Robert Kamen, writer of Karate Kid, The Fifth Element, Taken, and The Transporter, is not only prolific, but extremely quotable https://uproxx.com/movies/karate-kid-writer-robert-mark-kamen/
Legendary Karate Kid Screenwriter Robert Kamen On ‘The Fifth Element,’ ‘Taken,’ And ‘Creating’...

Kamen tells us about the origin of Mr. Miyagi, ’The Fifth Element,’ Bruce Willis being a pain in the ass, bar fights, karate, and wine.

https://uproxx.com/movies/karate-kid-writer-robert-mark-kamen/
One anecdote: Luc Besson was so fed up with dealing with Bruce Willis on The Fifth Element that he told Kamen "we need to create our own movie stars." They wrote The Transporter, and that's how we got Jason Statham as an action star
Being the writer of Taken, he essentially did the same with Liam Neeson-as-action-hero. I asked him if he was proud of this.
Another anecdote: receiving his black belt in a Long Island parking lot after a drunken bar fight
Incidentally, he spent the money from his *first screenplay* to buy a vineyard in Sonoma in 1979. Guess how much that's worth now.
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