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James Lew grew up
in South Central Los Angeles, where he began his martial arts study while
in junior high school. His first style was Korean karate, followed by
a modified, combat orientated Choy Lay Fut kung fu, taught by an ex-U.S
Army Green Beret.
From there, he went
onto White Eyebrow and Five Animal kung fu. The large differences in these
systems explain his ability to be comfortable with the wide variations
of martial art styles needed to successfully adapt to the varying needs
in the film industry.
James also attributes
his vast understanding of martial arts to not only training extensively
with friends, but due to the fact he was closely linked to the inception
of such martial arts publications as "Inside Kung Fu" and "Kick" (Later
"Inside Karate" magazine).
Due to this association
, he was constantly pitted, for photographic purposes, against some of
the most celebrated martial artist from the 70s and 80s: names like Joe
Lewis, Bill Wallace, and Jackie Chan.
"I got to touch hands with all the greats, all the masters that came through.
I learned something from each one of them," states Lew.
Lew broke into the
film and television industry when the "open call" for the original "Kung
Fu" series was put out. He spent the next several years playing various
roles on the series, generally involving martial arts. Often, bount by
a skull cap in the flashback scenes, he remembers, "At the end of the
days, we would take off our skull caps and t here would be at least a
cup of water in each of them, due to our sweating." "Kung Fu," no doubt
one of the most noteworthy
series ever to hit the television screen, was appreciated by many. James
describes the shows allure: "The production value of the original "Kung
Fu" was great. They just had a way that the people wanted to listen to
it. The quality of actors was also great".
Fight Scene Fanatic
After his work on "Kung Fu" was finished, James Lew, naturally found himself
being asked to take part in fight scenes associated with film and television
productions.
This led James forward
to more advanced stuntwork. From this, he joined the Stuntman's Association,
where he has found a profitable home for the last decade. "Being a martial
artist, I was continually offered jobs to be a stuntman", Lew recalls.
At that time, I really didn't aspire to be an actor. So, I thought that
it was fun, to go and work in fight scenes and get paid money for it.
It was a natural step."
Fighting
His Way into Acting
As time progressed and Lew became more certain the film industry was his
ultimate career , he began to walk the path few martial art actors or
stuntmen ever take; he began to extensively study the art of acting. From
the combined training of stuntwork and acting, he concludes, "I think
that I always want to do stuntwork. I enjoy it. But, now that I have trained
as an actor for many years, I feel that I can combine the two in a total
package. I am an "Action Actor."
From this understanding , James went on to star in several features during
the inception of the burgeoning low-budget martial art film industry.
They included: "Ninja Turf" with Philip Rhee ( Best of the Best"), "Ninja
Academy," and "Young Dragon," shot in Taiwan.
"Problay one of the best experiences, as far as knowledge, I ever received
, was working in Taiwan," he says, because of the style fighting, that
Hong Kong style. It is much more difficult to do than the type of fighting
you need to get a realistic street fight. Because of the rhythm, the timing,
each horse stance has to be perfect. And, there is fifty moves for every
ten that are done in a regular fight. People can make fun of those fight
scenes all they want, but they don't realize how truly hard they are to
do and how much work goes into them".
As a one-time winning tournament competitor concentrating on forms , Lew
believes that is what helped him successfully make the transition from,
"real life" martial arts to film martial arts.
"With forms
competition you have to be so sure of your percision. From this training,
I believe it makes me come off cleaner on screen. It is the same with
Bruce Lee. Many people don't realize it, but he trained in the classical
kung-fu forms , as well. He later put the forms behind him , but he had
that training, the choice of knowledge."
A Big Break in
"Big Trouble"
Beyond acting , James was the Associate Producer and Fight Choreographer
for one of the most elaborate martial art feature films made to date,
John Carpenter's , "Big Trouble In Little China". Lew came to this position
simply by contacting Carpenter's office and presenting his credentials.
Lew was excited because
the film had such a high budget, which allowed him the luxury of extensively
studying and mapping out each set before shooting ever began, and then
deciding what type of fight scene would ideally take place in each location.
From the mapping , he would then designate where there needed to be breakaway
glass or other necessary props to make the scenes as spectacular as possible.
The process of getting ready to film each fight in "Big Trouble In Little
China" was very extensive. Lew had to "Storyboard" (draw) every fight,
from every angle. He remembers, "If I were to have gone up to John and
said I want this character to do a jumping , back double split heel kick,
he would have had no idea what I ment. But if I showed him a picture,
then he understood and we could discuss every fight scene and make them
perfect."
