Tony Jaa - Thai star shines in Hollywood

Admiring Bruce Lee, the Thai martial arts superstar took his first steps into Hollywood in the movie "Fast & Furious 7", starting to realize his dream of conquering American cinema.

Born in 1976, Jaa spent his childhood in a poor village in the forest near the Cambodian border, Surin province, Thailand. The boy was afraid of the sound of Khmer Rouge artillery shells so he often ran to find a place to hide. However, he was balanced by his friendship with two baby elephants named Flower and Leaf. Every day when he took the elephants to bathe in the river, Jaa also liked to jump from the elephants' backs into the water and swim and play with them. Practicing jumping and swimming for many years helped him have strong calves. It was also his childhood close to the two elephants that later inspired Jaa for two special works, The Protector - revolving around the story of friendship between humans and elephants.

“When I was a child, I became friends with elephants. I learned to be close to them, to see them not only as pets but also as members of the family. You can learn the amazing skills of riding an elephant, learn how to sit on the elephant's back so that it can scoop up water with its trunk and spray it back at you, but no one can teach you how to be friends with an elephant,” the actor told USA Dojo.

Tony Jaa in a Muay Thai stance.

As a curious boy, Jaa often left home to watch movies in the village’s communal courtyards in the evenings. These were mostly Hong Kong films by Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. “They fascinated me. The characters were so heroic, they fought beautifully, and I wanted to be like them.” At the age of 10, Jaa began learning basic Muay Thai, after being bullied. Jaa threatened to commit suicide if his father did not let him join a martial arts class. “I was very different from other teenagers. When I was young, my time was spent practicing and meditating for eight hours a day. I practiced to the point where I could move precisely like the masters,” he told Time.

At the age of 15, Tony Jaa sought out the famous martial arts master Phanna Rithikrai - who also specialized in stunts for Thai movies. Here, Jaa was taught almost all of the traditional Thai Muay Thai martial arts. Too passionate about martial arts, Tony Jaa wanted to drop out of school but was persuaded by his teacher to both study and practice martial arts with him. At the age of 17, Tony was admitted to the Academy of Gymnastics and Arts. While working part-time at master Rithikrai's studios, Tony Jaa spent time practicing Taekwondo, Aikido, Capoeira, Wu Shu, Karbi Krabong, sword dancing and bodybuilding. He began looking for ways to get stunt roles, approaching his dream of cinema.

After his stunt work in Mortal Kombat 2, Tony gradually emerged as a master fighter despite his unattractive appearance. Through self-recorded videos showing off his incredibly high kicks and powerful performances, he caught the eye of director Pranchya Pinakaew when he was looking for a lead role for Ong-bak.

Famous in Asia

Ong-bak - Tony Jaa's first project as a lead actor when he was 27 years old, was released in 2003 and immediately made a splash in Asia. The film, with a budget of one million USD, was sold to the European and North American markets, earning 20 million USD. In the film, Tony Jaa plays a young Muay Thai fighter who searches for a sacred Buddha head that was stolen from a village. Many people commented that although his acting was still immature, his martial arts skills won over the audience. In particular, his daring jumps, spinning twice in the air and then kicking were compared to Jackie Chan's daring jumps in Police Story.

After Ong Bak came The Protector (2005). The plot of The Protector is similar, telling the journey of a Thai boxer with a gentle and lovable face and a strong fist, to Australia to find his beloved elephant. In the project that earned 25 million USD, Tony Jaa proved a remarkable change.

Tony Jaa in the movie "The Protector".

Tony Jaa's acting style follows the exact formula of Jackie Chan. He always performs all the dangerous scenes himself, without cables, without using a stuntman and limiting computer technology as much as possible, devoting a lot of script space to realistic martial arts performances. Tony Jaa's film promotion campaigns all emphasize this element. However, unlike Jackie Chan or Jet Li, Jaa impresses the audience with his very martial arts-like movements, making viewers feel like they are enjoying real Muay Thai. In addition, Tony Jaa's film stories also have a strong Thai cultural identity.

Because of the limitations of technology and the need to increase the realism of martial arts scenes, Tony Jaa's films are prepared for a very long time. "For Ong-bak, I trained with a coach for a year. The project took three years of pre-production. With The Protector, we wanted the audience to ask the question: Why did we do that? And we did."

After participating in the second part of Ong-bak (2008), the actor took a break, returned to his homeland to become a monk for a while, then returned with the project The Protector 2 (2013). With four works, Tony Jaa is known to fans of Asian and European martial arts films. Writing about Thai cinema in the book The Asian Influence on Hollywood Action Films, author Barna William Donovan devoted a chapter to Tony Jaa's films, in which he affirmed: "His films not only helped him establish a fan base around the world but also contributed to promoting the Thai film industry." Married, famous in Asia, admired by Hollywood, but he still wanted to set foot in Hollywood, work on Hollywood studios, with the crews there.

Acting in his first American film, playing Paul Walker's final enemy

Before Fast & Furious 7 invited Tony Jaa to participate, many other projects had offered him small roles, so Tony's manager refused. "With Fast & Furious 7, I couldn't refuse. Being in the movie is my pride. Thai people love Fast & Furious, I love Fast & Furious too."

At 39 years old, this is the first time I have set foot in Los Angeles, USA, the actor shared that he is not old yet. “My childhood dream was to go to Hollywood but I never dared to share it with anyone, even when I was at the top of the film industry in my country. Now I have the opportunity to be given the perfect role to show off my talent.”

Tony Jaa and Vin Diesel behind the scenes of "Fast & Furious 7".

Tony’s experience in action films over the past decade has given him the confidence to work in Hollywood, but he still says: “I feel like I’m studying abroad. Here in America, I feel like I’m in a classroom and everything is new. Before, I was nervous, like someone locked in a room and scared when the door opened. Now I have the key and the journey is adventurous.

When Jaa arrived at the Tinseltown set of Fast & Furious 7, director James Wan gave him a draft of his role, which he read and commented on his action scenes. In the film, he plays Kiet, a villain who works as a henchman for the villains, trying to thwart Vin Diesel's group's plans and confronting Paul Walker. The actor spent 8 weeks filming in Atlanta, and shared that he had no problems acting with American stars, especially in action scenes with the late Paul Walker's character. On set, he was warmly welcomed, hung out, hung out outside of work, and exchanged ideas.

Tony Jaa refused to reveal the profit margin for Fast & Furious 7, saying that he is a cog in the global system and everything is now worked out with Hollywood managers and representatives. “I just focus on work and money doesn’t distract me,” he added. “I’m not in a hurry, I want to take it step by step. I won’t limit myself to any film, whether it’s romance or thriller, I’ll do action.”

Fast & Furious 7 is Tony Jaa's first English project. His powerful and dangerous performance in the breathtaking scenes against Paul Walker has satisfied fans. With what he is showing, Tony Jaa affirms that Thai fans in general and global fans in particular can expect the Asian martial arts star to become famous in North America.

According to VNE