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Li was the first choice of these two highly successful film, reflecting  his extraordinary film stardom.

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Li's martial arts skills are featured in this movie trailer.

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Li's martial arts skills are heavily utilised in this film's fighting sequences.

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Li attended Le Bal des Debutantes in Paris to support his daughter, showing that he is a supportive father.

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Was it for me? Jet Li's daughter Jane Li on debutantes' ball

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Clad in a silk chiffon Dior gown, the martial arts action star's daughter looked the part in Paris last month, but initially doubted she belonged. Jane Li reflects on the occasion, and on cheating death in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

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Attending a red carpet event with his daughters shows his close relationship with his family.

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Family Night! Jet Li Hits the ‘Mulan’ Red Carpet with Daughters Jada & Jane

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Posting photos about his Buddhist trips shows that Li is a devout Buddhist, which signifies that he is a merciful person.

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Posts about family show that he is a filial son and loving dad, as well as his strong sense of family responsibility.

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Li actively participates in philanthropy after his survival from a tsunami, showing that he is a dedicated humanitarian and places emphasis on spiritual pursuits rather than materialism.

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Due to his great contribution to philanthropy, Li appeared in TIME magazine’s cover again. This helps to mediate Li’s moral personality as part of his extraordinary star image, transforming Li from a moral person in his private life to a moral model in society.

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Li is a humanitarian who is devoted to philanthropy and is the founder of the philanthropic foundation ‘The One Foundation’, which has offered disaster relief and public welfare support since 2008.

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Li’s fans actively commented on his personal interviews. These are positive comments mainly on Li’s personality, and the key words include ‘legend’, ‘humble’, ‘kind’, and ‘humility’. On the one hand, fans agree with Li’s extraordinary star image, interpreting him as a ‘legend’. On the other hand, they enjoy the authenticity behind his image, interpreting him as a moral model whom they admire.

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Dyer (1979) reveals the paradox of a star: a star is ordinary and extraordinary simultaneously. Li’s film works establish his extraordinary image, whereas Li tends to represent himself as an ordinary person. Social media also contributes to mediating his ordinary image.

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Li is already a film superstar, but he remains humble and always emphasizes that ‘I’m still a normal guy’ to distance himself from his extraordinary on-screen roles.

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Li said he once turned down roles in The Martrix (1999) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) because he had promised his wife that he would not make films during her pregnancy. Li's words show his high commitment to his wife and family, as well as his honest personality.

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Although most of Li’s on-screen roles are involved in violent fighting sequences, he prefers no violence in his personal life. He said that his self-defence attitude is a smile, and he did smile very often during an interview, which reflects his kind and gentle personality in the real life.

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Yu (2012, p. 182) argues Li’s ‘star image is built upon both consistency and contradiction between his on-screen and off-screen personalities’. The ‘consistency’ reinforces Li’s identity as a marital artist and national hero, whereas the ‘contradiction’ helps to shape the ordinary part of his star image—that of a moral person from whom people can learn. This image also contributes to Li’s overall film stardom, portraying Li as a reliable and trustworthy transnational film star.

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On the Facebook fan group, numerous posts are about Li’s on-screen roles (shared movie stills, fan works, photographs). This has created a dynamic and interactive community where global fans can freely interpret Li’s star image and share their understanding with others. The fans’ content combine together to support Li’s star image—that of a legendary film star.

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Such a comparison engaged more audience members to participate in interpreting and understanding Li’s star image. His image could mean different things to different people.

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The co-worker and academic review reveals that Li’s star image is different from Chan’s, although they are both renowned transnational film stars who stand out in action films. Li’s star image as a serious action hero is highly individual and can represent only himself.

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This commercially successful film stars both Li and Jackie Chan, the two prominent kung fu stars. Their cooperation in the film excited movie fans and also raised a comparison between Jet Li and Jackie Chan.

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Magazine covers feature Li’s kung fu action and use the symbolic meaning of Li’s star image to brand the magazines. They also increase the exposure of Li’s image to readers, thus making it more familiar among the audience.

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Li’s star image is also highly recognizable and used to brand many commercial products. For instance, the advertisement for mineral water ties his mobile and energetic body to water’s liquidity, signifying that this product is healthy. Another advertisement features Li’s prowess in an effort to promote a motorcycle’s high speed and quality. These advertisements explore the economic potential of Li’s star image and make this image more sellable in the media market.

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Li’s outstanding performances brought him positive reviews and award nominations. These are more ‘authoritative’ materials that supported his image as an action performer.

