By Lisa Clemens

An American kid gets inspired by Kung Fu flicks and starts to learn martial arts. He then goes to China where his training really gets intense... Sounds like one of the plot points for The Forbidden Kingdom, but no, it's the true story of Morgan Benoit.

I had the pleasure of interviewing him while he was in Vermont for an early screening of the film which, according to Morgan, the audience seemed to really enjoy.

When Morgan was about nine years old, he started taking classes in martial arts but, he didn't get serious about it until he was enrolled in the Vermont Kung Fu Academy at the age of 15 and started training in the Shaolin praying mantis and tan tui systems. Learning mostly northern styles suited him best. At eighteen he went to China to train at the Beijing Sports University as well as the Shi Cha Hai sports school where he had a private instructor. (Shi Cha Hai is also the school where Jet Li trained in his youth.)

Morgan remained in China for nine years, not only training in martial arts but also developing an interest in film stunt work. He soon was featured in several Chinese and Hong Kong TV series and films.

Ex-Jackie Chan Stunt Team member, Han Chun saw a demo reel that he made and was impressed enough to bring him onto his own team. His first European film was "The Last Hour", a film starring David Carradine and DMX. Morgan was hired for stunt work, fights and to play the masked killer in the film. However, director Pascal Caubet was quite impressed to see that he was the only American in Han's all-Asian stunt team and decided to give him a small speaking part.

They say some things are meant to be. Perhaps this is why screenwritter, John Fusco moved to Vermont and decided to check out the Vermont Kung Fu Academy while Morgan was there. Morgan told me, "I met John for the first time in 1999. I was training alone in the Vermont Kung Fu Academy and he walked in an asked about classes. I showed him around the school and showed him some different techniques and then about a week later I moved to China. So John joined the school that day and I didn't see John again for about eight years, when I returned to the states to audition for Cirque Du Soleil. I remember having lunch with my shi fu, Arthur Makaris from the Vermont Kung Fu academy and I told him that the only thing I regretted about leaving China was there was going to be a film shot there starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li that I wanted to audition for. Arthur kind of looked at me funny and said 'You know that's John's movie right?' So everything came full circle."

That film was, of course, The Forbidden Kingdom. Morgan was cast as Lupo, a character he describes as "A badass from South Boston," who plays a pivotal role in the film.

Some of Morgan's scenes with Jackie Chan were filmed while Chan was in old-age makeup. It was a process that took over eight hours in the make up chair and caused him quite a lot of discomfort. (I cannot even imagine Jackie Chan sitting still that long.) Morgan told me, "He had a 4 am call time and it was very hot on set because it was August, the height of summer so I am sure all that latex and makeup were very uncomfortable. He never let his discomfort affect his personality. He treated the cast and crew with extreme kindness and respect like he always does."

The working conditions were familiar to him, having already worked Hong Kong style. "It's an American film but it was shot like Hong Kong style. Kinda fast paced. It was shot very efficiently and I was used to working in that kind of environment. Like, for lunch, we don't take a long break, we take a box, sit down for ten or fifteen minutes and get back to work. So I liked working like that. That kind of style. And it was great working with Jackie Chan. Every day after shooting he'd take the cast and crew out to dinner. He's a really, really generous guy."

I told Morgan that when I had interviewed Collin Chou (see: http://www.countingdown.com/features?feature_id=4005574 ) he had said the same thing about Jackie's generosity. In fact Collin had joked that when you work with him, all you need to bring is underwear and Jackie will give you everything else you could possible need. Morgan laughed, "Jackie actually gave me a pair of underwear! One afternoon Jackie and I were playing tennis together. After the match we were planning on going to dinner. We were both extremely sweaty and Jackie invited me up to his hotel room to take a shower and freshen up. He brought me a new pair of underwear, socks and shirt. I still wear them with pride today!"

You can learn more about Morgan at his website: http://www.bloodypalms.com/index.htm

Be sure to read my full interview with him in Screen Power's summer issue!http://www.screen-power.com