Rush hour with Jackie Chan

He left the way he arrived – in a rush-rush, fast but not really furious!

As he does in all his movies, Jackie Chan came (in a rush!), charmed the media by crooning Can’t Help Falling In love a cappella after guest performer Gary Valenciano sang Love In Any Language and conquered everybody who filled to capacity the Mandarin Oriental’s Captain’s Bar with his natural wit and humor.

The presscon to usher into the Philippines the Jackie Chan Java Coffee was supposed to start at 11:30 a.m. yesterday but Jackie arrived at past 2 p.m. It wasn’t his fault. Due to bad weather, flights from Hong Kong were cancelled so Jackie chartered a plane and learned mid-air that the pilot forgot to obtain landing rights. Everything was, as I’ve said, rush-rush! After freshening up, he was off to the airport for the chartered flight back to Hong Kong. By this time, he should be on his way to the Kai Tak Airport for his flight to Paris to start shooting Rush Hour 3.

True to form, Jackie, 52, was graceful under pressure, just like he was in the four press junkets that I attended, first in New York in 1998 (for Rush Hour 1), then in Hong Kong in 2000 (for Shanghai Noon), in L.A. in 2002 (for Tuxedo) and then in Taipei in 2003 (for Shanghai Knights).

At the Captain’s Bar presscon, he was very physical, as usual, punctuating his sentences with eye-catching gestures, reminiscent of our New York interview when he actually stood from his seat and ran around the room to demonstrate how he did a scene in one of his movies. When I asked him about the hole in his head, sustained on the set of Armour of God in Yugoslavia when his head hit the pavement, instead of the net, during a daring leap from a building, Jackie took my finger and pointed it to the hole which felt as soft as marshmallow.

Asked why he went into the coffee business when he’s doing very well as an actor, Jackie said, "Movies is my main line, although I’m also a businessman."

Yes, he’s into not just coffee but into the shoe and garment business.

When I was in Miami, a Filipino working there pointed out to me a restaurant named Chao Pan which, he said, was owned by Jackie.

The entry of Jackie Chan’s Java Coffee into the Philippine market was made possible by Dinky Bantug, Yoly Ong and Lorna Patajo-Kapunan of Campaigns & Grey.

Lorna said she found Jackie to be a down-to-earth, not above himself serving Lorna’s group food – and yes, Java Coffee – during their negotiations abroad.

Ronnie Henares, who acted as emcee of the presscon, had a rush-rush informal chat with Jackie who assured his fans that, even at 52, he will continue doing those dangerous, life-threatening stunts which you and I will see in Rush Hour 3, his seventh Hollywood movie after Rush Hour 1, Rush Hour 2, Shanghai Noon, Shanghai Knights, Tuxedo and Around the World in 80 Days.

In one of our interviews abroad, I asked Jackie how he kept fit.

"I watch my diet. Chicken, yes, but no skin. I eat lots of vegetables and fruits. I drink lots of juices – orange juice, carot juice, apple juice. I also drink a lot of water."

And is there anything the martial-arts superstar is afraid of?

"Yes," he said then, his chinky eyes disappearing into slits as he smiled, "I’m afraid of needles. But I donate blood. You know what I found out? It helps ease the pain – and your fear of needles – when you scream when the needle pricks your skin."

Okay, let’s drink Jackie Chan’s Java Coffee to that!

Briefly Noted:

• It’s Kris, not Chris, Martinez as wrongly printed in yesterday’s Body Talk. Newcomer Kris Martinez plays one of the lead roles in Mel Chionglo’s Twilight Dancers which will be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival in September. He’s also in the cast of the ABS-CBN fantaserye Super Inggo (with Makisig Morales in the title role) and not Super Noypi which is one of Regal Films’ five entries at the Metro Filmfest in December.

• Here to sort out family papers (land titles, etc.) is Alice Dixson who is based in Canada with her husband Ronnie Miranda. Alice’s folks are all abroad, including her mother who left after Alice’s father died last January. Last seen in a GMA soap, Alice is open to movie/TV offers.

• Yes, one of the Westlife members is gay and he’s none other than Mark Feehily who "outed" himself in August last year. Thank you to readers Ali Anon, Rod Loucks, Mika Lemon, Jess Bermudez, Anna Patricia, Efren Morales Jr., Mariecel Matunog, Dr. Leo Cudera, Aldwin Aldana, Ricky Anton, April Anonuevo and Erik Agadon for pointing this out to Funfare which wondered (in the story the other day) if any of the Westlife guys would follow the examples of Boyzone’s Stephen Gately and ‘N’SYNC’s Lance Bass who have publicly come to terms with their sexuality.

* * *

E-mail reactions at [email protected]