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Li successfully entered Hollywood cinema in 1998 and transformed his star image from a Chinese national film star into a transnational film star. Li’s martial arts skills were used extensively in the fighting sequences in his Hollywood action films. Maltby (2003, p.11) argues that all of Hollywood’s practices related to aesthetics are for its business ambitions. Li’s stunning performance thus functions as the ‘commercial aesthetic’ that Hollywood uses to delight the intended Western audience and generate economic profits.

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Li appeared in TIME magazine’s cover due to his starring role in Hero (2002). This authoritative magazine’s cover approved his star power as a ‘hero’ in Chinese martial arts cinema and helped to establish Li’s international fame.

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On 26 December 2004, Li managed to save himself and his daughter from the Indian Ocean Tsunami when on his family vacation in the Maldives. News reports on his miracle survival contributed to his heroic persona as part of his overall star image.

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Li officially announced his separation from his martial arts star image in 2007. He was showing the audience that he had opportunities to shape other types of on-screen roles. Indeed, his star image is extensive, not just fixed on the role of martial artist, which is only one part of his overall film star image.

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Again, Li returned to his classic on-screen character. He played the role of Huo Yuanjia, a prestigious Chinese martial arts master, while also acting as a national hero who defeats his foreign challengers in a kung fu competition.

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This is Li’s most successful martial arts epic film. It was the box-office champion in Chinese film history by that time and was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of ‘Best Foreign Film’. The film’s global success strongly tied the film’s title to the star image of Li, who played a warrior in ancient China in this film.

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In this film, Li played the historical martial arts master Wong Fei-Hung, who fights against foreign rule in 19th-century China. Many stunning Kung fu fighting sequences were used to shape this character and made Li’s identity as a national hero more familiar to the audience.

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In this film, Li was not only the actor but also the director and martial arts choreographer, so he had more freedom to make decisions in his role. This was Li’s first attempt to separate himself from Shaolin kung fu, but his star image was not undermined. Instead, the image became extensive, tied to Li’s other typical film character: a national hero who defends Chinese people from foreign insults. Li frequently returned to this on-screen role as a national hero.

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Li created an official Instagram account to share his passion about kung fu with people worldwide. This is consistent with the role as a martial artist.

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In addition to his film career, Li is also the co-founder of Taiji Zen, a company that features and spreads Chinese martial arts culture. Li has actively participated in many publicity activities to promote his company’s training programmes and products, which also ensures that the audience can still easily identify his established star image as a martial artist.

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Li’s experiences as a child and teenager are mentioned many of his online profiles. Mainly, these profiles provide information on Li’s talent in Wushu, a form of martial arts, and his title of national Wushu champion at the age of only 12. Li’s personal achievement at a young age paved the way for his future kung fu stardom and highlighted his extraordinary star power as well as the authenticity of his martial arts skills.

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In the following years, Li starred in a series of martial arts films, such as Shaolin Temple 2 (1984), Shaolin Temple 2 (1986), and Dragon Fight (1992), which also directly feature Li’s kung fu skills and reinforce his identity as a martial artist.

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Li made his debut in the highly successful Chinese blockbuster Shaolin Temple (1982). He played a young monk learning kung fu at the legendary Shaolin Temple, a gathering place for Chinese martial artists. Li fully utilised his martial arts skills in this film, and his starring role helped him to rise to domestic fame.

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Jet Li established his star image as a national film star in Chinese cinema by starring in various martial arts action films. These films tied Li closely and specifically to the martial arts genre and built a stable image for Li, which met the audience’s genre-related expectations of him. Moreover, Li’s professional star image was maintained through his repeatedly performing as two types of on-screen characters: martial artist and national hero.

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'Chan comes out of opera, not material arts, and pioneered kung fu comedy, not the seriously heroic roles that are the mainstay of Li’s career.' (Farquhar, 2010, p.121).

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'The movie also adequately answers the question why Chan and Li haven't yet done a movie together in their collective 55-year careers: Chan is a much better actor. As for the fighting, and the movie, it's pretty much a draw.'  --San Francisco Chronicle critic Peter Hartlaub

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The Forbidden Kingdom: Action drama. Starring Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Michael Angarano and Yifei Liu. Directed by Rob Minkoff. (PG-13. 113 minutes. At Bay Area theaters.)

From the beginning, "The Forbidden Kingdom" seems like a film from another era. It takes place in the present day, but the gang of toughs harassing young Jason look as if they should be drag racing with Kenickie in "Grease" or preparing for the rumble with Ponyboy from "The Outsiders," not walking the streets of New York in the 21st century.

