He has more than 100 films and about 3,000
injuries and bone fractures to his credit. At the dawn of his career, everyone
called him the second Bruce Lee, but soon the whole world was convinced that he
was the first and only one of his kind. He is the incomparable Jackie Chan.
A businessman and producer, a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and a Commander of
the Order of the British Empire, a singer, and, of course, an actor - all this is a small part of
the titles and professions of our today's hero.
What movie do Jackie Chan's
fans love, but he hates?
Why he had to fight with a
secret criminal organization?
And what trick almost cost him his life?
Today on the Biographer channel we will answer all these questions. But before that, click on
the subscribe button and the bell to be the first to know all the most interesting and little-known
facts from the life of your favorite celebrities. Subscribe and let's get started.
Growing up
Chan Kong-sang was born on April 7,
1954. Before becoming known as Jackie, he used many aliases. When he was
born his weight was about 5.5 kg, that’s why his mother called
him Pao Pao - "cannonball".
His parents, Charles and Lily Chan worked as
a cook and maid at the residence of the French consul in Hong Kong. They lived in poverty and had
virtually no money. After the birth of their son, being in complete despair, for some time they
even thought about selling their child.
Chan grew up as a very active child, a noisy
fidget, and developed his personality already in childhood, what often got him into trouble.
His father tried to direct his energy in the right way, and from the age of four, he began
to inculcate a love of sports in him.
Quote: “When I was 4,, my father became
crueler towards me - at first light in the morning he pulled me out of bed and dragged
me to the morning workout… Dad studied Wushu Hung-Ga style in the past and he taught me
some simple exercises and techniques ”
At first, things didn’t go as planned,
and Chan, instead of calming down, became too self-confident. In his first
year of elementary school, which is called Nah-Hwa Primary School, he was expelled for bad
behavior and unwillingness to study. As a result, his father sent him at the Peking Opera School
at the Chinese Institute of Opera Research, which predetermined Jackie's future fate.
In this school, the kid learned to sing, dance, studied acting, philosophy, and martial
arts, in particular kung fu. The discipline in this educational institution was serious,
classes lasted for fourteen to sixteen hours. Upon admission, the administration asked
parents to accept 1 agreement, this document stated that parents took full responsibility for
everything that happened within the walls of the educational institution. In the most extreme case,
corporal punishment might be fatal for a child. Almost then, in 1960, his parents moved
to live in Australia. Probably at that moment, Jackie's childhood ended.
Quote: “Master Yu - Yu Chem Yun - was strict and believed only in hard work. He woke us up
at 5 in the morning, we studied until breakfast, returned to study, then there was
lunch, again work, study, dinner, and we went to bed by midnight - as children
we slept 5 hours, and worked 14 hours a day”
Asking to go to the toilet before the
break was punished. The teacher thought: "If you want to go to the toilet - pay for it."
But Jackie accepted this form of education better than those from a regular school. His character
features that influenced the expulsion from the last place of study were revealed here as
they should. His energy, charisma, and most importantly - perseverance, the ability to rise
again and again after a fall played a big role.
Peking Opera as an art form requires an actor's
knowledge of vocals, pantomime, dance - as well as acrobatics. Performers of different roles dress
in frilly clothes and put colorful makeup on their faces. Such versatile training gave Jackie
Chan good acting preparation and the ability to treat himself with humor. Master Yu noticed
the boy and he quickly became his best student. They hardly taught Jackie to read and write,
that’s why he still writes poorly in Chinese.
Master Yu spent a lot of time with
students, and formed a mini-troupe that staged performances for tourists and
even began to earn money - they were called the "Seven Lucky Ones". In the future, they
became famous actors and directors. Some became famous only at the level of Hong
Kong, but one of them became known all over the world. And the master himself instilled
in Jackie a love for the stage and became his second father. Now you may write in the comments
which movie with Jackie Chan you like the most or you can boast about how many films you have
seen with his participation. We read everything and look forward to discussing it together!
As a child, Chan began acting in episodic roles in films. At the age of 8-10, he starred
in the extras of the classic film in the Huangmei opera genre – "Eternal Love", in
"Big and Little Wong Tin Bar" (as the son of the main character performed by Li Lihua) and
the Peking Opera "The Story of Qin Xiang-Lian".
His role models were Charles Chaplin,
Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. All of them were much more important
to the actor in childhood than any martial arts star, whose label he was
actually forced to wear at a young age.
Later, Jackie and two other classmates formed
a trio - "Three Dragons", together they went to reach Hollywood, and together they appeared
in different films as actors, stuntmen, or even action and stunt directors. As soon
as Jackie turned 17, the contract signed by his parents came to an end and he set off on the
free voyage of adulthood, having first visited his family in Australia. There, next to his parents,
Jackie took on any job that could bring at least some money. He washed dishes, helped everyone who
asked him about it, worked at a construction site, and performed other ancillary work. They say that
it was in Australia that the actor received the name "Jackie". That's what his colleagues at a
construction site in Canberra called him because they couldn't pronounce his real name.
THE BEGINNING OF A MOVIE CAREER
In the early 1970s, Chan began to appear in
minor roles, albeit on the set with then-rising martial arts superstar Bruce Lee: 1972's
Fist of Fury and 1973's Enter the Dragon.
