Friday Beyond Spotlights – Donnie Yen: Punch Above Your Weight

Friday Beyond Spotlights is an informative yet light-hearted talk show airing every Friday at 8:30pm on Hong Kong International Business Channel (#76). The English language program features the most influential guests who share their insights into current affairs, business, innovation and culture, as well as their ingenuity, passion and grit which forge their Lion Rock Spirit. The show is hosted by businessman and philanthropist Patrick Tsang On-yip, lawyer and lawmaker Nick Chan Hiu-fung, and seasoned business maverick Herman Hu Shao-ming.

Hosted by Patrick Tsang, episode 7 of Season 2 presents Donnie Yen, an international film actor renowned for his roles in the Ip Man series, Flash Point and Star Wars Rogue One. In his career that spans 40 years, Yen has appeared in nearly 80 movies. Apart from being an actor, Yen is also a director and producer, but his pursuit of directing his own movies had a rough start. “My directing debut was back in 1996-97 when I formed my very first film company. I was exploring and had a lot of desires to want to tell my story. But as an immature and inexperienced filmmaker at the time, I ran into financial issues and had a lot of downsides. At one point I only had HK$100 in my bank account and had to eat the lunch box from my producers.”

Learn from mistakes and move forward

Despite the financial troubles at that time, Yen declined offers to make money as an actor as he wanted to pursue his own directing projects. “I turned down ten movies, but now looking back I wouldn’t do anything differently. Let’s put it that way. Being an artist, sometimes you just have to take perhaps a longer route. That was my destiny. At that time, what I had to do was to learn from mistakes and continue going forward.”

Yen stays on course to his mission to make a movie most people in the world will enjoy seeing and be inspired. “To me, this is more important than winning an award or having the greatest reviews. I think box office stands for our number one priority of each single movie that I do, and we try to reach a large audience as much as possible.” He says filmmakers have to focus on the Mainland China as it’s a massive market. “As a Chinese filmmaker and a Chinese actor, I still see many obstacles for us to overcome being Chinese. Why don’t we look internally, after all, we have the biggest market in the world? Why not focus ourselves on our own markets?” he adds.

Obstacles to overcome being a Chinese actor

The obstacles Yen mentions include the stereotyping of Chinese actors due to the lack of understanding of the Chinese culture. “I’ve been trying to break that barrier every single time, every single movie. For example, when I did Rogue One Star Wars, in the beginning, the writing was very stereotypical and primitive. So I expressed to Disney and everybody on the set. I said, listen, if you want me to do this movie, first of all, this character needs to be a little bit more human. He needs to have a sense of humour. I actually fought for changing the lines and changing that character and giving him that sense of humour.”

He says the whole Hollywood industry knows that if they want Donnie Yen in their film, first of all, they have to be respectful to our Chinese culture. “They have to understand our Chinese culture. Not only is this my passion and my career, but also I feel a certain responsibility as a Chinese man to use my platform as a filmmaker to represent and promote our Chinese culture on the global stage.”

Yen’s unyielding Lion Rock Spirit rests on his firm belief that “our destiny is in our own hands”, and that if we keep trying we can achieve new heights. “In the Chinese culture, palmistry defines our entire life, but at the same time, I believe if we work hard and continue to strive forward, we can change our destiny, and change the path of our life as well.” He also shares some of the little-known facts of his life beyond the spotlights, including his first job at the age of 14, his hidden talent, and his greatest fear.

The best way to pass the torch

Yen has been supportive of the Hong Kong film industry which he says has created and given him great opportunity over the past 40 years. “Obviously, I want to continue to be able to give back to our own community and be able to use my experience to continue to make films not only represent Hong Kong, but also as a Chinese and a Chinese filmmaker. When I still have that influence, I want to continue to make films that bring out positivity and to inspire people. I’ve been asked many times, have you taken any students and how do you pass the torch? For me, that is not the most effective way to pass on your knowledge, the greatest influence is making an influential movie.”

After an absence of directing in the past decade, Yen has just directed and produced his latest project − Sakra, a wuxia film adapted from a novel written by Jin Yong – which will be released at cinemas in Hong Kong on January 19.

To watch the video of the program, visit Friday Everyday YouTube Channel – Friday Beyond Spotlights Season 2 Ep. 7 l Donnie Yen

Episode 7: https://youtu.be/-ve3-FMNOhU