For most our viewers, Jackie Chan has been a perennial martial arts action movie star since before they were born. Chan does his own stunts, has starred alongside numerous A-listers, and his movies have earned more than $2.5 billion at the global box office. A Chinese performer, Jackie Chan has done what few of his countrymen have done — win over Western audiences on a huge scale. But there's even more to the Jackie Chan story. From unknown talents (at least to Westerners) to family intrigue, this is a multi-faceted character you've just got to get to know. These are things you may not know about Jackie Chan.
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00:00Actor and martial arts expert Jackie Chan has challenged outdated norms,
00:04pulled off unbelievable stunts, and experimented with different genres in his films.
00:09His rise to action movie stardom has just as many twists and turns as his best stunt sequences.
00:14Here are some things you may not know about Jackie Chan.
00:18As reported in The New Republic, Jackie Chan's family wasn't exactly well-off.
00:22His parents worked in hospitality for a consulate in Hong Kong,
00:26and he was often called a, quote,
00:28"...servant's kid." Though the Chan parents worked at a diplomatic facility,
00:32they didn't have access to any of its privileges. As Jackie wrote,
00:35"...our home was run down, small, and stuck in the back. The folks at the consulate treated us well,
00:41but from the very beginning, we existed in two different worlds."
00:44That didn't stop the young Chan from developing a crush on the French consul's daughter.
00:48He even tried to protect her from those who teased her, ending up in a brawl with another kid.
00:53His dad was so scared of the possible consequences that he beat Chan mercilessly,
00:58and forced him to offer his apologies to the boy he fought with.
01:01Chan's parents eventually left for Australia, abandoning their son at the China Drama Academy,
01:06a boarding school. There, Chan was forced to follow a strict schedule, and had to endure
01:11terrible living conditions. Still, he saw it as an important experience that helped define him
01:16as a person. The fact that Jackie Chan's folks chose to leave him and his siblings behind may
01:22be hard to understand for many, but it wasn't unheard of in China in those days. Filmmaker
01:26Mabel Cheung, who directed the film Traces of a Dragon, Jackie Chan and His Lost Family,
01:32told The Guardian,
01:32"...it was so commonplace in China. Life was cheap. It has always been cheap.
01:37It's a very common thing to do there — abandon your children."
01:40During their research for the film, Cheung and her team figured out that Chan's mom
01:44was into opium smuggling and gambling — a notorious figure in the underworld, in fact.
01:49That was something even Jackie didn't know until later — his mom's underworld dealings
01:53predated his birth. His parents actually met when his dad tracked her down and arrested her
01:58on smuggling charges. At the time, she was struggling to get by, supporting her kids on her
02:03own. As revealed by The Guardian, Jackie Chan's father was once a spy.
02:08"'Tell me what your father was like.'
02:09"'My father was a spy.'"
02:10Further details have emerged in Screen Rant, reporting that Fang Daolong served as a spy
02:16in the 1930s and 1940s, working for Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Party. He was also a,
02:22quote, "'gangland boss,' but eventually gave it up for a quieter life.
02:26By the time he'd decided to forge a new life with Jackie Chan's mother,
02:29he'd let go of his past and was living under a different name like his wife was.
02:34According to Mabel Cheung, who talked to Chan's dad in making the film A Tale of Three Cities
02:39about Jackie's parents, Fang wasn't initially excited at the prospect of discussing his past.
02:44Quoted in The Guardian, Cheung said,
02:46"'We had to befriend him, sing karaoke with him,
02:49dance a little bit before he was willing to talk again.'"
02:52Jackie Chan looked up to Bruce Lee and loved his style and his dedication to martial arts.
02:56According to Screen Rant, he had a close encounter with the superstar on the set of the iconic film
03:01Enter the Dragon. At that point, Chan was a nobody who found himself in an intense scene
03:06that involved a brawl with other stuntmen against Lee.
03:09"...and that time he was a huge star. I was a low-class stuntman."
03:15According to Chan, Lee accidentally hit him with a stick while filming the fight.