During those years, Chan and Lee often crossed
paths, usually as an actor and stunt coordinator. Shortly after Lee's untimely death, Chan was
frequently cast in films capitalizing on Bruce Lee's success, using words such as "fist",
"fury" or "dragon" in American release titles. Later in this context, he said:
Quote: “I never wanted to be the next Bruce Lee. I just wanted
to be the first Jackie Chan."
The turning point in the fate of Jackie Chan
occurred in 1976, when he was offered the lead role in the famous Hong Kong director
Lo Wei's action movie New Fists of Fury, a sequel to the original 1972 film. The New
Fists of Fury was Jackie Chan's first film to be credited under the Chinese name Xing Long,
which roughly means "successful dragon".
Jackie owed his further achievements in Hong
Kong primarily to the smart and enterprising Willie Chan, who became Jackie's constant personal
manager and reliable friend and remained so for more than 30 years. Willie was instrumental
in launching Chan's international career, beginning with his early forays into
the American film industry in the 1980s. This was followed by other films with the
participation of Jackie Chan, and Willie saw a pattern: the more freedom of action was given to
this actor, the more successful the picture was.
Jackie's first Hollywood film was The Big Brawl
in 1980. Jackie Chan received $1,000,000 for his role in this film, and immediately became the
highest-paid Asian actor in American cinema at the time. He remains one to this day.
Chan's own film career was in full swing, and he appeared in many low-budget martial arts
films that were quickly released by Hong Kong studios eager to cater to the martial
arts picture boom of the early 1970s. He starred in Shaolin Wooden Men, To Kill
With Intrigue, Half a Loaf of Kung Fu!, and Magnificent Bodyguards, which was the first
film in the history of Hong Kong filmed in 3D. All of them were met well in cinemas. However,
Chan had a particularly big breakthrough with the 1978 hit Drunken Master, which became
iconic among fans of martial arts movies.
It’s important to note that it was the
legendary director and choreographer Yuen Wu-ping, who directed The Snake in
the Eagle's Shadow and Drunken Master, who developed a new stage image of a good-natured
and smiling lazy guy for Chan. This is how the revolutionary comedy kung fu was born, in which
humor became an organic part of the brawls. Thanks to the box office success of these films,
Jackie got the opportunity to be himself, and then Chinese directors imitated him instead.
Jackie Chan's character in The Drunken Master, Huang Fei-Hung (Wong Fei-Hung),
is a real figure in Chinese history and the founder of one of the most famous wushu
styles called Hung Ga. Already at the age of 13, Fei-Hung was considered an excellent fighter,
and when he joined the army during the Xinhai Revolution, he became famous throughout
China as the Robin Hood of the 20th century. His life story has been featured in hundreds
of films, books, and television shows.
“Drunken Master” popularized the drunken fist
style, firmly introducing it into popular culture. The adept of this technique gains strength as
he drinks alcohol to the conditioning stage, while the spontaneity of the wobbly movements
disorients enemies. However, Jackie himself didn’t drink alcohol - before filming, he stood
upside down for several minutes, so that the rush of blood would make his face red.
Quote: “It's much harder: every frame, every scene you have to fight with smiling eyes.
I'm very proud of myself in this picture...I created an unusual style specifically
for the film. Few people can do that.”
Jackie almost lost an eye on the set of this
picture. Performing a trick, he unsuccessfully fell off the table and severely injured his
eye. The actor was taken to the hospital to get stitches, but Jackie was against needles, so the
doctors used electricity. And when the eye healed, it turned out to be wider than the other. And then
the doctor advised him to do cosmetic surgery.
The Drunken Master grossed two and a half
times as much as Chan's previous film, Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, which was already
considered a success. In thirty days of theatrical release in Hong Kong, the film grossed just
over HK$6.7 million. This made it the second highest-grossing film in Hong Kong in 1978.
The film was a huge boost in Jackie Chan's career and he got big hopes that he could become a
popular actor. Jakie Chan fans still re-watch The Drunken Masterl with pleasure. What are
your favorite Jakie Chan movies? Share the titles in the comments - let's see which Jackie's
roles are the most popular among our viewers.
NEW SUCCESS
However, Jackie Chan didn’t just want to act in
films, he also planned to make movies on his own. Making a film is not cheap, and therefore, over
the past 5 years, the guy accepted almost every offer of secondary roles, worked as a stuntman,
wrote and performed songs for the titles.
One of the fundamentals in his career was the
1979 movie “The Fearless Hyena”. It was the film for which Jackie had been accumulating the
necessary amount over the years. He independently wrote the script, was the director of scenes and
stunts, played the main role, sang in the opening and closing credits, and worked as a director.
Chan's directorial debut was highly successful. The film paid off at the Chinese box office.
Soon, in the early 1980s, Chan again became a film director and screenwriter with The Young Master.
And then producer of “Enter the Dragon” Robert Klaus lured Jackie to the US to shoot Battle
Creek Brawl, also known as "The Big Brawl". The film was supposed to make our hero
profitable in the American market. However, the actor was dissatisfied with the final
result just like the American audience.
