Tony Jaa goes for a wireless 'Warrior'

By LOU GAUL
phillyBurbs.com
February 18, 2005

In "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior," Tony Jaa flies through the air with the greatest of ease and no strings attached.

Most recent martial arts movies are dominated by wirework stunts in which performers soar via ropes carefully wrapped around their bodies and then digitally erased in the editing room. What makes the R-rated "Ong-Bak" so exciting is that the 29-year-old screen newcomer refuses to use any wires, computer-generated effects or camera tricks during his hand-to-hand combat scenes.

Jaa takes an old-school approach to screen action and makes a very strong impression in "Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior," which has been a major hit overseas and recently arrived in American theaters.

"It's something of pride for me (to perform high-flying spins, kick and punches without wires or other tricks), because it's not like everyone can do this," the Thailand native, who grew up on a remote farm, says through an interpreter during an interview at Philadelphia's Ritz-Carlton Hotel. "Before this (his first starring role), I was a stuntman, and this was my first chance to make a film in which people see my real talents."

Jaa's natural physical abilities were recognized by Thailand action star Phanna Rithikrai. As a youngster, Jaa so impressed Rithikrai that the veteran performer invited the boy to be his prot‚g‚ and study the fighting arts and stunt work.

After completing the script for "Ong-Bak," director Prachya Pinkaew called Rithikrai, asked him to name a newcomer who was up to the non-stop physical demands of the story and Jaa suddenly found himself working with his own carefully assembled stunt team in front of the cameras.

"Since I was 10 years old, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li have been my masters," says Jaa, who specializes in Muay Thai boxing and remains in shape via eight-hour workouts. "I would never compare myself to them."

"Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior" offers viewers a non-stop barrage of fight scenes, beginning with ones marked by silly stunts (a la Chan) in the first half and then turning to harder-edged battles (a la Lee) in the second part.

The plot, which involves a hard-hitting country dweller who travels to the city to retrieve a Buddha statue head stolen from his tiny village, merely serves as an excuse to allow Jaa to flex his muscles.

He makes quite an impression, especially during a scene in which he fights while his pants are ablaze. That sequence, he recalls, proved to be more dangerous than expected.

"We did a lot of extensive preparation and filmed stuntmen doing it (fighting with pants on fire) on video before we were ready to film it," recalls Jaa, who refers to Thailand's film industry as "small but growing." "When it was time for me to film, they set the fire. But then we had to wait for the camera to speed up, and the fire didn't want to wait.

"We ended up having to do five takes of the fire scene."

With his martial arts abilities, it's easy to understand why people compare Jaa to big-screen martial-arts superstars. But much of his inspiration comes from watching an American favorite.

"I admire Charlie Chaplin a great deal," he says. "That's because his pictures are in black and white and he doesn't say a word, but he still captivates people."

And Jaa turns philosophical when asked about where he would like his career to be 10 years from now.

"I do have goals," he says, "but to make the future better, I first have to make today be the best it can be."

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