Tony Jaa Scandals

[Phil Redmond]

Thanks for the info guys.
Phil

[doug maverick]

so in his latest publicity stunt tony jaa has become a monk read on my friends:

Tony Jaa Quits Acting to Become a Monk

by Peter Martin May 30th 2010 // 3:02PM

Filed under: Action, Foreign Language, Independent, Newsstand, Cinematical Indie
Tony Jaa, preparing to become a monkYou might remember that Tony Jaa, who came to prominence as the high-flying, hard-kicking star of the highly entertaining Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior, experienced some trouble during the production of Ong Bak 2: The Beginning, his directorial debut. At one point he reportedly walked off the set and into the jungle to work out his problems.

Everything seemed to work out all right, old friends came back to help out, and the movie was released to good success in Thailand. Reviews were mixed to negative (in both my view and that of Todd Gilchrist), but everyone agreed the fight scenes were spectacular. Not so the follow-up, Ong Bak 3, which failed at the box office. And now Jaa has left acting behind, at least temporarily; he rode atop an elephant to a ceremony where his head was shaved, he took vows, and he was ordained as a Buddhist monk, as reported by Twitch.

"Thai Buddhist men routinely enter the monkhood at various auspicious times in their lives for short duration," observes local film journalist Wise Kwai. Jaa's service as a monk may well be temporary, but whether that means months or years is up to Jaa. In his report for Twitch, Todd Brown provides context on Jaa's career and details the troubles on the Ong Bak 2 set. He's seen Ong Bak 3 and thinks it "stinks of contractual obligation," that Jaa has lost his fire as a performer, and that the actor and budding filmmaker will wait out his 10-year contract with the production company behind Ong Bak 2 and 3. Personally, I think if that's what it takes for Jaa to find peace and happiness, that's what he should do.

http://www.cinematical.com/2010/05/3...become-a-monk/

[Jimbo]

If Jaa was really unhappy, then what he needs is a step back. But I doubt he'll be leaving the industry for good. When I lived in Taiwan, I knew a guy from Thailand who had to go back home to Bangkok for a month or two to honor the tradition and become a monk. He's one of the most un-monk-like guys I ever knew. When he returned, he showed us the photos of his head getting shaved, and wearing the robes of a Buddhist monk. Needless to say, once his obligations were fulfilled, he was no longer a monk.

IMO, Tony Jaa will be back. But whatever he does, hopefully he'll be happier than he's been.

[doug maverick]

what upsets me about this is that there were serious talks about him doing a movie with donnie yen, like super serious almost a done deal talks. and now thats either been delayed or fell through completley. which sucks because how many times can donnie fight sammo? or colin chou? or wu jing? there arent to many people who can match him as a screen fighter.

[mawali]

In Thailand, it is a common practice for males to do time as a monk. Could be 2 week weeks to longer periods of time depending on the motivation and character of the person.

[Jimbo]

what upsets me about this is that there were serious talks about him doing a movie with donnie yen, like super serious almost a done deal talks. and now thats either been delayed or fell through completley. which sucks because how many times can donnie fight sammo? or colin chou? or wu jing? there arent to many people who can match him as a screen fighter.

Doug,
Maybe it's also possible that Tony Jaa feels under a lot of pressure with the prospect of appearing with Donnie Yen onscreen, what with Donnie being the number-one MA film star in China/HK. Unfortunately, the pool of potential screen opponents nowadays is miniscule compared to the '70s and '80s, and it only makes sense these two should meet. Sammo is great, but he's not the Sammo of the 1980s anymore, and Donnie is my age and not getting any younger, either. And, if Tony decides to return to films, he'd better not wait too long. Though Tony's at his physical peak now, the very nature of his onscreen style requires youth and all his parts working perfectly. Plus, Tony needs the opportunity to appear in films with better storylines to support his great onscreen fights.

[GeneChing]

I posted the transcript of the source interview for the article Should Warrior Monks Disrobe? in our 2010 May/June Shaolin Special - see Should Warrior Monks Disrobe? Exclusive to KungFuMagazine.com: Transcript of the interview with Reverend Heng Sure and Dr. Martin Verhoeven. In the discussion of Theravada, you'll see how Thai monks disrobe regularly.

We all remember when Jet called it quits back in 2005.
Jet Li to quit Kung Fu Movie biz!

[GeneChing]

I was trying to log on to a Pattaya news site but it kept crashing.

ONG BAK Star Tony Jaa Joins The Monkhood.
by Todd Brown, May 29, 2010 1:43 PM

Tony Jaa has exited the film industry. We don't know for how long and can only speculate on the reasons why but yesterday - Friday, May 28 - Jaa rode an elephant to a Buddhist temple in Surin, Thailand, where he shaved his head, took vows, and was officially ordained as a Buddhist monk.

Now, this is not necessarily forever. Joining the monkhood for set periods of time is a fairly common practice in Thailand and the expectations are not that he will remain in the monastery forever. In fact, Jaa's mother has already been quoted saying she hopes her son will find a nice woman and get married once his time as a monk is complete. This does, however, completely eliminate any chance of Jaa being involved in the film industry for the time being and this, I think, is entirely the point. In fact, I actually predicted this move back in August of 2008. Here's what I think is happening:

Following the success of Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong, Jaa insisted he be allowed to direct his next film himself - a desire largely responsible for destroying his relationship with director Prachya Pinkaew. Jaa got his way, though, and the reins of Ong Bak 2 were handed over to him. The initial footage from that film looked fantastic but it didn't take long for strange stories to emerge from the set - stories of Jaa sacrificing chickens before shooting for the day could commence - and things rapidly fell behind schedule and way over budget. And then, with pressure mounting and debts adding up, Jaa simply crumbled under the pressure and disappeared. He was gone for two solid months - during which time the wilder stories explaining his absence involved black magic in Cambodia - before his mentor Panna Rittikrai managed to track him down and bring the wayward star home. And then, believe it or not, things got even messier.