In a further attempt to rise to fame in the US,
Jackie was cast alongside Burt Reynolds in Hal Needham's 1981 film “The Cannonball Run” about
car chases. The plot is based on real races held in the United States from 1971 to 1979. Jackie was
cast as a Japanese racing driver. Unfortunately, his martial arts skills were only shown in
one shortcut towards the end of the movie. Chan was very impressed by the unfortunate
doubles inserted in the end credits of the film, which inspired him to use this
technique in his future projects.
In the same 1980s, Jackie began to
actively develop his second passion. The actor was also a talented singer. As a
performer, he gained popularity in Hong Kong and the Asian region. Since 1984, Jackie
has released 20 albums of compositions in Cantonese, Mandarin, and Taiwanese,
as well as in Japanese and English. He often performed songs for his films himself,
but when the films were released in Europe and the USA, these compositions were usually replaced.
While things weren't going well with Hollywood, Jackie decided to return to the East to do what
he did best - shoot amazing action films full of spectacular stunts. Chan and his legendary
stunt team were unmatched in their ability to pull off the most incredible action scenes. Over
the next decade, some of the best work came out with their participation. Chan, along with the
dynamic Sammo Hong Kam-Bo and Yuen Biao, starred in “ Winners and Sinners”, “Project A”,” Weels o
Meals”, “My Lucky Stars”, “My Lucky Stars 2”.
When Bruce Lee died in 1973, it became
a great loss for Hong Kong cinema. Already at an elderly age, Jackie complained -
he wanted to be like Chaplin or Buster Keaton, but all the directors with whom he
worked wanted him to copy Bruce Lee. The rebellious actor honestly rewatched films with
an icon of martial arts but did everything in a fundamentally opposite way. Jackie made a cheerful
face, where Bruce kept a deathly seriousness.
“Project A”, released in 1983, is considered the
ancestor of the action-comedy. The film's action scenes make extensive use of stunts, improvised
objects, and other elements of the old movies that inspired Chan since childhood. Up to this point,
Hong Kong films had not used such large sets, nor had they paid as much attention to historical
detail as this film did. Moreover, it was the first film with a mixed variety of action scenes,
and not just martial arts. Prior to filming, Jackie Chan and his stunt team trained with real
NCIS to give the action a sense of authenticity.
It took Chan a week to work up the courage
to film the clock tower fall scene inspired by the movie Safety Last!. Jackie was afraid
to voluntarily fall and held on to the clock until he literally lost his grip and fell.
Chan performed this stunt scene three times, two takes shown during the course of the film,
and a third in bad shots during the credits.
The title "Project A" was originally a working
one, and they wanted to call the picture "Pirate Patrol", but they feared that after that
other Hong Kong film producers would rush to copy and release films with pirates.
The 1984 Wheels on Meals is another no less iconic and significant film in Jackie's career.
The movie was filmed in Barcelona and the Gaudí Cathedral appears in the credits. That's because
the scene of the butler's confession about the origin of Sylvia takes place on one of its upper
platforms. However, the main thing for which this film became a cult were great fights, for which
the film was nominated as "best production of action scenes" at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
In the final duel between Jackie Chan and Benny Urquidez, Benny kicked so sharply that
several candles which were placed nearby were blown out by the breeze caused by this kick.
This episode was included in the film. Benny Urquidez was hitting for real, hitting contact,
which discouraged Jackie. This is due to the fact that Urquidez had a habit of performing in the
ring, but little experience in filming a movie.
There have been many rumors about what happened
during the filming of the big fight scene with Jackie Chan and Benny Urquidez, ranging from
speculations that the two actors didn’t get along to the rumor that the filmmakers threatened
Urquidez to fire him for hitting Jackie too hard. However, the actors respected each other and
hugged tightly at the end of the filming.
In English-speaking countries, the film was
released under the name "Wheels on Meals", and it would be more correct to call it "Meals
on Wheels". This was due to the fact that the management of the film company Golden Harvest
was afraid to release another film beginning with the letter "M", after the previous films of
the company - "Megaforce" and "Menage A Trois", which completely failed at the box office.
During the scene infiltrating the main characters' palace, they mention James Bond, and then
"Project A", the previous project of the actors. Food Truck became Hong Kong's highest-grossing
film of that year, grossing 21 million Hong Kong dollars. Later based on the film, The computer
arcade game "Kung-Fu Master" was released.
In 1982 Chan found time for his personal life. He
married Taiwanese actress Joan Lin and had a son, Jaycee Chan, that same year. He would also
devote his career to singing and acting.
According to the media and actress Elaine Ng, Jackie Chan also has an illegitimate daughter,
Etta Wu Zholin, who was born in 1999. The Hong Kong media claimed that he was the father,
but neither side has confirmed this so far. Her mother, Elaine Ng, announced that
she had decided to raise her daughter alone, without the help of Jackie.
COPS AND TRIADS
By the beginning of the 80s, Jackie was
already a real star in China, but he still couldn't reach a breakthrough at the American
box office. Nevertheless, he didn’t give up hope of gaining his foothold in the US film market.
Together with Danny Aiello in 1985, he starred in “The Protector”. As it was previously, Jackie felt
that the American director, James Glickenhouse, failed to grasp the appeal of his audience.
The film received lukewarm reviews and box office receipts. Despite fairly large publicity,
The Patron failed at the American box office.
