Sammo Hung is breaking new ground as an action hero in a US TV series

WHEN the new television season begins in America in September, prime-time viewers across the nation will be introduced to a new series, Martial Law, introducing a fresh kind of action hero. He will have the roly-poly figure of Frank Cannon (Cannon) but the agility and Oriental wisdom of Kwai Chung Caine (Kung Fu). He will also be Hong Kong martial arts choreographer-director-actor Sammo Hung Kam-po.

You could have knocked Hung over with a feather when he received a call from action director Stanley Tong Kwai-lai about the role. The last thing on his mind was a television series. Hung would be the first to agree he is not exactly prime-time sexy action man material.

At slightly more than 1.7 metres tall and weighing 100 kilograms, Hung comes closer to Cannon than Tom Magnum but his rounded frame has always belied a nimbleness and agility that put many leaner, meaner men to shame.

'I was hesitant,' laughed 'Big Brother' Hung, speaking from his Los Angeles home. 'I haven't acted in a while and my main interest is now in directing. I consider myself 'retired' when it comes to acting and if I sometimes take on guest roles, it's just for kicks. So, at first, I really didn't want to take it on.' But persuaded by Tong and his friends that he should not waste his acting or action skills, Hung finally relented. 'I just thought I'll try,' he added.

'I never thought I could do anything like this. It's very hard, you know, for an Asian actor to be in a prime-time television series.' Hung moved to Los Angeles about six months ago to develop directing projects in Hollywood. Although he and his wife - former Miss Hong Kong and actress Mina Joyce Godenzi - had spent several years looking for projects to work on together, nothing was finalised.

'You know in Hollywood, everything is more talk than action. Every project takes a long time to get off the ground,' Hung explained.