An actor who got his first success in Hollywood after 34 years of his first movie released. A stuntman of Bruce Lee movies had broken almost every bone in his body at least once. He has acted in over 100 movies in around 50 years and holds the world record for most stunts by a living actor. Jackie Chan was born on April 7, 1954, in Hong Kong as Chan Kong-sang. He grew up in a modest family. His father worked as a cook and his mother worked as a housekeeper for the French Ambassador. Jackie was an energetic kid, always rolling around like a cannonball. He was nicknamed Pow Pow.
Jackie didn’t do great at school and failed his first year of primary. He was beaten for his poor grades. When he was only 7 years old, his parents moved to Australia for work and left Jackie Chan alone in Hong Kong. They left him in a very strict boarding school where he learned acrobatics, martial arts, singing and dancing. So, for the next 10 years he trained all day long and some days he trained for 19 hours. He said that the process of mastering martial arts was very painful. Because the school was very strict, if some mistakes were made, harsh punishments followed and he was also bullied by other kids. He couldn’t drop out of the school because he had nowhere else to go, his parents were in Australia.
At age 17, Jackie Chan started working as a stuntman and the movie extra in many films. He was quickly becoming known for his lack of fear and dangerous stunts. He worked as a stuntman to Bruce Lee, but unfortunately he didn’t have success as an actor. He was often injured while performing stunts, and he was also paid very little. So, he felt defeated, moved to Australia and started working in construction. When he was 21, he returned to Hong Kong, determined to succeed. After the death of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan was signed as a star of many kung-fu movies but all his movies were failures again. He wasn’t able to imitate Lee’s popular martial arts style. So, he returned to films with a new style. So, with the perfect combination of comedy and his own style of martial arts, he got success.
The audience loved the new genre he created and he became a huge star in Asia. And after many years of hard work, broken nose and determination, finally he became famous and successful in Hollywood at the age of 42. Chan has made more than 100 movies, speaks 7 languages, hold the Guinness’s world record for most stunts by a living actor, and after 56 years in the film industry, he won an Oscar for lifetime achievement. He grew up alone, overcame bullies, injuries, failures and then the world saw his redemption. Jackie Chan is truly an inspiration to everyone who wants to succeed.
Some interesting and lesser-known facts about Jackie Chan:
-He holds the Guinness World Record for most stunts by a living actor and most credits in a single movie for “Chinese Zodiac”, he was the actor, director, producer, writer, stunt coordinator, and more.15 roles in total.
-Jackie speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, English, German, Korean, Japanese, Thai and even American sign languages.
-Before fame, Jackie moved to Australia where he worked on construction sites. A fellow worker gave him the nickname “Jackie”
-In 2016, after decades of dedication to film, Jackie Chan received an Honorary Academy Award.
प्रतिक्रिया