Jackie Chan is arguably one of the most influential pioneers in action films. Drawing inspiration from Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Bruce Lee, Chan pushed the boundaries of action comedy for decades. As such, it comes as no surprise that Chan will receive an honorary Oscar recognizing his lifetime contribution to film from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences later this year. Fun fact: Forbes ranked Chan as the second-highest paid actor in the world just behind Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. If you found that interesting, read on to find out 20 more fun facts you may not have known about Jackie Chan!
1. Jackie’s birth name is Chan Kong-sang.
2. He got the name “Little Jack” which was shortened to “Jackie” while working as a construction worker in Canberra, Australia.
3. Jackie Chan’s stage name was originally “Become the Dragon.”
4. He began his film career as a stuntman in Bruce Lee films.
5. Jackie has broken his nose three times, his ankle once, most of the fingers in his hand, both cheekbones and his skull while doing his own stunts.
6. He has a permanent plastic plug in his skull because of an accident while filming The Armour of God.
Jackie fell while jumping onto a tree branch and fractured his skull which caused blood to pour out of his ear. He eventually made a full recovery.
7. Despite his willingness to do stunts, he admits he has a fear of needles and public speaking.
8. Jackie holds the Guinness World record for “Most stunts by a living actor”.
9. He also holds the Guinness World record for most film credits in the movie Chinese Zodiac.
His 15 credits include the writer, director, lead actor, producer, executive producer, cinematographer, art director, unit production manager, stunt coordinator, prop man, gaffer, stuntman, composer, theme song vocalist, and catering coordinator.
10. Jackie can speak seven languages.
He can speak Cantonese, Mandarin, English, German, Korean, Japanese, and Thai. He also knows the American sign-language.
11. Jackie often dubs his own voice for the English release of his Asian films and dubs his Asian films in Mandarin.
12. Jackie is actually quite talented as a singer.
He has released at least 20 albums with vocals in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Taiwanese and English. He also sang at the closing ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
13. Jackie also sings the Chinese version of “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” in Disney’s Mulan.
14. He provides the voice acting and singing for the Beast in the Chinese dub of Beauty and the Beast.
15. Unfortunately, Jackie did not voice his character in Jackie Chan Adventures.
James Sie provided the voice for animated Jackie.
16. Jackie underwent plastic surgery in 1976 to re-shape his eyelids.
The last film before Chan changed his appearance is Shaolin Wooden Men.
17. Jackie cancelled a film because of the 9/11 attacks.
In Nosebleed, he was going to play a window washer at the World Trade Center who had to stop a terrorist plot. Obviously this would have been a big no no to shoot in the wake of the attacks.
18. Jackie used to carry guns and a grenade to protect himself and his other artists from The Triad in the 1980s and 1990s.
19. After a fight working as a nightclub bouncer, he spent two days trying to push his bone back into his fist which he later realized was the other guy’s tooth.