"The Protector" was the second film by
Jackie, where the actor used firearms. The first film was "Winners and Sinners",
although Jackie tried to shoot firearms even earlier - in the film "Dragon Lord". In the
scene where Dragon and Cowboy pick up a musket and accidentally shoot at the ceiling.
Jackie decided to slightly change his image on the silver screen and his next film, "Police
Story" was a clear departure from the previously light-hearted martial arts. His fans loved it.
Quote: “Hollywood cares about comedy, relationships more than stunts. In Hong Kong, we
go straight to stunts and action, but in America sometimes it's too much. So now I'm doing a film
in half - taking something good from Hollywood and something good from Asia.”
Interestingly, in 1985 alone, Jackie Chan played a police officer
in as many as five films! Ironically, Chan said that if he hadn't become an actor, he
would probably have become a police officer.
Over the years, Jackie had already suffered
a lot in fights and his own stunts, he was no stranger to getting hit, in pain,
and continuing to shoot with possible injuries. He went through this more than once
during his studies. On the account, there were already fractures of the ribs, fingers,
sprains and dislocations, cuts, and bruises. But one incident that occurred in 1986 almost cost
the actor his life. On the set of "Armour of God", Jackie made a jump from the wall of the castle to
a tree, but could not resist and fell on a stone, breaking his head. He got trauma to the base
of the skull with cerebral hemorrhage.
As a result, his right ear can't hear as well
as his left one, but that's nothing compared to the price Jackie could pay. This is the most
serious injury in his entire career. However, even after this, Chan didn’t give up his favorite
pastime - acting, stunts, and martial arts.
Jackie often said in interviews that he would like
to have more money to do charity work. And these are not just nice words. In 1988, the actor
founded the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation to offer scholarships and active assistance to the
youth of Hong Kong, as well as to help victims of natural disasters or diseases. His biggest regret
in life is that he didn't get a proper education. This inspires him to fund educational
institutions around the world.
Soon he was back in front of the cameras.
“Project A 2”, was released mainly due to the fact that the first part was really liked
by the emperor of Japan. And in Police Story 2, released a year later, Jackie again suffered
numerous injuries, including a burnt face while escaping from a burning factory. The final
explosion of the factory, filled with explosives, was the largest explosion in the history of Hong
Kong cinema at the time. The real building burst up. Especially for this, Jackie invited
specialists in pyrotechnics from America. And the musical accompaniment of the film
was taken from "The Armour of God."
The most striking films of the following years
can be considered “Miracles”, “Armour of God 2”, and “Police Story 3”, for which Jackie Chan
himself approved Stanley Tong to direct the film.
The rope ladder stunt thrown from a helicopter
in the Police Story 3 was performed at a height of 300 meters, and Chan was hit by a helicopter.
The films proved to be a significant success for Jackie. They elevated his status to unprecedented
heights in Asia and were quite prominent among his devoted fans around the world.
It is ironic that fame at home at one time did Jackie more harm than good.
The fact is that at the turn of the 80s and 90s, the Chinese entertainment industry
was kept in an iron fist by triads. Jackie went against the system by refusing to do
business with them. However, the "invitations" became so persistent that one day Chan was forced
to buy a gun and stopped leaving the house without a weapon, from time to time even taking a grenade
with him. The actor said that once 20 armed gang members surrounded him at dinner.
Quote:: "I pulled out a gun, and had two more concealed…I told them they
had been going too far and that I had been hiding from them. Later on, I confronted
them with two guns and six grenades."".
At one point, Jackie even had
to hide in the United States, but the triads found him there too.
Quote: "They opened fire on me as soon as I got off the plane."
Chan solved the problem radically - he spent half a million dollars to hire tough guys
from the mainland to protect himself and the artists who worked with him under the contract.
Eventually, the Triad lost much of its influence in the Chinese entertainment industry, and
Jackie Chan is still considered a hero in certain circles.
AMERICA
Success in the US was just around the
corner for the hard-working actor, and it came in the form of the action movie
Rumble in the Bronx. A project that opened the doors of Hollywood to the actor and introduced
him to the whole world, far beyond China.
Rumble in the Bronx is a 1995 action-comedy and
Jackie's first movie to hit the US box office.
Just don't be surprised that the role of the
New York Bronx is actually played by Vancouver in the film. The producers wanted to call the
film "Rumble in Vancouver," but the American distributors decided that "Rumble in the Bronx"
was a better title, so they changed it. However, anyone who is familiar with the geography of
Vancouver or New York can easily understand where the film was shot - the sights of the
Canadian city often flash on the screen.
Jackie did several deadly stunts in the film
and was filmed mostly with an injured leg. One episode required jumping from a bridge onto
a hovercraft. The actor landed badly, injured the bones of his thigh, lower leg, ankle joint,
received a fracture of his left ankle and an open fracture of the toes. But, this didn’t stop him
and he continued to act with a broken leg. And in some places this is noticeable: for example,
in the scene of escaping from the bandits, it is clearly visible that Jackie is limping. He
had to wear a sock painted to look like sneakers over the cast. Adding to the difficulty was the
region where the film was filmed — the shop fight scene took 20 days to complete, as Chan trained
local stuntmen to fight "Hong Kong-style".
