IT'S LATE ON A FRIDAY NIGHT and kung fu star Donnie Yen Chi-tan is dragged by his friends to the Diesel fashion party at the Academy for Performing Arts in Wan Chai. Dressed casually in a black leather newspaper boy hat and a navy blue denim jacket, the 1.7-metre Yen is somewhat lost in the middle of the crowd. None of the party animals appear to note the return of the now Hollywood-based Hong Kong martial artist.
But the lack of recognition doesn't faze Yen. He grabs a glass of beer and leans against a wall. His friends attempt to pull him to the packed dance floor at the other end of the venue, but Yen insists: 'I'd better stay here. I don't usually go to parties like this, I didn't go even when I lived here. Over the past two years in Hollywood, I have been to this kind of social event only twice. I just live a simple life and eat healthily.'
Labelled the 'last action hero' of Asia, Yen is following in Jackie Chan and Jet Li's footsteps to Hollywood stardom. His break came two years ago when Miramax bought his 1993 film Iron Monkey and launched him on the American market. That led to a three-picture deal with Dimension Films (a division of Miramax), the first of which, Highlanders: Endgame, was released in the United States last year. Yen's latest movie, Blade II: Bloodhunt 2002, made with a different studio, is ranked 13th at North American box offices.
Perhaps after being immersed in Hollywood glamour, local star-studded fashion parties no longer appeal to the 39-year-old. 'In Hong Kong, the glamour of Hong Kong showbiz refers to the singers only, because the whole package makes them look more trendy,' he says. 'Actors are only little stars. Acting is merely a job, which is the opposite to Hollywood. There is a bigger market in the States, bigger production. The amount of investment that they are dealing with is so much bigger. They fly you first class and put your assistant in business class. They put you in a six-star hotel, have a limousine on standby to take you to wherever you want. They not only take care of you, but the whole entourage. This is the standard.'
Yen says he embraces Hollywood not because of the glamour but because he wants to pursue his lifetime goal of making great films and sharing his knowledge about martial arts with the rest of the world. 'As a film-maker and an actor, I just want to play the best roles and be in the best films,' he says. 'I'm fortunate to be chosen. If I'm offered that kind of treatment it's a blessing. I just keep doing things that I like, not necessarily getting compensation. I want to be true to my films and martial arts.'
Born in Guangdong in 1963, Yen inherited his martial arts talent from his mother, Bow Sim-mark, a renowned martial artist and tai chi master, and began training the day he started walking. Yen came to Hong Kong when he was two and moved to Boston at 11, where his mother founded the Chinese Wushu Research Institute. Inspired during his teenage years by Bruce Lee and trained by his mother, the rebellious Yen was sent to Beijing at the age of 16 to study at the Beijing Wushu Team (the successor to the Beijing Wushu School), where Jet Li also practised kung fu. He was the first non-mainland resident accepted at the school.