Jet Li wants to ‘return to a child’s mentality’
Jet Li as Jiang Ziya in Chinese fantasy film “League Of Gods”. (Photo by Encore Films)
Action star Jet Li says he is currently working hard to return to the mentality and innocence of a five or six-year-old, as “adults are more complicated”.
Speaking to the media over the phone from Beijing on Sunday (24 July), the 53-year-old waxed lyrical about how he would like to be young again, though not in a physical sense.
“Children’s intuitions and senses are the purest,” the actor said. “They just do whatever they want, whenever they want. They eat when they get hungry and just sleep when they get tired.”
“Adults are more complicated. We constantly have to think about what we have to wear and what to say in order not to offend others,” he said.
Li said adults “don’t live in the moment, we have to go through lots of thought processes before actually living”.
“I want to return to living in a more straightforward manner, like children do. I find that is a much more adorable phase of life to be in,” he added.
No plans for more action films
Returning to the big screen as Jiang Ziya in the epic fantasy movie “League Of Gods”, the actor described Jiang’s character as a ‘playful old child’.
When asked about his plans to film more action films, he said, “I don’t really have any plans. I guess I’m like Jiang Ziya, as long as I’m having fun, it doesn’t matter if the movie is a box-office success or not.”
Amidst concerns about his health - he was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism in 2010 - the former wushu champion clarified that he had already recovered long ago.
“A lot of people have been so concerned about me that they even ask if I have to use a wheelchair. I don’t know where they got that idea from, but it’s so funny. Maybe I should go endorse wheelchairs,“ he joked.
“League Of Gods” also stars Fan Bingbing, Tony Leung Ka Fai, Louis Koo, Huang Xiaoming and Angelababy, and is currently showing in Singapore.
