Why Jet Li signed up for San Miguel Beer

With his San Miguel Beer commercial all set to premiere all over Asia next month, Asian Hollywood superstar Jet Li has expressed interest in working on more "future projects" with the company, a reliable source close to Jet Li’s camp told us.

An insider from SMC also informed us that he heard it straight from Jet Li that the actor would like to work with SMC because he knows the San Miguel bear brand very well in Hong Kong . The same source also said that Jet Li believes that San Miguel has a "good heart doing not just for business but also helping people."

Li, the star of "Hero," "Romeo Must Die," "The One and Fearless," was in town recently for three days to shoot what has now become the "most tightly guarded TVC" in the industry.

San Miguel and Jet Li’s management kept the project under wraps that no announcement was made of the action hero’s arrival, and no formal press conference was held during his stay here.

Anyway, Li reportedly signified his interest in future projects with the Philippine beer icon because of its status in Asia, particularly in Hong Kong , his home base, and San Miguel Corporation’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) projects.

Li, a Red Cross ambassador, recently founded the Red Cross Society of China – Jet Li One Foundation Project (One Foundation), an independent foundation that aims to help children with mental and psychological issues and provide aid for victims of natural disasters. The foundation is just taking root in China now, but Li expressed hope that someday it would be able to help more people around the world.

"Jet not only understands the importance of being a role model, he embraces the idea through The One Foundation," said SMC President and Chief Operating Officer Ramon S. Ang in a statement. "His integrity, his sincerity, his commitment to bigger causes makes him a perfect ambassador for a brand that celebrates friendship, connectedness and life."

At a reception dinner with San Miguel VIPs at the Diamond Hotel, Ang surprised Jet Li with a cheque donation of 1 million RMB (over P6 million) to the One Foundation, which caused the action star to break into a wide, boyish grin.

With his martial arts mastery and his on-screen charisma, Jet Li catapulted to Hollywood fame in the 1990s with his breakthrough role as the villain in "Lethal Weapon 4." In the Philippines and the rest of Asia, Jet Li has been wowing audiences since the early ‘80s in films like "Shaolin Temple" and "Once Upon a Time in China," a series of martial arts movies that feature some of the fastest and most brilliant fighting sequences in the history of the kung fu genre.

Li is reportedly working on several movie projects at the moment, including an epic Chinese martial arts movie and a possible teamup with another Asian Hollywood star: Jackie Chan.
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