Jackie Chan Trivia | 100 facts about the actor

Jackie Chan is an actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for his acrobatic fighting style and innovative stunts, which he performs himself.

Let’s find out more about him!

Kong Sang means “Born In Hong Kong.”
Sing Lung means “Already a Dragon.”
Prefers to do action films with strong humour streaks and physical clowning like Buster Keaton.
In the act of performing his own stunts, he has broken his nose three times, his ankle once, most of the fingers in his hand, both cheekbones and his skull.
Not only does he do his own stunts, but he is a lead-from-the-front kind of guy and expects the actors & actresses in his movies to do their own stunts as well.
Has a son, Jaycee Chan (born December 3, 1982), with wife Feng-Jiao Lin.
Most often dubs his own voice for the English release of his Asian films. He also dubs his Asian films in Mandarin.
In 1989, he was awarded an M.B.E.(Member of the Order of the British Empire) for his services to entertainment.
His fan club once topped 10,000 members, mostly young girls; one of them committed suicide after she discovered that he was married. Another female fan attempted suicide, but was saved.
Admits he did Cannonball Run II (1984) just to fulfill his contract with Warner Brothers.
His Opera Academy “brothers” include Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Biao Yuen, Corey Yuen, Wah Yuen, and Yuen Man Meng.
He has his own stunt team, known as the Jackie Chan Stunt Team (Sing Ga Ban). Members of the team often appear as characters and extras in his films, in addition to them doubling for other actors. The team includes Andy Kay, Chung Cheng, Chung-Chi Li (Nicky Li), and Bradley James Allan.
In 1990, he was made a Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French Minister of Culture and Communication.
The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region conferred the Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS) upon him in 1999.
Despite the minimal formal education he received, he was made an honorary doctor of social science of the Hong Kong Baptist University, and an honorary fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts.
In his action scenes, his punches and kicks actually connect with their targets. He has his actors wear special padding in their feet and body to prevent serious injury.
Has a great, long-lasting relationship with Mitsubishi Motors. The company has donated many of their automobiles for his films.
Underwent plastic surgery in 1976 to re-shape his eyelids, giving him a more “Western” appearance. The final film with the old-look Chan is Shaolin Wooden Men (1976).
His parents worked at the American Embassy in Canberra, Australia. Jackie lived with them there for a while after one of his attempts in the movie business fell through.
According to his production diary on the official Shanghai Knights (2003) website, the producers of the film wanted to throw him a birthday party, but he asked them not to since his mother had recently died and Chinese tradition dictates that you should wait 3 to 12 months after a death to stop the mourning period. The producers threw the party anyway, and Chan did not object because, he said, “it is an important part of the American culture to celebrate birthdays”.
He sings in the Chinese version of Mulan (1998). He sings the Chinese version of “I’ll Make a Man Out of You”.
His role models are Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, all of whom were more important to him as a child than any martial arts star, the label he was basically forced into at a very young age.
Elaine Wu gave birth to a daughter, Etta Ng Chok Lam, on November 19, 1999. The Hong Kong media alleged that he was the father, but there has as yet been no verification by either party involved.
He worked with Bruce Lee as a stunt coordinator.
He was a stunt/fight coordinator for John Woo during his kung-fu phase.
Is good friends with Steven Seagal and James Lew.
Says the most painful of all the injuries he’s sustained in his career happened on Enter the Dragon (1973), when Bruce Lee accidentally hit him in the face with a nunchuck.
Is best friends with Sylvester Stallone.
Supporter of The Salvation Army’s work in China.
Capable of speaking Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and Korean.
Appointed Honorary Ambassador of Peace for the Harvey Ball Foundation along with Brooke Shields, Jerry Lewis, A.V.T. Shankardass, Prince Albert of Monaco, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Phil Collins, Jimmy Buffett, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Darrell Waltrip, Heather Mills, Yoko Ono, Patch Adams, Sergei Khrushchev and Winnie Mandela.
His family roots originate from the coastal port city of Ningbo, which is located on southern edge of Hangzhou Bay along the Eastern seaboard of Zhejiang province, China.
Received his name “Jackie” from fellow workers on a construction site in Canberra, Australia, who couldn’t pronounce his real name.
Was first approached to play Sato in Black Rain (1989) but decided the role did not match his values/image.
There is a Chinese Take-away in Hyde Park, Leeds of the United Kingdom named ‘Jackie Chan’s’.
He said the hardest thing about acting is speaking in English. Doing stunts are easy for him compared to speaking in English.
Despite his nearly innumerable injuries, he admits he still has a fear of needles.
