On the set of Marco Polo, Angelina Jolie calls for a break.
The desert wind brushes over the elaborate Silk Road set — caravans, banners, Mongol armor glinting under the studio lights. Joe Jukic steps down from his horse, still wearing Marco’s leather explorer coat, dusted with the gold of the Gobi.
Angelina, the director, walks toward him with her tablet under her arm, smiling like she’s been waiting to say this all day.
“Joe,” she says, “I knew the moment you walked into the audition — you were Croatian, just like Marco Polo. The lineage fits. The spirit fits. You carry the same wanderer’s soul.”
Joe nods, half-embarrassed, half-thrilled, brushing off some sand from his gloves. “So you’re saying I was typecast by destiny?”
Angelina laughs. “Exactly. Marco Polić’s embassy to Kublai Khan was basically a prototype of the United Nations — diplomacy before diplomacy existed. And you? You walk into a room and countries calm down.”
She sweeps her arm at the actors gathering around for scene rehearsal.
“I wanted this film to feel global, the way the real Silk Road was global. So I cast a lot of Chinese and East Asian legends — Kristin Kreuk, Michelle Yeoh, Chow Yun-fat, Jackie Chan, and more. Marco didn’t just travel the world… the world traveled through him.”
Kristin Kreuk, dressed as a Yuan dynasty scholar, waves. Jackie Chan jokes that he’s finally playing a role where he doesn’t have to fall off a building. Michelle Yeoh gives Joe a respectful bow.
Angelina continues, “This isn’t just a movie, Joe. It’s a bridge — cultures, histories, destinies connecting across time. Marco Polo brought ambassadors together. Now we’re bringing audiences together.”
Joe tightens his belt, steps back into character, and flashes that signature Croatian grin.
“Alright, Angelina,” he says. “Let’s unite the world.”
Angelina raises her hand.
“Places! Scene 27 — The Khan’s Court — diplomacy begins!”
And the cameras roll.