The new martial arts film is notable mostly because it's the first Jet Li and Jackie Chan collaboration, teaming the Hong Kong martial arts stars who have had the most success crossing over into American films. But with the exception of the special effects, it resonates mostly as a throwback to the days of films such as "The NeverEnding Story," when ancient fantasies were book-ended by tales of modern-day misfits who get their lunch money taken but later exact revenge on their tormenters with a furry flying dragon.

"The Forbidden Kingdom" feels a bit too much like six hours of movie packed into 113 minutes - imagine if New Line had made Peter Jackson cram the entirety of "Lord of the Rings" into one film. Ultimately, though, it's difficult to resist, especially if you're a 12-year-old boy whose parents won't let you rent "Once Upon a Time in China" or the "Kill Bill" movies.

Michael Angarano is Jason, a teen who likes to hang out in a junky store owned by Old Hop (Chan, underneath convincing old-guy makeup). He gets in a scrape, picks up a magic staff from Hop's store and is transported back in time to Hong Kong, where he meets a wine-swilling fighter named Lu Yan (Chan, underneath Whoopi Goldberg's hair) and a stoic monk played by Li. There's also something about the legend of an immortal called the Monkey King, who is also played by Li looking like a cross between Hugh Jackman in "The X-Men" and an Oompa Loompa. Collin Chao is a bland warlord villain, and Yifei Liu is a young hottie named Golden Sparrow.

There are many more characters crammed into the plot, but why go on? A movie like this comes down to the fighting, and it's pretty good considering that the collective age of the two key participants is few years shy of 100. The inevitable clash between Chan and Li doesn't live up to the impossible hype, but choreography legend Woo-Ping Yuen keeps everyone looking young with his usual martial arts smorgasbord, along with some special-effects trickery that is worked in seamlessly.

"The Forbidden Kingdom" is rated PG-13, but it seems aimed at the tween boy crowd. It's also a throwback, channeling several movies from the 1980s and 1990s at once, including "The Karate Kid" and "The Princess Bride" at its best, and the Chuck Norris/ Jonathan Brandis martial arts movie "Sidekicks" at its worst.

Director Rob Minkoff seems lost at times, managing the effects and the actors well but often getting lost in the cumbersome story. The tone of the film is also odd, with some themes that seem juvenile for a PG movie and others that will scare a lot of children. Of course, the same thing could be said about "The NeverEnding Story," and we're still name-dropping that movie twice in a single review more than 20 years later.

It's particularly good to see Chan doing the "Drunken Master" thing again. The movie also adequately answers the question why Chan and Li haven't yet done a movie together in their collective 55-year careers: Chan is a much better actor. As for the fighting, and the movie, it's pretty much a draw.
-- Advisory: The Jason character has a very disturbing amount of chest hair for a kid who otherwise looks and acts as if he's supposed to be 14 years old. This movie also contains martial arts action and violence.

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The new martial arts film is notable mostly because it's the first Jet Li and Jackie Chan collaboration, teaming the Hong Kong martial arts stars who have had the most success crossing over into American films. [...]

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This is Li’s recent return to Hollywood cinema. He played the supporting role of the emperor.

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Social media gives Li himself more control over his own star image construction. Most of Li’s posts on Instagram are about his off-screen roles, which makes it easier for the audience to witness his authenticity as a moral model.

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Welcome Jet Li fans! We created this group as a tribute to our idol Jet Li (a great actor/director /wushu master/great humanitarian). Feel free to post or share anything you want about the master....

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The Taiji Zen Mobile App is a condensed, app based version of the Taiji Zen curriculum.

It features 3D animation technology and an easy-to-use interface to create a convenient and compelling learning experience. Click to learn more!

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The Taiji Zen Mobile App is a condensed, app based version of the Taiji Zen curriculum. It features 3D animation technology and an easy-to-use interface to create a convenient and compelling learning experience. Click to learn more!

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Li played a legendary Chinese god, Jiang.

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This is Li’s first attempt at a comedy genre.

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This is Li’s first attempt at a romantic genre.

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Li returned to his role as an action hero.

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This is Li’s first non-action film. He played an ill father who protects his autistic son.

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In the 2010s, Li returned to Chinese cinema more frequently. Because Li’s transnational stardom has been firmly established, his star image became flexible to use in more film genres. Also, Li became less active in action scenes, with his on-screen roles becoming more variable.

