Jackie Chan Once Feared He Might Have Accidentally Killed Someone in a Fight
Actor Jackie Chan is known as one of Hollywood’s most iconic action stars. But way before Chan became an actor, he worked as a professional bouncer.
A brawl Chan was involved in back in his bouncer days, however, resulted in the icon wondering if he’d committed murder.
Jackie Chan was a stunt man before he became an action star
Chan is known for performing dangerous stunts in films. But doing so was something he was used to since he worked as a professional stuntman before becoming an actor. Starting out, Chan received very little pay for his work. But while doing his job, he’d watch how the stunt coordinator operated, which inspired Chan to pursue the profession.
“Being a stuntman was a low profession in those days. We would just sit there on the set, and the stunt coordinator would say, ‘We need two people to be dead,’ and then they would put some fake blood on us,” Chan once said in an interview with the South China Morning Post. “All I had to do was lie there not breathe – that was the job. I was doing things like that every day. But each day on the set, I would watch the stunt coordinator, and I gradually realised how powerful he was.”
Chan would eventually work his way up to becoming a stunt coordinator, which offered him more pay and exposure. Chan’s stunt work would later lead him to Chan’s future talent manager Willie Chan. According to Style, Willie Chan managed to get the action star his first feature film role. From there, Chan would later become one of the biggest action stars in the world.
Jackie Chan quit being a bouncer after he feared he might have killed someone
In his earlier years, Chan also worked another job separate from the film industry. The movie star’s affinity for the martial arts landed him a gig as a nightclub bouncer. Still, even back then Chan wasn’t too keen on resorting to violence, and wanted to avoid physical confrontations.
“I believe in peace. I learnt to do martial arts when I was young and I wanted to be a bouncer, but after one particular fight I learnt that if you hurt someone you can actually hurt yourself,” Chan once told Britain’s Sunday Mirror (via Contact Music).
The fight in question would later cause Chan great distress. Chan had reason to believe he’d accidentally killed the person that he fought with.
“I had a scuffle with someone and two days later I found out his tooth was still in my hand – I thought there was a problem with my bone. I didn’t know if I’d killed the guy or just knocked him down and I was petrified for a whole month. I read the newspapers every day to find out if I’d killed someone,” Chan said.
Jackie Chan shared that he didn’t want to be known as just an action star
Chan doesn’t just want to be known for martial arts or action films. Speaking to Gulf News, Chan expressed interest in pursuing roles that allowed audiences to see a different side of him. He believed branching out would’ve helped get rid of the preconception that he was solely an action star.
“I do a lot of action comedies because that’s what I’m best known for. But since I don’t like repeating myself, I don’t limit myself to one particular genre. I’d like audiences to think of me as an actor who can do action, not only as an action star. I really look forward to trying more dramatic roles. I’ll still continue to do action comedies, but also other genres, too,” Chan said.
One genre of film Chan considered exploring was musical movies.
“I can sing and dance, too. It would be great if someone would hire me in such a movie so that I could show off that side of me and actually sing and dance,” Chan added.
