Jackie Chan- “The Spy Next Door”

"I don't want to be an action star anymore," said Jackie Chan. "I want to be an actor."

The international martial arts superstar isn't entirely giving up as an action hero but, will be seen portraying a comedian in “ The Spy Next Door”.  He is holding a party in a swank Los Angeles hotel to promote his new kung-fu comedy, "The Spy Next Door".

"Right after 'Spy Next Door,' I already did two more movies," the 55-year-old said laughingly. "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 said.

"I want the audience to know I'm an actor who can fight, not just an action star," he said. He added, "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."

Jackie Chan further added, "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."

In "The Spy Next Door", Chan for the first time will be seen acting with children. In the flick, he will be seen romancing his gorgeous next-door neighbor (played by Amber Valletta).

Director Brian Levant said that the screen legend has surprised him in real life also quoting, "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."





"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."



Chan was very impressed by 13-year-old co-star, Madeline Carroll, with whom he has shared some of the film's most dramatic moments.