THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 4, 1996 TAG: 9608030048
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: 70 lines
Michelle Khan is anything but a damsel in distress.
Moving with lighting speed and precise agility, she's kicking butt in Jackie Chan's current hit ``Supercop.''
``Up until now,'' Khan explains, ``the boyfriend was always dragging the girlfriend to see a Jackie Chan movie. Now, the girls can see me take care of a few of the guys and they can say `Yeah - at last. Go get 'em, girl.' And, at the same time, the guys can say, `Hey, that chick's OK. She can do what Jackie does.' ''
Khan entered the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills virtually unnoticed. In Asia, there would have been a riot in the lobby. Since 1992 she has been the highest paid actress in Asia, starring in films that are unknown in this country - things like ``Magnificent Warriors'' and ``Seven Princesses.''
Yet she is excited about the prospect of cracking the Hollywood market. ``To think that my movie, with Jackie, is showing all over the U.S.!'' she exclaimed. Ethnically Chinese, she is fluent in Cantonese Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Malay and English.
Michelle is demure and ultra-feminine. She doesn't look at all like someone who could hold her own in a fight.
She studied ballet, not martial arts, since age 4 in her native Malaysia. Her passion for dance took her to the Royal Academy of Dance in London. In 1983, she was crowned Miss Malaysia. That same year, she was brought to Hong Kong to appear in a television commercial with Jackie Chan, the biggest star in the Asian world.
``They signed me for movies right away,'' she said, ``but they didn't know what to do with me. I said, `Give me a chance to beat up some guys. OK?' I had seen action movies in London. But the directors said, `Oh, no. She's a girl. She's a beauty queen. She has only dance training.' I kept telling them that I had speed and agility and it would be an advantage that I didn't look beefed-up. I would have that element of surprise.''
She turned out to be a surprise hit in an action comedy called ``Owl vs. Dumbo.''
``At first it was very painful,'' she said. ``The transformation was not easy. The body had to adjust. But the stuntmen are my insurance. They taught me everything. I never have pain when I am working, just when I stop. For `Supercop,' I did a jump, on a motorcycle to a moving train. I have bruises everywhere, but I didn't break anything.''
Jackie Chan, who has starred in eight of the top 10 all-time biggest movies in Asia, said, ``Michelle can do almost everything I can do, but she looks much prettier doing it. The thing in making my movies is that big money is not needed. You should never be too threatened by explosions and things in my movies, because they will keep you from laughing. In Hong Kong, we have script today, we open tomorrow. In Hollywood, it takes you too long. You take two years to make a movie. Since we don't have the money, or the technical know-how, we have to make quick movies, with no doubles. We do stunts ourselves.''
To demonstrate, Khan moved her hands and arms in a rapid-fire routine that was faster than the eye could detect.
``You see, I could hit you,'' she said, counteracting the threat with a wide smile. ``The difference between American and Hong Kong movies is that in American action scenes, the actors are trained to miss. In our movies, we actually make contact, but you have to know where to hit, so it won't hurt.''
So how would she fare in a match with Jackie Chan?
``Oh, no. You won't get me to answer that one. Who would want to fight Jackie? In our plots, even the villains would not fight Jackie if they were not paid. Jackie is very funny. It is better to laugh than to fight.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
DIMENSION FILMS
Michelle Khan keeps up with Jackie Chan kick for kick in
``Supercop.''
KEYWORDS: PROFILE BIOGRAPHY MOVIES by CNB