The writers of Jackie Chan’s latest film toned down the script to please Chinese censors, who thought the villainous character portrayed by Chan was too evil, a news report said Tuesday.
In "Rob-B-Hood," Chan plays a gambling addict who kidnaps a tycoon’s baby grandson, but later has a change of heart and protects the baby from the gangsters for whom he works.
Chan was quoted by the Xin Kuai Bao newspaper Tuesday as saying that an early draft of the script portrayed his character as a full-fledged bad guy, but mainland Chinese censors rejected the idea.
"In the first draft of the script, my character is the most evil I’ve ever been. He hits women, burns people with cigarettes. But it was rejected by censors. The Chinese government said Jackie Chan can’t be so evil," Chan reportedly said.
A spokesman for Chan didn’t immediately return a reporter’s call seeking confirmation of the report.
"Rob-B-Hood" had to be cleared by Chinese censors to be shown in mainland China, an increasingly important market for Hong Kong film makers.