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'Yes, he's [Jet Li] still the best. Of course, Jackie Chan and Jet Li fighting skills are the best, but their styles are very different, even then, their martial arts are all very pragmatic. Jet Li has been training in wushu since young and was the national wushu champion, he's well-versed in all kind of fists, and his moves are very electrifying. Jackie Chan was trained in Peking Opera, his kungfu is also very good, but he's more suited to difficult actions, like somersaults, jumping, he's very agile.' --Yuen Woo-ping, martial arts choreographer

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Movie Scene - The Forbidden Kingdom - Jackie Chan vs Jet Li

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Martial Arts Hero, Jet Li - CNN Interview

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Video Games -- Jet Li: Rise to Honour (2003)

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Video Games -- Jet Li: Rise to Honour (2003)

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This video game extends Li’s star image through making references to Li’s appearance and acting style in his action films. Thus, a wider audience, not just moviegoers, can experience Li’s star image.

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1999 Best Villain Lethal Weapon 4

2002 Best Fight The One

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‘Mr. Li's action sequences are like an oil fire, spilling from one room into the next and lighting the interiors with heat and wreckage. Mr. Li and his fisticuffs choreographer, Corey Yuen, have set a new standard for action here.’

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A selective listing by critics of The Times of new or noteworthy movies and film series playing this weekend in New York City. * denotes a highly recommended film or series. The ratings and running times are in parentheses. An index of reviews of films opening today appears on

Page 10.

Now Playing

* ''A.I.,'' starring Haley Joel Osment, Jude Law, Frances O'Connor and Sam Robards. Written and directed by Steven Spielberg (PG-13, 140 minutes). Mr. Spielberg's new film, a project he inherited from Stanley Kubrick, to whom it is dedicated, is a work of brilliant artifice and profound intelligence. Mr. Osment plays a robot programmed with the capacity to love who is sent to live with a couple grieving for their comatose, gravely ill son. The movie's three distinct sections reveal an unsettlingly plausible vision of the future and explore a rich, complex set of emotions and ideas. Mr. Spielberg accomplishes the improbable feat of melding Kubrick's chilly, analytical style with his own warmer, needier sensibility, and the result is an exquisitely layered, complex movie -- the riskiest, most ambiguous, most intellectually challenging fairy tale the director has made to date (A. O. Scott).

''CATS AND DOGS,'' starring Jeff Goldblum and Elizabeth Perkins; with the voices of Tobey Maguire, Alec Baldwin and Sean Hayes. Directed by Lawrence Guterman (PG, 87 minutes). Unbeknownst to us dimwitted bipeds, a cold war rages between our pets, as canine secret agents equipped with high-tech surveillance equipment try to prevent a dictatorial feline named Mr. Tinkles from taking over the world. Such, at any rate, is the premise of this overloaded, intermittently clever smorgasbord of sight gags and special effects. Despite some hectic overplotting and the occasional hairball of sentimentality, the picture should succeed in diverting animal-loving children while not driving their parents completely crazy (Scott).

* ''THE CLOSET,'' starring Daniel Auteuil and Gérard Depardieu. Directed by Francis Veber (R, 86 minutes; in French with English subtitles). A classic French farce with a contemporary twist, this very funny comedy spoofs political correctness, homophobia and corporate hypocrisy in its story of a mousy divorced accountant (Mr. Auteuil) who pretends to be gay to save his job in a condom factory. He can't be fired, he reasons correctly, because of corporate fear of a lawsuit for discrimination. Mr. Depardieu is hilariously galumphing as an obsequious homophobe who goes to such ludicrous extremes to demonstrate his tolerance that he drives himself crazy (Stephen Holden).

''CRAZY/BEAUTIFUL,'' starring Kirsten Dunst, Jay Hernandez and Bruce Davison (PG-13, 95 minutes). This story of the romance between a troubled rich white girl (Ms. Dunst) and her down-to-earth, responsible Mexican-American classmate (Mr. Hernandez) is better -- more realistic and insightful -- than most movies about American teenagers. Ms. Dunst's performance is smart and angry, and Mr. Hernandez makes his character into something more than the cardboard saint he might have been. But because the film starts off with so much promise, its eventual slide into melodramatic convention is especially disappointing. It's ultimately too cautious and responsible to live up to either the promise of its title or the talents of its cast (Scott).

''EVERYBODY'S FAMOUS,'' starring Josse de Pauw, Werner de Smedt, Eva van der Gucht and Thekla Reuten. Directed by Dominique Deruddere (R, 99 minutes; in Flemish, with English subtitles). A sweet and silly comedy from Belgium: sort of a Flemish ''King of Comedy'' without the satiric bite. Jean (Mr. de Pauw), a factory worker, dreams of pop stardom for his shy, overweight daughter (Ms. van der Gucht), while Debbie (Ms. Reuten), a leading chanteuse, tires of the limelight. A lot of busy, almost plausible complications ensue after Jean kidnaps Debbie. The movie's message seems to be that a good heart and a dream are enough to make you a star. This is a lovely if fanciful notion. Were it true, ''Everybody's Famous'' would be a better movie than it is (Scott).