03:19Lee realized what had happened, though, and apologized to Chan right after they were done
03:23shooting.
03:24"...then he just come, oh, Jackie! I was like, oh, yeah, I'm okay, okay."
03:28Chan admired Lee right away and even pretended to be more hurt than he was,
03:32just to get attention from the martial arts star.
03:35He later said that working with Bruce Lee inspired him to attempt his own stunts.
03:39But Jackie Chan hasn't always done his own stunts. According to The Guardian,
03:43he has admitted to working with stuntmen when he feels it's necessary. It might be surprising news
03:48to many, considering Chan's reputation for taking on set risks with a degree of flair.
03:53Yet he was quoted as saying,
03:54"...I will use stunt doubles if you ask me to ride an F-16 jet fighter,
03:58or to jump over a series of hurdles with a crazy horse, or to perform two 720-degree
04:03somersaults. But one somersault, I'll do it myself."
04:06As per the Associated Press, Chan acknowledged that his fans hold him in high regard and believe
04:11that he does his stunts without any assistance. He said,
04:14"...I do my own stunts most of the time. That's what audiences expect from me.
04:18I use doubles and a few shots, but I do over 90 percent of my stunts."
04:23Also, according to Mental Floss, Chan doesn't hesitate to let stuntmen take over when it's
04:28a minor scene and simply requires his character to do something simple, like walking or driving.
04:32The star gets some much-needed rest during these shots.
04:36For Jackie Chan, being a martial arts expert has meant enduring quite a few injuries.
04:40The film Armor of God even nearly cost him his life. More on that later.
04:45Recently, according to Today Online, in January 2021, he was spotted limping painfully at a
04:50public appearance, reportedly due to the flare-up of an old back injury. In one interview, he remarked,
04:56"...when will one start to feel that they're growing older? These few years,
04:59every time I receive news that a friend has passed on, I feel my age."
05:03He added that he had a far more hectic schedule when he was young,
05:06which meant that he simply could not afford to slow down. That's changed as he's gotten older,
05:10though. In what may come as a bit of a surprise, Jackie Chan has admitted he
05:15is fairly indifferent to beautiful women. According to the Los Angeles Times,
05:19he always received plenty of attention from members of the opposite sex,
05:22even when he wasn't a celebrity. When he got into films and worked as a stuntman,
05:26he didn't really have trouble getting attention from attractive women.
05:29Chan explained that things got even easier for him when he became a popular star. He recalled,
05:34"...girls would come to me like butterflies. Actually, I've been numb after so many years.
05:39I've seen too many beautiful girls, Chinese or foreign.
05:42Now I don't think anyone is particularly beautiful."
05:45Also, according to CNN, the actor honestly admitted one of his biggest regrets,
05:50indulging in an affair while being married to his wife, Joan Lin. Luckily for him,
05:54Lin chose to support him and didn't leave despite the affair. Perhaps because of that,
05:59Chan has said that his wife is a far stronger person than he is.
06:03Nope, this isn't fake news. Jackie Chan had a part in an adult film. According to Mental Floss,
06:09this happened in the 1970s, when the actor played a role in a movie called All in the Family.
06:14It starred Chan in a well-known female adult star. While Chan didn't do anything sexual on screen,
06:19he did shed his clothes for some of his scenes in the film. He later explained,
06:24"...I had to do anything I could to make a living 31 years ago, but I don't think it's a big deal.
06:29Even Marlon Brando used to be exposed in his movies."
06:32Chan also said that the movie wasn't scandalous and was, quote,
06:35"...more conservative than contemporary cinema."
06:38As reported by China Daily, All in the Family was classified as a comedy.
06:42Nonetheless, the fact that Chan was a part of a film like this
06:46generated a bit of controversy when it was first reported in 2006.
06:51Jackie Chan had already been hurt at least 70 times while working as a stuntman and actor
06:56by the time he reached age 50. According to CinemaBlend, some of these experiences were
07:00incredibly scary, such as the time Chan was badly injured while filming Armor of God in the 1980s.
