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  Martial arts master Jet Li takes a break from a rigorous training schedule to talk about his new movie.

By Amy Shen

Daily Bruin Contributor

For centuries astronomers and intellectuals have pondered the possibility of multiple universes alternate to our own. Some have gone as far as to suggest that every human being in our universe has equivalent entities living in each of these alternate universes, all sharing a sort of metaphysical cosmic connection.

In “The One,” staring world-renowned martial arts master Jet Li and hitting theaters this Friday, directors Glen Morgan and James Wong (“Final Destination,” “Space: Above and Beyond”) have created a theoretical time and space where each human being, connected by a ‘life force,’ exists in 123 alternate universes.

“Movies are teamwork. This is big teamwork because it is a sci-fi action film. I learned a lot from this film,” Li said.

Li’s character, Gabriel Yulaw, upsets the balance of the Multiverse when he begins traveling through quantum tunnels to pop into alternate universes. In each universe he kills his identical alter ego. With each life he takes, the life force is equally divided up between the survivors. Thus, as each alter ego is eliminated, Yulaw and the other survivors absorb his energy, becoming stronger, faster and more powerful.

Yulaw’s ultimate goal is to achieve superhuman ability by eliminating every one of his alternate identities. He will then contain the entire life force within himself, and finally become The One.

  Photos from Revolution Studios Jet Li stars in his latest movie, "The One," a film packed with martial arts and special effects. Directed by Glen Morgan and James Wong, "The One" hits theaters Friday. As the film opens, the only person that stands in his way is his last surviving alter ego, Gabe, whose life is turned upside down when Yulaw enters his universe, intent on destroying him.

Li plays both the villain and the hero in this movie.

Li said with a laugh, “The Asian audience likes me to play the ‘good guy,’ but some people in the American audience like me to play the ‘bad guy.’ So I thought, ‘This movie is good!’ I play a good guy and a bad guy at the same time – by myself!”

The film also stars Delroy Lindo (“Romeo Must Die,” “Gone in 60 Seconds”) and Jason Statham (“Snatch”) who play bad-ass Multiverse Authority agents out to stop Yulaw.

Of course the sci-fi premise of the film calls for killer special effects. Eye-popping scenes where Gabe and Yulaw shoot through quantum tunnels, sail over huge brick walls, outrun cars, and pick up motorcycles with their bare hands will no doubt bring to mind familiar scenes from “The Matrix.”

Any film starring Jet Li promises to deliver some major ass-kickage. Li is renowned for his solid, creative moves and smooth graceful style; choreographed by fight director Cory Yuen (“Kiss of the Dragon”), and coupled with mind-blowing special effects, Li’s characters in “The One” are truly unstoppable.

After tearing through 25 films in Hong Kong and China, Jet Li’s latest film is the fourth in his breakthrough American film career.

Li’s tremendous success, both in the United States and China, owes itself to a combination of supreme skill and ability as well as fate lining up his stars just right.

Li, born in Beijing, began studying Wushu (the Chinese term for martial arts) at the age of 8 after being arbitrarily assigned to the martial arts class at the Beijing Amateur Sports School. He developed a liking for the sport and after three years of training, won his first national championship. On his world tour in 1974, an 11-year-old Li participated in a two-man fight on the White House Lawn for President Nixon. He held the title of All-Around National Wushu Champion of China for the next four years.

At 17 the movie scripts began rolling in, and Li made his film career debut with the movie “Shaolin Temple.” The movie was a huge success and thrust Li into stardom.

The film industry held a special appeal for the martial arts expert, for he believed it would be his chance to expose millions of people not only to the sport of Wushu, but to the theory and passion behind it.

“When you get old, you want to show (the world) more things. Not just the physical (aspect of) martial arts. You want to share the vision – the philosophy, the character,” Li said.

Conveying all these things to the world is by no means an easy job. During the time he is not on set, Li trains eight hours a day, six days a week – running, riding a bicycle, playing badminton, and engaging in any physical activity to stimulate his circulation and keep his energy up. He also practices what he calls “internal training” to keep his mind clear and sharp. During movie shoots, however, he often works 12-hour days, and the non-stop fighting and acting are enough work to keep him in shape.

On the set he works with action choreographers, like stuntmen and marital artists Yong Guo Jian, Lin Feng and Sam Huang Ka for “The One,” to put together his seamless fight sequences. The final clash between Gabe and Yulaw was so complex, it took four weeks to film.

Luckily, Li is a natural at picking up the new and always-challenging movements that are required of him.

He can usually perform a sequence perfectly after only practicing it roughly five times. In Hong Kong, action choreographers would design new moves on the set, allowing little time for preparation or error.

“I can remember (the moves) very quickly. I look at it, and I will remember how to do it,” Li said.

“The One” is a dramatic change from the films Li is accustomed to fighting in because of its heavy use of special effects. In most of Li’s movies, 85 to 90 percent of the fight scenes rely solely on his amazing physical ability.

His work on “The One” has taught him many new things about the American movie industry, especially about the balance of physical acting and technology.

“(On ‘The One’) we need to work not just with the martial arts team, we need to work with visual effects also. We do the martial arts very well, but we don’t know the technology of how to make it work,” Li said.

“Sometimes they (tell us) to do this, but we say ‘Our bodies cannot do this.’ (Then) we do something, and they say that the computer cannot do it that way,” Li added.

The most interesting and challenging part of Li’s new film was having to switch roles from the evil Yulaw to the innocent, upstanding Gabe. Besides having to change his wardrobe up to 12 times a day, it was also a challenging mental exercise to switch his frame of mind, mood, style of acting and technique of fighting to accommodate his vastly differing characters.

Li and Yuen decided to choose two distinct styles of Wushu to distinguish between Li’s good and evil roles. Gabe uses Ba Qua, which employs a circular fighting motion, while Yulaw uses Shin Yi, a more straightforward and aggressive punching style.

Li has always been very conscious of his audience, for to him they are the key to his success. A film buff himself, Li enjoys going to the theater and watching movies with the audience to gauge their reactions.

“(I want to know) why they’re loving. Why they’re scared. Why don’t they like (something). Why they’re so quiet ... If you want to make a good film, you need to understand the audience, what they think,” Li said.

Jet Li must be extremely talented and psychic to boot, for whatever it is that the American public demands is what he continues to provide in each of his extraordinarily fun and crowd-pleasing movie creations.

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