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James, along with
many other martial art film afficionados, believes, "Big Trouble In Little
China" was ahead of its time, as it was not well received by the public.
" I think if it would have come out today, it would have been a big success."
he says.
At the completion
of "Big Trouble In Little China" Lew stayed true to his purpose and went
ahead with his career as an, "Action Actor", working on such films as
"Hot Shots, Part Deaux" which he describes as the
most fun he has ever had working on a film. He attributes this to the
"great energy" that was apparent on the set. "Everybody, was constantly
having fun."
Though James has a
more then memorable scene in the film, fighting Charlie Sheen, it was
a turbulent ride in being cast in that role. James remembers, "I went
in to audition for the film "Hot Shots" and [director] Jim Abrahams really
liked me. He said he wanted me to do the film.
"So I went and told my manager and she called the casting lady to make
the deal. My manager told her what my price was. The casting lady came
back and said, "He's nothing but a stuntman, I'm not going to pay that."
So my manager said
, "I guess you don't get James then." But Jim Abrahams really wanted me,
so the casting lady had to make the deal."
As many a martial
art actor or stuntman can relate, the industry often holds a less than
accepting view about actors who come from the stunt tradition. James Lew
finds this to be the case with himself, as well.
"I have to honestly say that is has hurt my acting career," he admits,
"because people know I am a martial artist and a stuntman. It seems many
producers and directors think if you do martial arts , you can't act.
I mean, you can be
a waiter and everybody immediately takes you seriously as an actor. But,
if you do stuntwork and martial arts, many believe you can't act." Hopefully,
with the continuing exposure of
James Lew's obvious talent, this industry stigma will soon be forgotten.
As James continued forward in his "Action Actor" ambition, in the Jeff
Speakman film "Perfect Weapon", he tells of how he has never worked harder
on a film. The fight scene took over a week to shoot.
"They just kept doing it over and over from every angle. They really burned
us out. Even the crew guys were saying, "How many kicks can your throw?"
Versus Seagal
and Van Damme
For "On Deadly Ground," Lew not only fought Steven Seagal, but was asked
to help Steven coordinate the bar fight scene in the film, since his fight
coordinator was off shooting second unit footage.
Very aware of the reputation Steven Seagal had earned among the martial
art community for being a ruthless combat opponent on the screen, James
describes his work with Seagal. "It was a rough fight scene to do.
That's becouse of
the realism he creates in his films; there's contact. And, contact hurts!
I know there is a lot of talk that he has hurt the fighters in his movies.
He believes that's because people aren't reacting fast enough to him.
So, I tried my best to move very fast and out of his way. And, he liked
that."
In the upcoming Jean-Claude
Van Damme film, "Time Cop," Lew had the opportunity to do an extensive
knife-fighting scene with the superstar. Many stunt fighters have criticized
Van Damme , claiming he uses excessive force in his fight scenes, but
James found this not to be true in his case. "He was very safe; very careful
not to make contact."
Though his is often called on to do stuntwork, Lew has reached a point
in his career where he often turns it down to concentrate on his acting
studies, although, "it takes a bite out of me financially. It's hard to
turn
down money, when it's right there. But, as in anything, you have to make
sacrifices to move to another level."
Lew, who studies acting
at every opportunity, analogies acting to martial arts, "Once you study
and you see alittle progress, you want to get better. You want to add
a jump or spin to your kicks.
Me, I want to be a black belt in acting."
James Lew's philosophy
on acting leads him to this reflection, "It is better to play a character
for the strenght than his weakness. If someone really believes in the
part they're playing , it is much more powerful. That is the most important
ingredient I have to bring to a role, I become my characters."
By viewing his role
as the villain "Jaho," in the upcoming film, "Red Sun Rising." he has
definitely achieved his vision. "I enjoy playing the villian. The bigger
the villain, the bigger the hero. In this film my character is bigger
than life. Some of the best movies have very big villains. Look at the
"Terminator." Look at Darth Vader [Star Wars].
James Lew has already
left his mark on the action adventure film industry. With the continuation
of his career, this trend will no doubt continue. "This business is really
tough. The only way to survive is to enjoy the process. You can't do it
for fame. If you enjoy the doing, it will reflect in your work. "It all
comes down to , if you do something onscreen and it's not your best work,
it is still captured forever.
So, I intend to do my best work, always."
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James
Lew:
