The Forbidden Kingdom's Missing Role Jet Li Almost Played
The 2008 martial arts fantasy adventure The Forbidden Kingdom would've had kung fu movie legend Jet Li in another role with one of its initial concepts. The Forbidden Kingdom is well-known as the first big-screen team-up of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, each of them in dual roles. Chan played Boston Chinatown storeowner Old Hop in the film's modern era and Taoist immortal Lu Yan in ancient China, with Li playing The Monkey King and the Silent Monk in the latter setting. However, there was initially another idea for Li.
On the DVD commentary for The Forbidden Kingdom, screenwriter John Fusco and director Rob Minkoff speak on the role of the young protagonist Jason Tripitikas (Michael Angarano). The pair mention in original discussions of the movie, Jason would be an eager student of martial arts learning kung fu in Boston's Chinatown, with Minkoff saying, "And I think Jet Li was going to play the sifu," which Fusco verified with an affirmative "Mmhmm." In the end, Fusco's screenplay would take Jason in a very different route with the teenage hero having no martial arts training.
Had the original idea been implemented on The Forbidden Kingdom, Li potentially would've had a third role in mentoring Jason in modern times, and this would've made Jason himself a somewhat different character. Fusco describes the idea of Jason's kung fu student as being youthfully zealous and still having a lot to learn, with Jason "wanting to fly before he can stand in a horse stance." The difference of the two versions of Jason's story in The Forbidden Kingdom essentially went from the young fan of classic martial arts movies deepening his knowledge of martial arts in the original idea to Jason's adventure marking his formal introduction to kung fu.
While neither Fusco nor Minkoff give any specific reason for the change, Fusco mentioning on the commentary that if "he could pick his mentors or his sub-conscious was going to process who those mentors would be, it would be Jet Li and Jackie Chan" might explain why. Jason's experience between transported back centuries to China is like being dropped into the middle of one of the movies he loves. While training with kung fu warriors played by Chan and Li would be amazing for him even if he already had training, being metaphorically taken to the setting of a martial arts movie became the grandest entry into kung fu he could've possibly had.
The Forbidden Kingdom was based by Fusco on a martial arts story created and told to his young son, which he then hit upon turning into a screenplay. As Fusco mentions on the commentary, Chan and Li's involvement came about due to the then-unfulfilled desire by millions to see the two in a movie together. Though Chan and Li's characters Lu Yang and Silent Monk are allies guiding Jason through his training and adventure, The Forbidden Kingdom also delivered the pair's first on-screen fight, much to the delight of martial arts fans around the world.
Since its release, The Forbidden Kingdom remains a timeless and action-packed adventure of a teenager living his dream of mastering kung fu, as well as a highlight of Jet Li's English-language movies. The unutilized idea of Li playing Jason's sifu in the contemporary Boston setting is fascinating to look back on in how it would've altered the movie's story. In the end, The Forbidden Kingdom would ultimately stand as a fantastical kung fu fable with Jackie Chan and Jet Li joining forces for the first (and to date only) time.
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