''KISS OF THE DRAGON,'' starring Jet Li and Bridget Fonda. Directed by Chris Nahon (R, 98 minutes). Mr. Li, the compact, agile martial-arts cynosure, plays Liu, a Chinese government agent sent to Paris to help capture a Chinese drug lord doing business there. He arrives in time to join a squad of police investigators led by a corrupt French cop, who murders the drug czar and frames Liu for it. Mr. Li's action sequences are like an oil fire, spilling from one room into the next and lighting the interiors with heat and wreckage. Mr. Li and his fisticuffs choreographer, Corey Yuen, have set a new standard for action here. But the filmmakers have lowered the bar in storytelling. The plot features the most shopworn devices available -- unimaginative bits that Mr. Li would never incorporate into his adrenaline-rush martial sequences (Elvis Mitchell).

''LARA CROFT: TOMB RAIDER,'' starring Angelina Jolie and Iain Glen. Directed by Simon West (PG-13, 105 minutes). Mr. West's transformation of the famous video game -- a pinnacle of geek culture -- may be the best film version of such a feat ever. However, given that past examples include ''Super Mario Brothers'' and ''Mortal Kombat,'' that's not saying much. Lavish and dumb, the movie features interiors bigger that most of the member countries of the European Union. The dashing adventurer and archaeologist Lara Croft (Ms. Jolie) has a living room that's the size of Belgium; it's an 11-year-old American's dream of what Europe must be like. Ms. Jolie is having the time of her life, with her good-to-go vascularity and permanent half-smile. (She smirks more here than Bob Hope did in his entire career.) But it's nothing more than a predictable save-the-world spectacle inspired by a video game that took its lead from Maxim magazine. With Jon Voight as her father, serving the purpose dead parents always do in action-adventure: appearing in flashbacks to advance the plot (Mitchell).

''SCARY MOVIE 2,'' starring Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans and Anna Faris. Directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans (R, 99 minutes). For those who helped make ''Scary Movie'' the highest-grossing (no pun intended) R-rated film ever, there's more of the serial tastelessness that marked its landmark success last year and more, too, of the ridiculousness: a good-size chunk of the cast that was killed off in the first movie is back in this one. The works that are sent up in this sequel include ''Final Destination,'' ''What Lies Beneath'' and ''Rebecca.'' Maybe the biggest laugh in ''Scary Movie 2'' comes from watching Shawn and Marlon Wayans playing college students. Otherwise, this crude comedy delivers on the ''No Shame, No Mercy'' threats from the original. Unfortunately, it all adds up to ''No Good'' (Mitchell).

''THE VERTICAL RAY OF THE SUN,'' starring Tran Nu Yen-Khe, Nguyen Nhu Quynh and Le Khanh. Directed by Tran Anh Hung (PG-13, 112 minutes; in Vietnamese, with English subtitles). An oblique, visually intoxicating story of three sisters contending with low-key domestic distress in contemporary Hanoi. Sometimes the sheer beauty of Mr. Hung's compositions gets in the way of the characters, but his gentle, Chekhovian insights into their emotional lives holds your attention. His stately, languid pacing and the gorgeous cinematography of Mark Lee Ping-Bin create a sorrowful, romantic mood (Scott).

Film Series

''VULGAR GENIUS: THE MOVIES OF MEL BROOKS.'' Mel Brooks, Broadway's man for all season, is the man of the week at the American Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria, Queens. An eight-film series celebrating this 75-year-old Brooklyn-born Borscht Belt alumnus, who made his debut as director and screenwriter with ''The Producers'' in 1968, is winding up this weekend with four of his comedies. Tomorrow's doubleheader consists of screenings at 2 and 4 p.m. First comes ''Young Frankenstein'' (1974), starring Gene Wilder, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman, Madeline Kahn and Cloris Leachman in Mr. Brooks's spoof of the old ''Frankenstein'' (1931). The afterpiece is ''High Anxiety'' (1977), a sendup of the Hitchcock canon, in which Mr. Brooks portrays a psychiatrist. Playing on the same schedule on Sunday are ''The History of the World, Part 1'' (1981), which has its fun at the expense of historical epics, and ''Spaceballs'' (1987), a parody of ''Star Wars'' that stars Mr. Brooks as the wise Yogurt, John Candy as Barf and Rick Moranis as Dark Helmet. The museum is at 34-12 36th Street, at 35th Avenue. Screenings are free with museum admission: $8.50; 65+ and students, $5.50; ages 5 to 18, $4.50; 4 and under, free. Information: (718) 784-0077 (Lawrence Van Gelder).

