I act according to the requirements of the character, and if I try to play the role, then I play it truthfully. In my daily life, I’m a laid-back, peaceful guy. I’m just doing my job to act.

I like to stay within the context of the character’s background. If he’s a cop, I have to make sure the audience is convinced that this person, a cop, can do only so much without a gun.

In Hollywood, I’m lucky, I only do big movies like ‘Blade.’ It’s much more comfortable: you have a trailer.

For me, I like to have explosive moments, whether it is a particular movement itself in the whole sequence. I like to have shocking moments; for audiences to feel, like, ‘Whoa!’ It’s always been my forte.

It’s a blessing to be given a variety of roles to what I call an iconic action actor like myself.

Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong. There’s a lot of restriction for contemporary films simply because of subject matter.

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.

I certainly hope ‘Dragon’ can leave some legacy behind.

In Hong Kong, particularly, we craft this art for decades. The action choreographer actually is the action director. He takes over and he choreographs with – by himself or with his team, and place the camera where he feels cinematic effect to bring out that choreography.

I did a couple comedies to balance myself as an actor and balance how audiences see Donnie Yen as an actor, and I would even say as a celebrity or icon, to some fans. I want to show that I’m not Terminator.