While he’s classed as a Martial Artist, he has little formal training, and doesn’t hold any formal belt for any style. The basis for his martial arts was Peking Opera which uses a more theatrical interpretation of martial arts and acrobatics. The fighting style he used during filming was a mix of different styles, primarily using Northern and traditional Kung-Fu as the base, then building on that with other fighting styles and slapstick to make the scene work is the most humorous way possible.
On June 10, Jackie Chan received the New York Asian Film Festival’s Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award. The presentation was made at a special event at New York’s Lincoln Center. Jackie also participated in a Q&A session with Grady Hendrix, one of the founders of Subway Cinema, the organization that began and now co-presents the annual NYAFF. The evening concluded with a screening of Jackie’s most recent film “Chinese Zodiac”.
Jelgava, Latvia: Filming for Chinese Zodiac (2012) [April 2012]
Taitung, Taiwan: Filming for Chinese Zodiac (2012) [January 2012]
On 25th April 2008 in Chennai(Madras), Tamil Nadu, Southern India to attend as the Chief guest for the audio release of a great Indian [Tamil] Star KamalaHassan’s much awaiting movie Dasavatharam along with CM Mr K. Karunanidhi, Amitab Bachan, Mammootty, Vijay, Hemamalini, Jayaprada, Mallika Shravat, Asin etc. [April 2008]
The character ‘Hitmonchan’ from the Pokemon series is named after him.
Jackie Chan personally holds two Guinness World Records that were awarded to him December 5, 2012. He holds the records of Most credits in one movie and Most stunts by a living actor. The first record was made by him with the movie Chinese Zodiac (2012) where he carried out 15 of the major creative movie-making roles for the film including Director, Producer, Actor, Fight Choreographer and Composer, breaking the previous record of 11 credits held by Robert Rodriguez.
Admits that he is not very good with technology, particularly computers.
Despite being known for his extraordinary combat skills, Jackie abhors violence in real life and claims to having only been in one fight his entire life and only then because his friends dragged him into it.
Was John Carpenter’s first choice for the role of Wang Chi in Big Trouble in Little China (1986) but declined in order to concentrate on his career in Hong Kong.
Sylvester Stallone offered him the role of Simon Phoenix in Demolition Man (1993). He turned it down, as he didn’t want to play a villain.
Is trained in Northern & Southern styles of Kung-Fu as well as other styles of Martial Arts including Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu & Hapkido. Chan also has some experience in Jeet Kune Do having studied under Bruce Lee while working as a stuntman on some of his films.
He and Maggie Cheung made 6 movies together: Police Story (1985), Operation Condor (1991), Police Story: Lockdown (2013), Supercop (1992), Twin Dragons (1992), and Center Stage (1991) (producer and actress). They also appeared in a music video together.
Won Hong Kong Academy “Best Picture” Award for Police Story, 1986.
Won Taiwan Golden Horse “Best Actor” Awards Two Times: Police Story 3, 1992. Crime Story, 1993.
His father is Charles Chan and his mother is Lily Chan (also known as Lee-Lee Chan).
Has a daughter, Etta Ng Chok Lam (born November 19, 1999), with Elaine Ng Yi-Lei.
Jackie received the Star Asia Lifetime Achievement Award at the 12th annual New York Asian Film Festival in 2013.
Godfather of Tin-Chiu Hung.
Co-Founder of JCE Movies Limited in 2004.
Chan has played many roles whose character names have the ‘Jackie’. Examples include Cannonball Run II (1984), Dragons Forever (1988), Operation Condor (1991), Mr. Nice Guy (1997) and The Twins Effect (2003).
Has played 7 characters more than once in the movies: Wong fei-Hung from Drunken Master films, Asian Hawk from Armour of God films, Monkey voice from Kung Fu Panda films, Lee from Rush Hour films, Chan Ka Kui from Police Story films, Dragon Ma Yue Lung from ‘A’ gai wak films and Muscles from Lucky Stars films.
Performed the voice acting and singing for the Beast in the Chinese (Mandarin) dub of the Beauty and the Beast (1991).
Shares his birthday with Russell Crowe, Francis Ford Coppola, James Garner, Stan Winston, Alan J. Pakula and Ted Kotcheff.
Eight directors cast him at least twice in their films: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung, Stanley Tong, Gordon Chan, Benny Chan, Brett Ratner, Sheng Ding, Yen-Ping Chu and Wei Lo.
Once owned a production company, Golden Way Films Ltd. It was produced for Police Story films (1985-1992), Project A II (1987) and Mr. Canton and Lady Rose (1989).
Good friend of Korean actress Kim Hee-seon.
Has appeared with Andy Lau in 4 films: Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars (1985), The Prisoner (1990), The Legend of Drunken Master (1994) and Shaolin (2011).
His fans call him and crew often call him “Dai Gor”, in English “Big brother”.