07:06He still has a hole in his skull on account of that particular injury.
07:10Also, he almost drowned when he was working on the film Vanguard.
07:14As described by Mental Floss, doctors had to insert a metal plate into Chan's head
07:18after his Armor of God accident. The scene was simple enough — Chan was required to swing from
07:23a tree. In the process, though, he ended up hitting his head on a rock and needed immediate
07:27medical aid. It turned out that a piece of Chan's skull had pierced his brain. On the grueling
07:32injury, Chan described how he felt completely numb. After his ears started bleeding, Chan was
07:37taken to the hospital, where he received surgery. Jackie Chan is a man with many talents. According
07:43to CinemaBlend, he isn't just perceived as a martial arts expert and a skilled actor in Asia,
07:49he's also loved and admired as a singer.
07:51His work in this realm can't be understated. Chan has worked on as many as 20 albums and
07:56created music in multiple languages for his fans. He's not new to music and has been experimenting
08:01with it since the 1980s. He has even worked on songs for several films in which he acted,
08:06including The Young Master and Police Story. Perhaps most impressively, in 1985's action-filled
08:12Police Story, Chan was the director, writer, star, stunt coordinator, and theme song singer.
08:17As illustrated by a Forbes piece, his singing experiments are a part of the larger Jackie Chan
08:22brand. In so doing, the martial arts actor has managed to create what is undoubtedly a successful
08:28and robust business empire. Chan has found success as an entrepreneur and earns profit
08:33from a variety of items bearing his brand. He doesn't intend to stop growing, either.
08:37As he once commented on his films,
08:39Now I'm not only an actor, I also invest.
08:42As a Hollywood celebrity and prominent public figure, Jackie Chan doesn't mince words about
08:47being a strong supporter of the Chinese government, run by members of the Chinese
08:51Communist Party. As reported in Forbes, this stance of political loyalty has really helped
08:56Chan in terms of making sure that his films get showcased in China, without facing any
09:00obstacles from government officials. However, his attitude hasn't gone down well with certain
09:05members of the Chinese public. In 2015, Emily Lau, chairperson of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong,
09:11commented that Chan possibly benefits professionally from supporting the government
09:15in Beijing. She was reported as saying,
09:18If you are someone who'll always do and say what the authorities want,
09:21maybe it's easier for them to approve your ventures.
09:24Chan predictably isn't a fan of such criticism. He responded with,
09:28Should I not be close to the Chinese government?
09:30We are Chinese. I think everybody should love your country.
09:33As per Vice, Hong Kong citizens don't like Chan at all. They believe that his stance on
09:38communism is too problematic to ignore. Along the way, Chan hasn't shied away from saying
09:44some truly controversial things that have inflamed those tensions. For example, in 2009,
09:49Chan publicly remarked,
09:50I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled.
09:54If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want.
09:57Some took this to mean that he was implying that full freedom for Chinese citizens wasn't
10:01the best idea. Let's just say that Jackie Chan does not have a terrific relationship
10:07with his son J.C. Chan. According to the Los Angeles Times, Chan thought that being a good
10:12parent meant that it was necessary to discipline his children physically. He even once picked his
10:16son up and threw him into a couch, after which both his wife and kid were very afraid of him.
10:21But after that incident, Chan vowed not to hit his son again. However, he has struggled to be
10:26around for J.C. because of his hectic schedule and work commitments. He said,
10:30I'm not a good dad, but I'm a responsible dad. I will be very strict in good times and support
10:35him to pull through in bad times when he is punished and aware of his mistakes.
10:39In 2014, after J.C. had been arrested on drug charges, his dad was pretty upset. The New York
10:45Daily News revealed that Jackie Chan was uncomfortable with his kid's actions, saying,
10:49Regarding this issue with my son J.C., I feel very angry and very shocked.
10:54As a public figure, I'm very ashamed. As a father, I'm heartbroken."
10:58He also mentioned that he hoped his son's story
11:00would serve as a warning to others who may be tempted to turn to drugs.