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A selective listing by critics of The Times of new or noteworthy movies and film series playing this weekend in New York City. * denotes a highly recommended film or series. The ratings and running times are in parentheses. An index of reviews of films opening today appears on Page 10.

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                                 Action Hero

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                                 Action Hero

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These on-screen roles helped to construct Li’s other hero image—that of an action hero. Tasker (1993, p. 74) identifies three main types of action heroes on screen, and one of them is called ‘performer’: ‘their talents in the cinema deriving from a showcasing of martial-arts skill’. Li belongs to ‘performer’ because his heroic status in Hollywood cinema is based on his amazing martial arts actions, regardless of whether his character is good or evil. Thus, Li’s masculine identity in Hollywood films focuses more on physicality, whereas in Chinese martial arts films, it is usually constructed using a patriotic narrative.

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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

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The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)

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Li played the film’s antagonist—a cruel Chinese emperor awoken after many years.

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Li’s starring role is a childlike man who was raised like a dog and trained as a killing machine.

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Li played a dual character: a police officer and a merciless killer from two spatial dimensions each.

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This is Li’s first Hollywood film, where he played a Chinese crime boss.

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Most of Li’s on-screen roles in Hollywood films are those of a villain or killer. These characters are a radical departure from Li’s ‘positive’ roles in Chinese cinema and conflict with his star image as a national hero.

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                         Transnational Film Star

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                         Transnational Film Star

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Hollywood Cinema (1998-2008)
Chinese & Hollywood Cinema (2010-)

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‘I stepped into the martial arts movie market when I was only 16. I think I have proved my ability in this field and it won't make sense for me to continue for another five or 10 years. Fearless (2006) is a conclusion to my life as a martial arts star.’ --Jet Li

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Jet Li born Li Lian Jie in Beijing, China. He started training at the Beijing wushu academy (wushu is China's national sport, largely a performance version of various martial art styles) at age eight. He won five gold medals in the Chinese championships, his first when he was only 11. In his teens, he was already a national coach, and before he was 20 he had starred in his first movie: Shao Lin si (1982), which started the 1980s Kung-Fu boom in mainland China. He relocated to Hong Kong, where he was the biggest star of the early 1990s Kung-Fu boom. His first directorial effort was Born to Defense (1986).

- IMDb Mini Biography By: <bbjamin@micronet.fr> and Johan Wikberg
His brutal fighting style

Often plays soft-spoken men who dislike violence

Lightning fast kicks and punches

Won Chinese national championship in the acrobatic martial art wushu when he was 11; his prize was a trip to Washington D.C. to meet President Richard Nixon.

He studies English with a tutor for 4 hours a day.

Jet & wife Nina Li Chi became parents to a 6 lb. 13 oz. daughter, Jane. [April 2000]

Other than providing voice-overs for Kit Yun in Rise to Honor (2003), he also did the motion-capture for his fight scenes.

Injured his foot while escaping the tsunami that followed a 9.0 earthquake in the Indian Ocean. Li and his four year old daughter were on vacation in the Maldives on December 26th, 2004. The two were in the lobby of their hotel when the wave came ashore. Scooping up his daughter and running for higher ground, a piece of furniture hit his foot, causing the injury.

In 2009, he renounced his US citizenship. He was thought to have taken up Singaporean citizenship, although Singaporean authorities did not initially provide any confirmation of this. On 28 July 2009, the chairman of One Foundation (the charity fund of Li) announced that Jet Li had indeed become a Singaporean citizen. He was said to have chosen Singapore for its education system for his two younger daughters.

His Mandarin name is Li Lianjie. His Cantonese name is Lei Lin-Git (or Lee Lin-Kit).

One of 105 people invited to join AMPAS in 2008.

In 2009, he launched his own fitness program, Wuji. The programme consists of elements of martial arts, yoga and pilates; Adidas launched a special clothing line for it that bears the initials of "JL".

In his free time he likes to play badminton and table tennis, ride his bicycle, read and meditate. He collects rare Tibetan beads. He says he is never bored in his free time.

