Jackie Chan in ‘The Spy Next Door’

“I don’t want to be an action star anymore,� says Jackie Chan. “I want to be an actor.�

Fans can wipe up the coffee after their spit takes; the international martial arts superstar isn’t entirely giving up kicking people in the face. After all, he’s holding court in a swank Los Angeles hotel to promote his new kung-fu comedy, “The Spy Next Door.� Although, to tell the truth, he has to be reminded which movie he’s here for.

“Right after ‘Spy Next Door,’ I already did two more movies,� the 55-year-old says apologetically, then laughs at himself. “Just yesterday, I thought, ‘I should slow down.’ I just finish ‘Karate Kid’ now and next month I start another movie. And in April, I start another movie [the long-awaited ‘Armour of God III,’ which he’s directing]. I just finish a meeting with another director for a future movie. Stop! I should stop,� he says in English that, though still not perfect, has improved dramatically over the years.

But there’s more than force of habit driving his crazed schedule.

“I want the audience to know I’m an actor who can fight, not just an action star,� he says, determinedly. “An action star’s life is very short. They do the same kick, the same punch. The audience gets tired. Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, [they do something new and] everybody wants to see it. I want to be an Asian Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino.�

Keenly aware of the realities of the business, Chan has made a routine of coming to America to make action comedies, then returning to Asia to make a broader variety of movies.

“I can play all kinds of things -- comedy, action, drama, police, bad guy, drug dealer, yes. So for the last few years, I’ve been changing the stories. ‘The Shinjuku Incident’ [Japan, 2009] is very heavy, I’m never smiling. At the end, I’m almost becoming a yakuza. It’s a very shocking, touching story. And a little bit later, I make ‘Karate Kid,’ ‘Spy Next Door,’ comedies. Then I’m back to China, ‘Little Big Soldier’ -- I’m in the army, I pretend to die, I don’t like war.�

“The Spy Next Door,� Chan’s first time substantially acting with children, is not likely to be the closing argument in a case for his versatility. It’s a frothy family outing in which his super-spy’s nerdy cover identity, bespectacled pen importer Bob Ho, romances his gorgeous next-door neighbor (played by Amber Valletta). Bob’s attempts to win over her three kids are complicated by massive Russians he has to beat off with a stick, or bike, or refrigerator, or whatever else is handy.

Director Brian Levant says the screen legend surprised him as much off-camera as on: “He took the entire crew out to dinner. There he is, one of the biggest stars in the world, and if the couch needs to be moved, he’s the first one to grab onto it. He hates waste. He’d see all the half-used water bottles and pour them out onto the plants outside and recycle them.�

Chan’s work with the child actors impressed the director as well.

“He’s like Michael Jordan when he compensated for losing a step,� says Levant of Chan gradually reducing the stunts in his movies and changing his screen persona. “He can do those lovely scenes with the little girl and his comic timing is beyond impeccable. Run with it! Do the dramatic, do the comedy, do everything.�

For his part, Chan was particularly impressed by 13-year-old costar Madeline Carroll, with whom he shared some of the film’s more dramatic moments.

“I think she’s a born actress. She doesn’t have to pretend. At the end, I’m going away, she comes up to me: ‘You have to stay, Bob has to stay,’ and the tears just come down immediately. I was shocked. Second take, third take, fourth take, continue. Acting with her, I’m so comfortable because she’s helping my English.

“But the little one,� he says, laughing as he thinks of 6-year-old Alina Foley, “she’d just walk away between filming. ‘Where are you going?’ ‘I want something.’ �

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