In 2009, Chan was named an “anti-drug ambassador” by the Chinese government, actively taking part in anti-drug campaigns and supporting President Xi Jinping’s declaration that illegal drugs should be eradicated, and their users punished severely. In 2014, when his own son Jaycee was arrested for cannabis use, he said that he was “angry”, “shocked”, “heartbroken” and “ashamed” of his son. He also remarked, “I hope all young people will learn a lesson from Jaycee and stay far from the harm of drugs. I say to Jaycee that you have to accept the consequences when you do something wrong.
Referring to his participation in the torch relay for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chan spoke out against demonstrators who disrupted the relay several times attempting to draw attention to a wide-ranging number of grievances against the Chinese government. He warned that “publicity seekers” planning to stop him from carrying the Olympic Torch “not get anywhere near” him. Chan also argued that China was attempting reform and that the Olympics coverage that year would be a chance for the country to learn from the outside world.
He was awarded the title of Panglima Mahkota Wilayah by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia Tuanku Abdul Halim in conjunction with the country’s Federal Territory Day. It carries the title of Datuk in Malaysia. [1 February 2015].
An avid football fan and supports the Hong Kong national football team, England National Football Team, and Manchester City.
Received his Doctor of Social Science degree in 1996 from the Hong Kong Baptist University.
In 2009, he received another honorary doctorate from the University of Cambodia, and has also been awarded an honorary professorship by the Savannah College of Art and Design in Hong Kong in 2008.
Founded the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation in 1988, to offers scholarship and active help to Hong Kong’s young people and provide aid to victims of natural disaster or illness.
His movie The Legend of Drunken Master (1994) was listed in Time magazine’s All-Time 100 Movies.
He was voted the #70 in Top 101 Most Influential People by Entertainment Weekly in 2001.
Ranked #41 on Channel 4 (UK)’s 100 Greatest movie stars. [1999].
In 2000, He helped create a PlayStation game called Jackie Chan Stuntmaster (2000), to which he lent his voice and performed the motion capture.
Was not in attendance at Leslie Cheung’s funeral due to The Medallion (2003) filming in Germany.
Ranked #89 in Premiere magazine’s 2001 annual Power 100 list. Had ranked #85 in 2002.
In 1999, He was cameo role of movie extra in Stephen Chow’s King of Comedy (1999) and Stephen Chow was cameo role of police officer in Jackie Chan’s Gorgeous (1999).
His Cantonese song Story of a Hero (theme song of Police Story (1985)) was selected by the Royal Hong Kong Police and incorporated into their recruitment advertisement in 1994.
He has been the inspiration for manga such as Dragon Ball (including a character with the alias “Jackie Chun”), the character Lei Wulong in Tekken and the fighting-type Pokémon Hitmonchan.
A UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.
His movies Project A (1983), Rush Hour (1998) and The Myth (2005) have been adapted to a television series.
In 2007, He recorded and released “We Are Ready”, the official one-year countdown song to the 2008 Summer Olympics which he performed at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Paralympics. Chan also released one of the two official Olympics albums, Official Album for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games – Jackie Chan’s Version, which featured a number of special guest appearances. Chan performed “Hard to Say Goodbye” along with Andy Lau, Liu Huan and Wakin (Emil) Chau, at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.
His greatest regret in life is not having received a proper education, inspiring him to fund educational institutions around the world.
In 2015, Forbes Magazine estimated his earnings for the year to be $50 million.
Ranked #6 in Netscape’s Top 10 Hollywood Super Heroes. [July 2006].
His wife Feng-Jiao Lin was formerly a famous Taiwanese actress.
He was voted the #15 in Top 25 Awesome Action Heroes by Entertainment Weekly. [October 2007].
Ranked #94 in Premiere magazine’s 2003 annual Power 100 list. Had ranked #85 in 2002.
One of Forbes’ Top 10 Most Generous Celebrities in 2006.
Mentioned in the song ‘Jackie Chan’ by Japan female musical group Frank Chickens.
He was sucker punched by one of his fans while filming Rush Hour 2 (2001) because the fan thought he would block the punch.
Ranked #3 in E!’s 2002 Toughest Stars 25 list.
Mentioned in the song “Kung Fu” by Ash.
His exclamation “Duang!”, coined in a commercial for Bawang shampoo in 2004, took off as a meme in 2015 on Chinese social media and became one of the top trending words of the year, even though it has no specific meaning.
He turned down Jet Li’s roles in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) and The One (2001) due to his policy of not playing villains.
He has said he can’t get health or life insurance due to his habit of doing his own stunts and all the injuries he’s gathered over the years.
In 2015 the King of Malaysia awarded him the title Datuk.