In 2013, he revealed that he suffers from hyperthyroidism and has been dealing with the issue for the past three years. Since his heart rate can hit 130~140 at rest, Li takes medication to control his heart rate and has been advised not to do any sort of exercise. In 2016, he stated that he had recovered from his illness and that accepting fewer film offers was due to his charity work and not because of his health conditions.

He was considered for the role of The Amazing Yen in Ocean's Eleven (2001).

He has been a "philanthropic ambassador" of the Red Cross Society of China since January 2006. He contributed 500,000 yuan (US$62,500) of box office revenues from Fearless (2006) to the Red Cross' psychological sunshine project, which promotes mental health.

As a Buddhist, believes that the difficulties of everyday life can be overcome with the help of religious philosophies. He thinks that fame is not something he can control; therefore, he does not care about it.

According to Li, everything he has ever wanted to tell the world can be found in three of his films: the message of Ying xiong (2002) is that the suffering of one person can never be as significant as the suffering of a nation; Unleashed (2005) shows that violence is never a solution; and Fearless (2006) tells that the biggest enemy of a person is himself. Li thinks that the greatest weapon is a smile and the largest power is love.

He founded Taiji Zen in 2011, along with co-founder Executive chairman Jack Ma. Taiji Zen is a lifestyle company with the mission of spreading "Health and Happiness for All" through a balance of physical wellness and mental fitness. Taiji Zen combined the martial art of Taijiquan (a.k.a. T'ai Chi Chuan) with mindfulness-based practices such as meditation. It packaged these art forms into several different classes and online programs.

About Wushu, he said that he believes the essence of martial arts is not power or speed but inner harmony, and considers it a sad development that today's Wushu championships place greater emphasis on form than on the essence of being a martial artist. He believes Wushu now lacks individuality and competitors move like machines, whereas according to his views Wushu should not be considered a race where the fastest athlete wins. He would like to see Wushu as a form of art, where artists have a distinctive style. Li blames the new competition rules that, according to him, place limitations on martial artists.

He nearly died during the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami but both he and his daughters just barely escaped with only minor injuries.

I can feel very brave through all the action scenes in front of the people who are on the set, but when a girl comes close to me my face turns red because I'm so shy.

I have met Jackie Chan about 6 times up 'til now . . . and even though many people think we are natural enemies, I personally think he is a cool bloke and would honestly love to work with him in a film one time - that would a well brilliant movie!

You can beat me up, but don't touch my hair, I will kill you!

[on Ying xiong (2002)] Usually action films have a formula: good guy gets in trouble, his wife dies, friends have problems, so he goes to the mountain, learns martial arts, comes back, and kills the bad guy. But on this film, we talked about a totally different angle to see my character.

[on Ying xiong (2002)] In the past two years, somebody tried to recut it the American way, looping English, but I'm glad right now we still keep the original way. I think the way the director shot [the movie] was not a normal action film.

I stepped into the martial arts movie market when I was only 16. I think I have proved my ability in this field and it won't make sense for me to continue for another five or 10 years. Fearless (2006) is a conclusion to my life as a martial arts star.

We are a global family. The religion is different, the languages are different but we are human beings and we need to help each other.

She's a wonderful actress and I'm glad Luc Besson decided to use her in this film. Usually, for action movies, the actress is a beautiful flower. They put the flower there, and then they fight. When they need the flower to come in, they bring her in. But this film, Bridget is the key.

You cannot make one film and make everybody happy. You make a PG movie and your hardcore fans say, "It's too soft".

[on 'Kiss of the Dragon'] This story focuses on a normal man, trying to do his job. He doesn't know how to deal with the girl. He gives the promise to the girl. Later on the character develops, because he has to do something to keep his word. Even if that something is against his job, his country. But he still needs to keep his word. It's a unique story. I like it very much.

[on 'Kiss of the Dragon'] After 'Romeo Must Die' a lot of hardcore Jet Li fans told me on my website they don't like the action sequences. They thought it was too choppy, not clear. Not as good as my older films. So, I thought it would be the right time for me to do some hardcore fighting with a strong character.

[on 'Kiss of the Dragon'] We used street fighting, hardcore fighting. Very straightforward, no cable, just hand to hand to hand, or gungfu to gungfu. We found a lot of good champions in Europe.

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Jet Li born Li Lian Jie in Beijing, China. He started training at the Beijing wushu academy (wushu is China's national sport, largely a performance version of various martial art styles) at age eight. He won five gold medals in the Chinese championships, his first when he was only 11.

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The Best Actor of the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards (2007)

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The Best Actor of the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards (2007)

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Fearless (2006) earned Li the best actor award of the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards, officially acknowledging his achievement in the construction of a national hero, a significant part of his national film star image.