Jackie was afraid that the picture would
not be accepted in the USA (this was the case with other American films: The Big Brawl
and The Protector) and agreed to the proposal of New Line Cinema to make a number of changes
in the timing: they cut out scenes that slowed down the dynamics and pace of the film, and also
changed the personnel sequence. Because of this, the American version is 91 minutes long, 15
minutes shorter than the Hong Kong version.
Jackie Chan didn’t waste time and set
to work on the films "Police Story 4: First Strike", "Mr. Nice Guy", and "Who Am I?".
In the third one, during editing, the scene where Jackie’s hero rides on a rhinoceros had to
be removed, as the operator made a mistake. Unfortunately, it was not possible to reshoot
this scene, which upset Jackie very much, since, during the filming of this scene, he broke a rib
when falling from a rhinoceros to the ground. But there are still enough highlights in
the film, such as the legendary slide jump on a 23-story building in Rotterdam, which
Jackie dedicated to his teacher, Master Yu.
All of these films had positive results at the
international box office. And Jackie set to work on his biggest and biggest-budget American
film, 1998's Rush Hour. In this project, Chan worked with talkative comedian Chris
Tucker. Yes, and Jackie Chan himself spoke English for the first time in American cinema,
since before that he always preferred dubbing. The actor was very doubtful of his
ability to speak a foreign language. The director persuaded him to abandon dubbing,
as this would give authenticity to his character. The film was even more successful
than "Rumble in the Bronx" and firmly established Jackie as a real star in
the United States. Surprisingly, the actor himself spoke negatively about the film:
Quote: “For shooting in each of the films, I had my own reasons, unlike Rush
Hour. There was no reason, only money. I like these films the least, but the irony is
that they did very well in the US and Europe.”
Director Brett Ratner was a big fan
of Jackie Chan's Hong Kong films. He felt that American audiences would not be
familiar with jokes from Jackie's other films and intentionally reused some of them. For example,
the scene where Inspector Lee accidentally grabbed Johnson - (Elizabeth Peña) by the chest is a
reference to Jackie Chan's Mister Nice Guy.
Jackie Chan said that the scene where his
character meets Chris Tucker's character for the first time was very similar to the actors'
first meeting in real life at the agency's office. Tucker spoke so fast that after the
meeting ended, Chan told his manager, "I don't understand a single word coming out of
his mouth!" This phrase is used in the film.
Here’s an interesting fact - Rush Hour inspired
the creation of the Rotten Tomatoes website. Site founder Sen Duong is a big fan of Jackie Chan and
has set up a website to collect reviews of all of Chan's films in Hong Kong that have been released
in the United States. He wrote the website in two weeks and posted it shortly before the release
of this movie. Rotten Tomatoes is currently one of the best-known sources of movie reviews, and
its Tomatometer rating is used to gauge a movie's success and in advertising and awards.
Jackie then teamed up with rising star Owen Wilson to star in the 2000 film Shanghai
Noon and its 2003 sequel, Shanghai Knights.
There are many references to westerns or the names
of western actors in the film: the hero of Jackie Chan (Chong Wang) in America is named John Wayne
- in honor of the "king of Westerns" John Wayne, Roy O'Bannon at the end of the film said that
his real name was Wyatt Earp - in honor of the famous guardian of law and the hero of Westerns,
who lived in the late XIX - early XX centuries, one of the members of Roy's gang is called
Wallach - in honor of the actor Eli Wallach, who played the role of the leader of the gang in
the film "The Magnificent Seven ". The title of Shanghai Noon is a reference to the famous movie
"High Noon". And the plot of the film itself refers to another western of 1971 - "Red Sun".
Brandon Merrill, who played Jackie Chan's hero's horse-riding wife, is a true rodeo champion.
At the moment, this is her only film role.
The fight scene with the horseshoe was almost
impossible to do with a fake horseshoe, as it was too light. However, Jackie Chan refused to hit any of the stuntmen with a real
horseshoe, saying it was too dangerous.
And this catchy phrase is actually
borrowed from a song by James Brown. In addition, the song played during
the fight scene at the bar "La Grange" by ZZ Top - is the same song played during the
character introductions in the '67 Dirty Dozen and '98 Armageddon.
Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson played together again in the sequel to the film "Shanghai Knights",
and after that in "Around the World in 80 Days". The creators of "Shanghai Knights" once again
resorted to small “Easter eggs”. There are several references to Sherlock Holmes in this film.
One of them is that the "bad guy" is called Lord Rathbone. Basil Rathbone was one of the
first actors to play Sherlock Holmes in movies. Rathbone is referred to in the film as "the best
swordsman in England". Basil Rathbone was the star of many swashbuckling films and was considered
the finest swordsman on the silver screen.
In the scene where Jeon Wan, Jackie's
character, is fighting the Rathbone guards, they are constantly making sure that none
of the priceless antique urns are broken. Jackie Chan did the same at
the climax of Rush Hour.
The film is also significant for the first battle
between Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen. Both of them achieved great success in Hong Kong but had
never fought each other on-screen before.
In 2000, there was the premiere of the animated
series, which became truly iconic for a whole generation. “Jackie Chan Adventures” tells
the story of an archaeologist who became a collective image of the characters played by Chan.