First Jaa appeared on TV, weeping and vowing to complete the film. Then he publicly issued a set of demands to production house Sahamongkol, threatening to disappear again if they were not met. Among the demands were the insistence that he be released from the long term, exclusive contract that he signed with the production house. Shortly after this Jaa was whisked away in a car full of Sahamongkol 'heavies' prompting speculation that he had been kidnapped. Not true, Jaa said when he reappeared, but whatever happened was unsettling enough to him that he took refuge in a police station, where he later met with Sahamongkol boss Sia Jiang. That meeting resulted in Jaa's demands being dropped, Jaa agreeing to split Ong Bak 2 into two movies to allow the company a chance to recover the cost over runs, the creation of a major new role for Sahamongkol's other star Dan Chupong, and directorial duties for the remaining shoot were handed over to Panna Rittikrai.

Well, the results of those shoots have both been released now. Ong Bak 2 - mostly Jaa's film - is flawed but was a success thanks to the incredible fight work. Ong Bak 3, however - assembled fast and cheap from a quickly revised script by an assembly of Sahamongkol execs and Rittikrai - became the first Jaa film to ever fail to top the Thai box office and, frankly, stinks of contractual obligation. The passion isn't there, the fire is completely gone from Jaa as a performer, he's put on weight - not to Segal levels but he's lost all of his definition - and all of the films best moments belong to the charismatic Chupong, not Jaa. With Ong Bak 3 it seems that Tony just doesn't care any more.

So here's my take on things. Jaa, clearly, meant what he said when he threatened to walk away and disappear again. My guess is Sia Jiang laid down the legal and financial consequences Jaa would face if he failed to fulfill his Ong Bak 2 contract, effectively forcing him back to work on that film, but now that that particular film is done and that particular debt is paid, Jaa has gone to where their contracts couldn't touch him. How long will he remain a monk? My guess is until one day after his original ten year exclusive contract with Sahamongkol expires.

[GeneChing]

I merged the 'tony jaa is missing' and 'tony jaa calls it quits' thread into this one. After all, JC, Shaolin and the Abbot can't be the only ones with scandal threads (Seagal has one too, sort of).

Brawl in the family, Amie scrubs up, Mo's love match Published: 23 Jun 2013 at 00.00

[GeneChing]

...just broke ass po'

Tony Jaa can't even afford new underpants
ntsoopsip@gmail.com September 19, 2013 1:00 am
Reconciliation between Sahamongkol Film chief Somsak "Sia Jiang" Techarattanaprasert and action star Thatchakorn "Tony Jaa" Yeerum remains as remote a possibility as getting the yellow shirts to pay for Thaksin's airfare home.
Not even Jaa's mother-in-law, Wanna Surawitayanon, could make dent in the stand-off when she tried pulling a Banharn this week.

Wanna told ASTV Manager that Jaa was basically cash-poor when he married her daughter, Bung. "All he had were some almost worn-out underpants," she said, painting a very pathetic picture indeed. Bung, of course, accompanied Jaa to that fateful meeting with Sia Jiang in early August about terminating the contract he'd renewed only the day before. Bung told the boss that Jaa didn't want to keep working for Bt50,000 a month. They agreed that Jaa could bolster his income with commercial work.

"So they were puzzled to see Sia Jiang holding press conferences," Wanna says. And there's Jaa so keen to work in Hollywood that he's started learning English. "I believe Jaa would continue working with Sia Jiang after the Hollywood project," she says. He's not the ungrateful type. "His salary isn't much and every month he sends Bt10,000 to his parents, and Bt25,000 goes to car instalments, so there's not much left."

Wanna advised Jaa to open a small business, maybe a restaurant, but he insists on following his dream. "All I want to do is tell people to give him moral support and put the record straight that he's not the ungrateful type," she says.

Stay tuned for the next episode later today at a press conference about the premiere of "Tom Yam Goong 2" on October 23. Jaa has been invited, says the studio, but hasn't confirmed he will attend. If he does, it will be him and Sia Jiang, no holds barred.

Father knows best

Actress Warattaya "Jui" Nilkuha is glad that Praew magazine's latest issue has been gobbled up in its entirety, thanks to TV news-talk host Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda posing with 12 hot stars - including her. Jui's fans love it, but her dad doesn't. He says her shot with Sorrayuth is too intimate.

It's true that while the other actresses merely stand by his side, Jui's got her head resting in his lap, and he's caressing her bare shoulder. Too much for her old man, who she calls "very possessive".

But rather than "intimate", the pose was quite tense, Jui reveals. They were both nervous and she couldn't relax her head and shoulders. So why, then, her dad wanted to know, does Sorrayuth say in the magazine that Jui is his favourite actress?

Well, Jui must have got him going. Each of the actresses had to ask him a question, and she asked it he could do without his eyeglasses on the show. Sorrayuth said he certainly would if Jui were there with him, "but I wouldn't dare have eye contact with you because then I'd be too shy to work!"

We reckon her dad's right.