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Fearless - Jet Li vs Nathan Jones Cool Fight Scene HD !!!

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Jet Li just got through playing Hero on the big screen. Now, he's one for real.

The international action star managed to save his daughter--and himself--from the deadly tsunami that wreaked havoc on southern Asia and parts of Africa over the weekend, leaving more than 52,000 dead.

Li and his daughter were vacationing in a resort in the Maldives when the 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck near Sumatra early Sunday. The temblor generated waves up to 40 feet high which swamped coastal areas in nearly a dozen countries, including Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia and as far away as Somalia and Tanzania.

According to Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper, which quoted an unnamed friend of Li's, the martial artist and his daughter were in their hotel lobby when a wall of water surged into the building. Li was dinged by a piece of floating furniture and sustained an foot injury, according to the Ming Pao Daily News, but managed to scoop up his daughter and escape relatively unharmed. After reaching higher ground, he was able to call his agent and let him know they were all right.

A rep for Li confirmed to E! on Monday that the actor was vacationing in the Maldives and had managed to avoid injury.

The Maldives are a chain of islands in the Indian Ocean about eight feet above sea level. The tidal waves, which were traveling at 500 miles per hour, engulfed the islands--some almost entirely--sweeping away whole towns and villages before finally receding.

Nearly 50 deaths have been reported in the Maldives, as of Tuesday, but as with most of the places ravaged by the tsunamis, the casualty numbers are expected to rise.

Li, one of Hong Kong's premiere action exports, played the villain in Lethal Weapon 4 before landing his first major American starring role in Romeo Must Die; his other Hollywood credits include Cradle 2 the Grave, Kiss of the Dragon and The One.

Li wasn't the only celeb caught up in the tsunami tragedy.

Czech supermodel and 2003 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue covergirl Petra Nemcova was on holiday across the Indian Ocean in Phuket, Thailand, with her British photographer boyfriend, Simon Atlee, when the raging surf tore through their beachfront bungalow at the resort of Kaho Lak.

According to the New York Daily News, Nemcova was able to keep her head above water and grab a palm tree. She clung to the tree for eight hours while the water swept other victims out to sea. At sunset, the 25-year-old beauty was eventually discovered by rescuers and hospitalized for a broken pelvis and internal injuries.

Atlee, however, is still missing.

"This huge wave just pulled us out of the house," Nemcova recounted the Daily News from her hospital bed. "It was so powerful I couldn't get up. I couldn't get out of it. People were screaming, and kids were screaming all over the place, screaming, 'Help, help.' And after a few minutes, you didn't hear the kids anymore."

She was transported via stretcher to a local hospital and then airlifted to an inland hospital.

"I was so broken, I couldn't walk," Nemcova said. "There were so many people with horrible injuries, with blood everywhere. It was like a war movie."

The killer waves also beseiged Nate Berkus, a celebrity interior decorator and frequent guest of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Berkus and his companion, Fernando Bengoechea, were asleep in their hotel in Sri Lanka when the tsunamis hit.

The two got hold of a telephone pole, before another strong wave pulled them off. Berkus, 33, managed to climb up onto a rooftop, but the fate of his friend remains unclear. After reaching safety on Sunday, Berkus managed to call his family and alert them that he was alive.

"I'm sitting here with nothing--no passport, no money, no anything, in shorts that somebody gave me," he told CNN. "The bottom line is, we desperately need help here."

Meanwhile, from the film world, Oscar-winning British director Richard Attenborough is mourning the death of his 14-year-old granddaughter, Lucy, who was killed when the waves crashed into Phuket. Attenborough's daughter Jane and Jane's mother-in-law, Jane Holland, remained unaccounted for, according to a statement from family friend Diana Hawkins.

Another granddaughter, 17-year-old Alice, survived the tsunami along with her father, Michael, and her brother Sam. Alice was being treated at a local hospital. The Attenboroughs were staying at the Thai beach on a two-week holiday.

So far, more than 80 Westerners have been confirmed dead in the catastrophe, with many still missing.

Hoping to fend off a deepening crisis, aid workers are rushing to contain the outbreak of waterborne diseases and restore basic sanitation and running water to the tsunami-effected areas.

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Jet Li just got through playing Hero on the big screen. Now, he's one for real. The international action star managed to save his daughter--and himself--from the deadly tsunami that wreaked havoc on southern Asia and parts of Africa over the weekend, leaving more than 52,000 dead.

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Hero (2002) Official Trailer 1 - Jet Li Movie