Interestingly, the actor himself did not voice the main character. But he appeared at the end of
each episode and answered questions about his life and work in a mini-interview format. In addition,
he was one of the producers of the show.
Many of the episodes of the animated series
contained references to Chan's films and life. For example, in the episode "A Night At
The Opera", the uncle of the main character stated that he was part of the performance
troupe "Seven Little Fortunes". Jackie Chan was a part of that troupe in real life. Another
example was in the episode "The Invisible Mom". Jackie used the kung fu style, "Drunken Master"
there. As you already know, the style was used by Jackie in the movie of the same name. Some
of the show's characters were also based on certain people. Uncle combined the characters of
Jackie's father and his agent. Jade was inspired by his nieces, and Tohru was based on one of
his stunt team members as well as himself.
In 2001, Jackie Chan teamed up again with Chris
Tucker in Rush Hour 2. The film turned out to be a good continuation of the first part. The scene
where Carter and Lee run naked down the street in Hong Kong was filmed in one take and there
are no extras around them. They really had to do it because the production couldn't close
the street for filming. Actor Don Cheadle, who played Kenny in the film, agreed to star
only if he fought Jackie Chan and spoke Chinese.
During the filming of the stunt where Jackie Chan
and Chris Tucker jump from the top window of the Red Dragon Hotel and then slide over the Chinese
Lantern wires, there was an actual car chase that was not part of the film. Filming took place in
Las Vegas, Nevada, and apparently, a car full of drunk tourists got into an altercation with a
taxi driver. The two cars began to chase, heading for the set and not noticing the crew members,
extras, and a huge crane with a camera and crew. Fortunately, no one was hurt. The taxi driver
and passengers were detained by the police.
There was another story during filming that
could have interfered with the film's release. The counterfeit dollar bills used in the film
read, "We believe in dogs." On one day of filming, some extras left the set with counterfeit money,
and they ended up in several Las Vegas casinos. The situation got so out of control
that production on the film was briefly suspended while the FBI investigated the props
department to determine if they had violated the Counterfeit Prevention Act of 1992.
The film grossed $67 million on its opening weekend, an increase of $34 million from
Rush Hour during the same time period.
In 2002, the film community recognized
Jackie Chan's services to cinema and the actor received his star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame. The star is located very close to the entrance to the Kodak Theater building,
where the Academy Awards are presented.
Quote: “I remember coming to Hollywood and seeing
these stars for the first time. I also wanted to get one of them. I am happy that I realized my
dream. Now I am called here to make films, but I will never forget that Hong Kong is my homeland.”
A couple of years later, Jackie received another star, but it was already on the Hong Kong Walk
of Stars. On April 28, 2004, it was opened to the general public.
FAILURES AND DRUGS
Let's go back to 2002 - the picture "The Tuxedo",
where Chan played along with Jennifer Love Hewitt, was released. The film received very mixed
reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a low rating (22%), with an average score of
4.4 out of 10. The critic's section stated, "Chan is as charming as ever, but his talents
are wasted by special effects and a bad script." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 30
out of 100, indicating "mostly unfavorable reviews". However, fans of Jackie liked the
film, and many speak of it purely positively.
The film "Medallion" in 2003 suffered an
even greater failure. This one couldn't even recoup the money spent on its creation. It
collected 34 million dollars on a budget of 41. Many factors influenced this. Portions of
the film had to be reshot when the studio discovered that the film's script borrowed large
parts, including entire scenes and dialogue, from Mark Goldblatt's 1988 horror-comedy Dead
Heat. The additional scenes re-shot in the last stage of production with Chan are very noticeable:
Jackie wears the hair extensions he wore during the filming of Shanghai Knights. Interestingly,
this was the first movie to use special effects in Jackie Chan's fight. Another fun fact:
according to guides at Dublin Castle in Ireland, Jackie Chan jumped on the throne during
filming. This made him the first person to sit on the throne since King George V.
The next film - "Around the World in 80 Days" in 2004, became at that time the most expensive
and most failed film with Jackie Chan at the box office, collecting $ 72 million on a budget of 110
million. In 2014, the Los Angeles Times listed the film as one of the most expensive box office flops
of all time. Even more - he has two nominations for "Golden Raspberry", the first - Arnold
Schwarzenegger for "Worst Supporting Actor", and the second is "Worst Prequel, Sequel, Remake
or Plagiarism". The film is based on the novel by Jules Verne, and Jackie himself played the
role of Passepartout. Filming lasted six months and this is the first time that Owen Wilson and
Luke Wilson have played brothers on screen.
Not forgetting his devoted fans, Jackie returned
to traditional films with 2004's New Police Story and 2005's The Myth. At this point, Jackie
Chan partly moved away from kung fu comedies and began to try out other genres, including
romance, drama, and fantasy. In The New Police Story, he played a middle-aged alcoholic law
enforcement officer who decided to take revenge on the villains for the death of his friends,
in The Myth he appeared as a legendary Chinese general who fell in love with a princess, and
archaeologist. Moreover, both heroes of Chan in the last film are fluent in kung fu.
