During the filming of Rush Hour 3, Jackie's dialogue coach Diana Weng interviewed crew members, asking them to talk about what it was like working on the film and working with Jackie.

Gary Jay, Camera Operator

Gary is in charge of filming every scene in our film. He works closely with Brett, the director and Jimmy, the Director of Photography and sometimes the actors to figure out the best way to shoot a scene. He has been in this business since 1974 has worked on hundreds of television shows and films. Many of his films have been with the director, Michael Mann. Normally he travels by himself to work on projects. This is the first time in fifteen years that he has relocated his entire family from Texas to be here with him.

Gary and Jackie

Working on this film has been great, with Jackie and Chris. This is the first time I’ve done an action comedy. It’s fun to work on the comedy part of the action. Comedy breaks up the serious moments in filmmaking, making it fun to do. I’ve been in this business almost as long as Jackie. His experience in movie making is invaluable. He is so quick witted when it comes to set ups and angles. What he knows is incredible! I’m always impressed with what he comes up with in our film.

Betsy Heimann, Costume Designer

Betsy is responsible for creating every costume worn by an actor in the film. She has been in the business for about twenty-five years.

It’s been fantastic. I’ve had a really good time. It’s a bigger design job than I thought going in. I learned a lot about what it would be like to work with Jackie. We made all his suits. He has a standing suit, an action suit and various suits for various stunts. They all have to look the same but must accommodate his needs.

The Follies (a legendary French Theater where Jackie and Chris go to seek a clue in the mystery they are solving) was a lot of fun for me…the gangster outfits. I took the job because Brett asked me. We worked on a few films together but I’ve never done this kind of film. We started Superman but didn’t finish it. It turned out to be really exciting and challenging.

I love Jackie. I’ve never seen anybody so professional in my life. We flew from different ends around the world and met in Paris. He got on the plane at 7:30 in the morning and came straight to my hotel. He literally dropped his things off at his hotel room. He comes in, walks through the door, says bonjour, bonjour, bonjour and by the third bonjour he had all his clothes off and was ready for his fitting. We had our second fitting at 1:00 in the morning, on the same day he had just flown in. I had made corrections and had to see him again. After the fitting in the morning, I made the corrections and had to see him again. I went to the Eiffel tower. We were on the top because they were location scouting. A few children recognized him. He was so nice, humble and generous with his time. 

But suddenly, all the tourists made a beeline for him and we were going to be mobbed. Someone threw us in the fire escape and we had to walk all the way down from the Eiffel tower. When we got to the bottom, he said to me, I told you it was dangerous here, why are you here! I told him, I’m trying to do my job!

When we were at the top of the Eiffel Tower, I saw him wear these fabulous jeans. I said, Jackie, what about those jeans? He said, They’re Jackie Chan jeans. I said, Well, if I could have a version, could I have your jeans for the movie? So Dorothy, Osumi and I collaborated on these Rush Hour 3 jeans, we collaborated on it via email, samples and the Jackie Chan clothing line made them especially for this film. The next day I left and he stayed for scouting.

Marty Kitrosser, Script Supervisor

Marty has written and directed a couple of feature films. He’s worked on dozens of television shows and films and has been in the business over twenty years. He’s from Springfield, Massachusetts, which he says is the birthplace of basketball and Dr. Seuss. He’s worked on every one of Quentin Tarantino’s films.

JC with Marty

I do many things. The job description is that I make sure the action matches between shots. The continuity of the entire film is my main duty. We shoot a film out of continuity (out of time order). We don’t shoot the first scene first or the second scene, second. Over a period of five months, we shoot scenes all out of order. Someone has to be completely responsible for what was shot three months ago. If we shoot the actors walking into a building then, we have to know now, what they are doing in the building. Who walks first? Someone has to be fully in charge. I’m also the director’s right hand person, the director’s other set of eyes. I follow the dialogue to make sure actors do their dialogue correctly or change it to what it becomes, so we could do it from shot to shot.

I‘m the liaison between the editor and the director. I’m the only one who knows what every shot is, what we did in very shot, what the number of every shot is and the action of every shot. I record all that. I’m the only one who can tell the editor what the director wanted for that scene. I have to facilitate that. You know I sit with the director all day and I feel like I’m not the director’s assistant, but I assist the director in getting his or her vision from the screen.

I’m enjoying everything about this film except the long hours. Every movie has its own stress. I like that it’s a comedy and it’s fun being around, seeing humorous action and dialogue onscreen brought to life, but the business has long hours. Every business has its stresses.

I love Jackie. I haven’t had the chance to know him intimately but from what I’ve heard about him, it is all true. He’s an extremely affable man. He does seem to me to be the Chinese Buster Keaton. My friend is an aficionado of Keaton. He curates silent films for libraries in Brooklyn, New York. He loves Jackie. He’s the first person who said that to me. Since I’ve been here, I’ve seen that. He’s very easy to deal with. I like that. But yet we deal with work. So you know I think to me, since I have to work so closely with the actors, we’re not dealing with personalities, we’re dealing with the work, making it look right. I find that to be very refreshing. Any time I can find an actor who wants to do the best he can, then I become very respectful.  I love that about Jackie. He seems to be, from what I have been able to observe, an extremely decent man. He is the best at what he does. I’ve not been pleasantly surprised…it’s just been pleasant to work with him. He fulfilled the expectations of what I’ve heard about him. I think that’s wonderful.

Jeff Wexler, Sound Mixer

Jeff has been a sound mixer for thirty-five years and he has worked on seventy-two films. He records all the dialogue and sound for the film. He won a BAFTA (British Academy in Film and Television Arts) for Edward Zwick’s The Last Samurai. He has been nominated twice for an Academy Award for Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous and Roland Emmerich’s Independence Day.

Jeff and Jackie

It’s my responsibility to record everything for Rush Hour 3. It’s my first chance to work with Brett. In the beginning, everybody kept telling me how difficult it would be to work with Chris Tucker who talks a mile a minute and with Jackie with his broken English. Nobody realized that I really wanted an opportunity to work with Jackie. That was the most important thing to me. When we got started working, the easiest thing in the world was working with Jackie. To record his English, his non-English or Chinese or whatever it was. There were other things that were more difficult and less enjoyable to make, especially to fit in with a group that’s been together on both Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2. It was a little difficult to fit in at first but it’s become the highlight of my career.

The first time I saw him onscreen, it was just magic. I was most impressed with Rumble in the Bronx. It had action, humanity, comedy, and a story that kept it all going. Working on this film was really something I was looking forward to and I’ve really enjoyed learning about Jackie Chan, the man, his incredible film career and how he helps people. He’s such a terrific human being. I hope I have the chance to do something else with him. It’s been wonderful. Maybe some day, I’ll do something in Chinese.
 
I’ve worked with a lot of great directors, a lot of great actors, on projects with a four man crew or films with hundreds of crew on million dollar films. I have done it all. I think Rush Hour 3 is going to be a great film. It has all the magic of Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2. There are some things in this story that’s more interesting. I look forward to seeing it once they put it all together.

When you are working on a film, it’s often difficult to see what is going to be. We do things in tiny bits and pieces. You have to keep it in your mind…how it’s going to be all put together.  Rush Hour and Rush Hour 2 were totally enjoyable films…the unique relationship between Jackie and Chris. I think it’s going to be good!

Stay tuned for more interviews from Rush Hour 3's crew!

Text and photos ©2007 The JC Group. All Rights Reserved

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