“My type of hero”: the actor John Woo wanted to lead his first American movie
Having directed several of the greatest action movies ever made in his native Hong Kong, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood came calling for John Woo. Unfortunately, it was only for the filmmaker to discover that the levels of creative control he’d enjoyed on home soil wouldn’t apply to his first Stateside sojourn.
Woo has proven himself as one of the most dynamic, innovative, and visually dazzling filmmakers in the industry who’d helped popularise the heroic bloodshed subgenres through bullet-riddled masterpieces like A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, and Hard Boiled. Still, his maiden foray into the American studio system presented its own set of obstacles.
Although Woo had a certain degree of autonomy on 1993’s Hard Target, it was a far cry from what he’d become accustomed to working in Hong Kong. There were producers, executives, and stars to worry about. However, the latter could have been easily avoided had the director been able to hire his number one choice for the role of Chance Boudreaux, which Jean-Claude Van Damme played.
The ‘Muscles from Brussels’ had a reputation for being an unusual customer on occasion, something Woo alluded to when speaking to The Hollywood Reporter. Aptly describing the action star as “quite an unusual guy,” the director couldn’t wrap his head around the fact shooting was regularly delayed on account of Van Damme “always talking business.” This was to the point that he’d end up waiting around on set while the Belgian lined up his next array of projects with various dealmakers.
Things would have turned out very differently had the stars aligned and allowed Woo’s dream to be realised, with Kurt Russell eyed as the prime candidate to headline the film. “He’s my kind of hero,” the director admitted, one that “always makes audiences feel comfortable and happy,” to the point he “felt more like a friend than a movie star.”
Hard Target could have been led by somebody who “had that American boy image,” which is “why he was my first choice,” according to Woo. Instead, it was anchored by Van Damme’s former soldier, merchant seaman, homeless sailor, and martial artist. The end results were solid as opposed to spectacular, but it’s debatable just how much the end product would have been improved if Russell were front-and-centre.
On one hand, Hard Target would have been rewarded with a much better performance than the typically stilted and emotionless machismo of Van Damme. Still, on the other, it would be fair to say that there would be a lot less roundhouse kicking, glistening shots of bulging biceps, and buttock-clenching deployment of the splits with Russell on board. It’s hardly a classic, but the shortcomings lie largely with the script and not the staging of the set pieces, something John Carpenter’s muse may not have been able to rectify on his lonesome despite blowing Van Damme out of the water in terms of pure ability.
It was a reasonably successful Hollywood debut for Woo, but it wouldn’t be until Face/Off that one of his Hollywood flicks was deemed comparable to the heights he hit in Hong Kong. Sadly, more than 30 years later, with 12 more features under his belt on both sides of the globe, he still hasn’t gotten the chance to work with Russell.