In 2008, several pictures with Jackie Chan were released at once. The actor starred with
another equally popular Asian movie star, Jet Li, in Rob Minkoff's The Forbidden Kingdom.
True, the film itself didn’t cause delight among critics and didn’t bring the expected income,
despite the presence of a duet of great masters. Chan then worked on animation, voicing a
monkey in the Kung Fu Panda animated film. Interestingly, the chopstick fight scene between
Po and Master Shifu in the cartoon is an homage to a similar scene in the 1980 film Fearless Master
with Jackie Chan. According to Jackie, he recorded his voiceovers for the cartoon in three languages,
including Mandarin and Cantonese, during one five-hour recording session in Los Angeles. Jackie
Chan's signature jump, kick and scream (as Monkey) is similar to the animated intro to the 1990 USA
series “The Night Shadow Horror Kung-Fu Theatre”
In 2009, Chiang was appointed "Anti-Drug
Envoy" by the Chinese government, actively participating in anti-drug campaigns
and supporting President Xi Jinping's statement that illegal drugs must be eradicated and their
users severely punished. In 2014, when his own son Jaycee was arrested for cannabis use, he said
he was "angry", "shocked", "heartbroken" and "ashamed" of his son. He also remarked:
Quote: “I hope all young people learn from Jaycee and stay away from the dangers of drugs.
I told Jaycee that we have to accept the consequences when we do something wrong.”
Chan later starred in the epic historical drama The Founding of a Republic, and in 2010
there were action adventure films – The Spy Next Door with Amber Valletta, Little Big
Soldier with Wang Lihom, and The Karate Kid with the still young Jaden Smith. In 2011, the
film "Shaolin" was released with Andy Lau.
In 2012, the comedy-adventure thriller Armour of
God 3: Chinese Zodiac was released. Jackie Chan not only played the title role but also acted as a
director, screenwriter, and producer of the movie. Then, as part of a press conference at
the Cannes International Film Festival, Chan said that Chinese n Zodiac
was his last big action movie.
Jackie is saddened by the cruelty of the modern
world. According to him, he loves martial arts, but hates cruelty, he may well play on the
screen not only action heroes but also more serious roles. Therefore, day after day,
year after year, the actor says to himself: "Okay, I'll show you the real Jackie Chan."
Quote: “I want to be an actor, not just an action star. In this regard, during the last ten years, I
have acted in other films, such as The Karate Kid, where I preferred to play an old man.
I ask my body how long I can work like this because I'm not young anymore.
Later, Jackie noted that the journalists didn’t interpret his words quite correctly.
In a statement on his Facebook page, he clarified that he didn’t plan to completely
abandon action films, but only wanted to risk less by performing stunts for his films.
In 2013, with his participation, films "Personal Tailor" and even more gloomy "Police Story 2013"
were released. Despite having "Police Story" in the title, this movie has nothing in common
with other Jackie Chan films in the Police Story series. Here, for the first time, he played
the role of a police officer in mainland China. To do this, Chiang cut his hair short to match
the appearance of an officer from the mainland. The film received mixed reviews from critics.
Then there were "When The Light Go Out" and "Dragon Blade". In 2016 there were
"Skiptrace", "Railroad Tigers", and also Jackie returned to the role of the
monkey master in "Kung Fu Panda 3". The cartoon turned out to be a successful continuation
of the series. It collected a little more than half a billion dollars at the box office and
guaranteed the release of three more films.
In 2017, Chan appeared in Stanley Tong's film Kung
Fu YogaI and the continuation of the 2005 film The Myth. He also voiced the characters of the
animation projects The Nut Job 2 and LEGO Ninjago Film, starred as a Vietnam War veteran in Martin
Campbell's detective thriller The Foreigner and the sci-fi thriller Bleeding Steel. During filming
in Sydney, in an interview, Chan spoke about the reasons for his participation in this film:
Quote: “I'm still young, but not as young as before, but I still want to do something new. With
directors, new technology, my real stunts, and action, I wanted to work on a sci-fi movie.”
Judging by the reviews, the film was not successful. Various publications and
critics commented that the lack of action, humor, or logic, that the film is replete with
laughable English dialogue and terrible acting. But an experiment was an experiment.
In 2019, Jackie appeared on screen in the Russian-Chinese fantasy film Viy
2: The Journey to China. By the way, the name was proposed by Arnold Schwarzenegger
and Jackie Chan. The film's budget is about $50 million. In the Russian Federation and the CIS
countries, the film collected only 5.6 million dollars, and in China, the rental completely
failed and the showing was discontinued.
In 2020, Jackie Chan released the film
Vanguard, which was filmed in Dubai and London. While filming the jet ski scene in
January 2019, Jackie almost drowned. However, critics liked this scene in the film. In 2021,
Jackie's latest animated film called "Wish Dragon" was released.
SPECIALTIES
Jackie Chan's career includes more than
100 films, and for such a long journey, he has formed a vivid and very recognizable image.
An image that has been diligently improved and honed from film to film. Today, we get to know
Jackie for his skill at using everyday items as props in action scenes, from chairs and
tables to ladders, lamps, and whatever.
He likes to show the "Peace" sign
when posing for the cameras.
Basically, Jackie not only does all his own stunts
but also acts like a leader, expecting the actors and actresses in his films to do their own stunts
as well. He uses martial arts and hand-to-hand combat in all of his action scenes.
