methods Jackie applied to make Matthew more at ease with him. 

As I watched them together it occurred to me that to Matthew, Jackie was just a person.  Not an international superstar.  Not a martial arts master or a UNICEF Ambassador or a successful businessman.  He was just a guy.  And he had just as much chance for Matthew’s approval as any other person who Matthew happened to meet.  As I walked away to go wander around a bit, I turned and saw Matthew looking into Jackie’s eyes and at that moment I felt sure that they had come to an understanding. 

I kept my wanderings close and ended up meeting some very interesting people.  Right outside the dressing room area, I noticed what appeared to be several families with children in tow.  Turns out that the kids were the cousins of Mei Li, the baby who was on the set to serve as Matthew’s stand-in (there is also a “stunt-baby” – a lifelike doll, which you see in some of the photos in this story).  I will tell you more about these amazing children later. 

There was a lot going on – one woman was steaming the wrinkles out of some clothing and another was arranging cups and kettles on a cart.  She was the Tea Lady, and her job was to keep everyone supplied with warm drinks.  I spoke to Mei Li’s family, but I confess that I got completely confused trying to figure out which baby or child came with which adult – eventually I just gave up and tried to at least remember all their names.  Turns out that wouldn’t be an easy task since they had Japanese, Chinese, and French names.  I sighed and made a mental note to practice all those “How to Remember Someone's Name” techniques I’d read about in the past. 

Fibe and I took a walk around the corner from the makeup area to have a look at the set.  I won’t tell you what I saw because I don’t want to spoil the movie for you!  But of course there were lots of bright lights, reflectors, wires, microphones, monitors, and people.  It was a very busy area and I decided that the best place for me was anywhere but there.  I really didn’t want to be responsible for tripping on a wire and starting a chain reaction which would bring down the whole lighting setup. 

Back at the dressing room, Jackie was still sitting having his hair and makeup done.  He overheard me trying out some Cantonese on a few of the people in the room and immediately launched into a lesson. Jackie is a very demanding teacher.  He would not settle for anything less than perfect in my pronunciation.  He patiently explained how to turn a statement in Chinese into a question and I told him that it was very difficult to stop automatically raising my voice at the end of a question as I do in English.  I admit that not everything he attempted to teach me stuck, but one very important thing did – how to pronounce the word “I” in Cantonese.  That was something that I just couldn’t get straight but after Jackie made me repeat it 1,954 or so times, I finally got it and now I will always remember it.  Seems like a small thing, but just imagine trying to get through your day without being able to pronounce the word “I.” 

Once Jackie finished with hair and makeup and had something to eat, it was time to head over to another section of the fruit market where the filming would take place.  It was there that I got to know two really terrific kids, Lika and her brother Yohji.  They were thrilled to be visiting the set and believe me when I tell you that both Jackie and I were thrilled that they were there.  As I mentioned earlier, Lika and Yohji were cousins of Matthew’s stand-in, Mei Li.  Lika is eleven years old and Yohji is eight. 

They live in Hong Kong, but enjoy a wonderfully diverse heritage:  their father is Japanese, their mother is French/Chinese, and their stepfather is French.  As a result, they are able to speak English and French fluently.  But Lika speaks FIVE languages:  Japanese, English, French, Mandarin, and a little Cantonese.  She understands much more Cantonese than she speaks, she said.  I spent time chatting with Lika and Yohji while their uncle went to check on Mei Li. 

They had lots of questions about what was going on around them so I took them over to look at the monitors so they could see what was being filmed and what had been filmed just moments before.  They were both fascinated and since I am also new at all this, I shared their enthusiasm completely.  After the scene was shot, Jackie noticed me talking to the kids and he came over.  He had met them earlier, but didn’t know about Lika’s amazing ability at language until I told him.  And boy was he impressed.  He just couldn’t get over the fact that Lika knew five languages; he immediately tried out each one on her and to his delight, she replied in kind.  

Jackie disappeared and returned moments later with his assistant Osumi in tow.  Osumi speaks Japanese, so she spoke to Lika for a few moments while Jackie ran to and fro telling everyone the news!  Lika was a little overwhelmed by all the attention, but she handled it with the grace of someone much older than eleven.  

While Jackie was off telling Benny Chan about Lika, I told her that she had done something remarkable, really.  She had impressed Jackie Chan.  I told her that Jackie had met presidents and astronauts and every kind of dignitary in the world, so I didn’t think it would be easy to impress him.  But she had done it.  We were still talking when Jackie bounded back over and insisted that I take a photo for you to see. In the photo he is giving Lika the thumbs up and holding five fingers out to signify the five languages.  

Later, after we watched a few more scenes being filmed and Fibe had recorded Jackie’s diary with him, we decided to leave.  It was very late at night and there didn’t seem to be any signs of anyone stopping work, so we said goodbye and headed home.

Photos:  ©2005 The JC Group

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