Jackpot! the most action-heavy movie for actress Awkwafina

LOS ANGELES – The action comedy Jackpot! stars American actress-comedienne Awkwafina as a woman who wins billions in a lottery and enlists a bodyguard (played by John Cena) to stop people from killing her for her winnings.

For the action scenes, director Paul Feig took inspiration from the physical comedy of Hong Kong action star and martial artist Jackie Chan, who is known for incorporating humour into adrenaline-pumping fights and stunts.

Available on Prime Video from Aug 15, the movie is set in a dystopian near future in which California has come up with a new kind of lottery. If anyone can kill the winner before sunset, he or she can legally claim the multi-billion-dollar prize.

So, when down-on-her-luck actress Katie (Awkwafina) accidentally finds the winning ticket, she has little choice but to hire lottery protection agent Noel (Cena) to defend her from the hordes of people now coming after her.

“I’m such a Jackie Chan fanatic,” says Feig, the 61-year-old American film-maker who directed comedies such as Ghostbusters (2016), The Heat (2013) and Bridesmaids (2011).

“I love Hong Kong cinema in general, and just anything martial arts,” he tells The Straits Times in a Zoom interview alongside Awkwafina.

“But Jackie’s movies are so much fun because he’s not going into a fight looking to kill somebody. He’s trying to get out of it, and he’s in over his head,” he says of 70-year-old Chan, who starred in Hong Kong films such as Drunken Master (1978) and Police Story (1985) and the Hollywood movies Rush Hour (1998) and Shanghai Noon (2000).

“So, when I read this script, it was like, ‘This is the Jackie Chan movie that I’ve always wanted to make.’

“Katie gets thrown into something, she has no idea what’s happening and, suddenly, everyone wants to kill her,” says Feig, who also directed the crime thriller A Simple Favor (2018) and created the cult comedy series Freaks And Geeks (1999 to 2000).

The lottery rules state that no one can use guns to kill, which forces the attackers – and Feig – to get more creative.

“With the fact that there are no guns in the movie, I knew it could be really fun, because you’re just fighting off physical attacks all the time,” he says.

Awkwafina, who made her name with the romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians (2018), says this is the most action-heavy role she has done.

“And I loved all of it,” she says of the fight scenes and action set pieces she did with 47-year-old Cena, an American former professional wrestler.

It also whipped her into shape.

“Jackpot! did kick off my fitness journey,” says the 36-year-old of Chinese and Korean descent, who won a Best Actress Golden Globe for the comedy-drama The Farewell (2019).

“I really did not understand what anything was. I still don’t know what pilates is,” jokes the star, who also appeared in the superhero movie Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021) and the comedy films Quiz Lady (2023) and Renfield (2023).

“But this is the most action-y movie I’ve done, especially in terms of training.

“We had an amazing stunt team and we ran through the fight scenes a week before, so it was nice that they were muscle memory at a certain point.”

And Feig thinks Awkwafina should do more Jackie Chan-type action roles.

“Nothing would make me happier than if you were the new action star,” he says to his leading lady.

“Well, there would be a vast number of skills that I would have to learn,” she replies, laughing.

“We’ll get her in training. Maybe there are some monks who will teach you,” Feig quips.

But action comedies like this work only “as long as they’re funny and character-based and drive the story forward”, he adds.

“I’m very much not a fan of just mayhem, which I always define as watching an action movie, looking over at my wife and seeing that she’s just on her phone.

“I go, ‘Do you know how hard it was for them to shoot that?’ And she goes, ‘I know, but I don’t care. It’s just people running around.’

“And that’s right,” Feig says. “You have to be attached to the character.”