Donnie Yen

There are two types of Chinese growing up in America. One is the kind that does really well in school, with thick, thick glasses. And the other is involved with the gangs. ”

I try to update my arsenal constantly. Learning different martial arts since childhood. To understand what's out there. To really be in tune. ”

I always used to wonder why American actors were getting fat, then I made a U.S. movie. I'm seeing all the food every day, and there's lots of waiting around because making an American movie is very slow. ”

It takes years of building that experience as a filmmaker, as well as physically. You have to have a high level understanding of martial arts. ”

I think every actor wants to try out different things. ”

Like any other actor, I draw on life experience. ”

I love working with older actors because number one, I can learn so much from them because they have so much experience. And it's fun to hear their stories from their era, some of the jokes. ”

Doing a movie is a stressful thing. You spend months of you life focusing into that one project, and I want to make sure I do something I really like or I'm really passionate about. ”

For years, I looked to Bruce Lee as a mentor as being a Chinese and Asian man living in this country. ”

When you direct a movie, you're basically looking at a story, the way you want to look at it. You bring that director's vision, and I'm totally open for that. ”