Despite being considered a martial artist, Jackie has little formal training and doesn’t
have a formal belt for any style. The basis for his martial arts was the Peking Opera, which
uses a more theatrical interpretation of martial arts and acrobatics. The fighting style he uses
during filming is a mixture of different styles, mostly using northern and traditional kung
fu as a base, and then using other fighting styles and slapstick to make the scene
work, which is the most humorous way.
At the end of his films, he often inserts doubles
with failed stunts and possible accidents. In addition to spectacular stunts and action, his
films often feature scenes in which he is tortured or forced into grueling physical exertion (usually
as punishment by a craftsman or teacher).
quote: “It is very important that
I feel pain when making a film…”
Chan always plays "The Good Guy" except
for Police Woman (released in United States as Rumble in Hong Kong) (1973). Sylvester
Stallone offered him the role of Simon Phoenix in Demolition Man(1993). He declined
as he did not want to play the villain.
Most often, Chan dubs his own voice for the
English releases of his Asian films. He also dubs his Asian films in Chinese.
Injuries
As it was mentioned earlier, Jackie Chan
often got injured doing his own stunts. According to him, he doesn’t have a single
bone that he wouldn’t break at least once.
Jackie says he is blacklisted by all insurance
firms and cannot insure health or life due to his habit of doing his own stunts and all the
injuries he has accumulated over the years.
By the way, Jackie is not the only one who
receives bruises and injuries in his films. While filming action scenes, his own
punches and kicks really hit the mark. Therefore, Chan forces his court partners
to wear special pads on their legs and body to prevent serious injury.
We have only mentioned a small part of Jackie's injuries because it’s impossible to
list them all in one video. If you are interested, you can just pause this video and read the list
of his injuries that he received on the set of various films. And we're moving on.
Interesting Facts
Jackie Chan is able to speak Thai, Japanese, German, Cantonese, Chinese,
English, Korean, and Spanish.
Before becoming famous as Jackie, the actor used
many aliases, including Pao Pao, Yuen Luo, Chen Yuen Lung, Xing Lung, as well as Yuan Lung Chan,
Baseball Bat, Wellson Chin, and many others.
The actor was supposed to star in a film called
Nosebleed, but the project was canceled after the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center
on September 11, 2001. He was supposed to play a window cleaner at the World Trade
Center who must stop a terrorist plot.
Jackie Chan's fan club once numbered 10,000,
mostly young girls; one of them committed suicide when she found out he was married. Another fan
tried to commit suicide, but she was saved.
In 1990, the Minister of Culture
and Communications of France awarded the actor the title of Chevalier of
the Order of Arts and Letters. In addition, Jackie was also awarded the Order of the British
Empire and the Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS).
His awards include the Innovator Award from
the American Choreography Awards and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Taurus
World Stunt Awards, as well as an honorary Oscar for his contribution to cinema.
In addition, Jackie Chan became the first Chinese artist to leave his imprint at Grauman's
Chinese Theater in Hollywood, and the first person in history to do so twice. For the first time, the
actor did this back in 1997, but the prints were lost somewhere and the ceremony had to be repeated
in 2013. Chan, who starred in more than 100 films, left prints not only of his hands and feet but
even his nose, dipping his face in cement.
Jackie has an excellent, long standing
relationship with Mitsubishi Motors. The company has repeatedly donated its cars to his films.
The actor is generally a big fan of motorsports. Along with driver David Chen, he co-owned the
Chinese Jackie Chan DC Racing team, which narrowly missed the lead in 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2017.
His favorite films include Gone with the Wind (1939), Singin’ in the Rain
(1952), and The Matrix (1999).
Jackie Chan holds two Guinness World Records,
which were awarded to him on December 5, 2012. He holds the records for the most credits in
a single film and the most stunts performed by a live actor. The first record was set by him with
Chinese Zodiac, where he played 15 major creative roles for the film, including director, producer,
actor, fight choreographer, and composer. He broke the previous record of 11
roles held by Robert Rodriguez.
The character "Hitmonchan" from the
Pokémon series is named after Chan.
In addition to his film production company JCE
Movies Limited, Jackie Chan owns or co-owns several production companies. Also, being a true
cinephile, Chan owns a network of cinemas - Jackie Chan Yaolai International Cinema. As of 2015,
there were already 38 cinemas in the country. Each sells merchandise under the Jackie Chan
brand. The artist himself said that he would like to open them throughout the country,
making Saturday tickets free for children.
By the way, Jackie is a
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
Jackie Chan has come on a long and traumatic
path to world recognition and love. Films with his participation have become cult, and
the actor himself has received dozens of awards, nominations, and prizes. He’s loved by
children and adults who were also once children and grew up on films with Jackie Chan.
Jackie inspires many to be interested in cinema, to find out how films work from the inside, and
what secret techniques actors have. Just as Jackie loves doing stunts, we at Biographer love to tell
you about movies and celebrities. If you click on one of the videos on your screen, you can
learn a lot of interesting facts and stories that will definitely surprise you. Trust me, it's
worth your time. Follow the link and watch. And that’s all for today. Rate this
video and see you soon! Bye Bye.
