The Indestructible Jackie Chan

Like a cat, Jackie Chan must have nine lives.

In the course of his colorful and dramatic career, he has suffered more injuries than the total of those of probably all the action stars around the world. He has scars in his body as testaments to his dedication as an actor, likewise more than the awards he has won. As a great survivor, Jackie is his own biggest trophy.

Listed in his 1998 autobiography, I Am Jackie Chan: My Life In Action, are the life-threatening injuries he has incurred as he executed dangerous stunts (look, Ma, no doubles!) in pursuit of realism, to wit (as described by Jackie himself):

• Head: Other than the brain hemorrhage I suffered on Armour of God, I’ve hit my head and injured it many times. I was actually knocked completely unconscious while working as a stuntman on Hand of Death.

• Ears: The Armour of God fall also left me hard-of-hearing in one ear.

• Eye: On Drunken Master, my brow bridge was injured and I nearly lost an eye.

• Nose:…I’ve actually broken it at least three times: on The Young Master, Project A and Mr. Nice Guy.

• Cheek: While making Supercop, I dislocated a cheekbone.

• Teeth: Hwang Jang Lee kicked out one of my teeth (accidentally) while we were making Snake in Eagle’s Shadow.

• Chin: I injured my chin on Dragon Lord. It was painful even talking for a while which made it hard to direct, not to mention act.

• Throat: During The Young Master, I was almost suffocated when I injured my throat.

• Neck: I’ve hurt my neck a lot, but my worst neck injuries happened during the clock-tower fall in Project A, and after I messed up a flip during Mr. Nice Guy.

• Shoulder: I dislocated my shoulder while making City Hunter.

• Back: I’ve had a lot of back injuries doing my movies but the pole-slide scene in Police Story almost paralyzed me when I nearly broke the seventh and eighth vertebrae in my spine.

• Legs: I crushed my legs while shooting Crime Story, after getting caught between two cars.

At 62 (April 7, 1954), Jackie is still at it.

In his latest movie, Skiptrace (released by Viva Films International nationwide on Aug. 10), Jackie plays a Hong Kong detective tracking a notorious crime boss. Among his co-stars in the action-comedy are Hollywood actor Johnny Knoxville, and Chinese actors Fan Bingbing and Eric Tsang.

What took you a while to make another movie?

“No. I made four movies in the last two years.”

How is Skiptrace different from your other movies?

“All my movies are different and unique. But one thing is common, they are all action-comedy.”

Is there anything you could do in your past movies that you couldn’t do now?

“Of course, a lot of things. I am 62 now and some of the big stunts I can’t do anymore.”

You are a daring actor. What could be the most serious injury that you have suffered in your entire career?

“I have so many injuries… can’t even count. The most serious one is the injury of my skull.” (Trivia: During my first interview with Jackie for Rush Hour 1 several years ago, I asked him about the hole on his head that he got when he leaped from a building and landed on the concrete pavement during a shoot in Czechoslovakia. He guided my finger to touch it. It felt as soft as cotton, so I was worried I might accidentally insert my finger into it.)

What are your three favorites among your movies?

“Very hard to say. You should do a survey with my fans.”

What about other actors, who do you admire?

“Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.”

You have done all kinds of roles. What other roles would you like to play?

“The ones I haven’t tried.”

Film piracy is rampant around the world. What do you do to protect your film from being pirated before it gets shown in the theaters?

“We have our team to monitor it.”

What is your take on social media? Do you have a Twitter, Facebook or Instagram to update your fans on your activities?

“I have Facebook and Weibo.”

At your age, how do you keep fit? What’s your diet? What’s your workout? How much sleep do you get per night? How do you cope with stress?

“I still work out every day, run for an hour or so. I don’t do diet. I eat everything. I sleep quite little. I am a happy-go-lucky guy, I don’t like to magnify stress.”

Let’s talk more about Skiptrace…Tell us about your role and the character’s journey in the film?

“My role is a retired Hong Kong policeman. In the film, I devote myself to chasing a bad guy who killed my best friend (played by Eric Tsang). He left behind a daughter (played by Fan Bingbing) who I treated as my own, too. When Fan’s character gets into trouble, I quickly get involved. I help her to bring back an American guy (played Johnny Knoxville) to Hong Kong. We can’t take a plane, so we have to use different method and wind up going through Russia, Mongolia and Guangxi then back to Hong Kong.”

How did you get involved in Skiptrace?

“Skiptrace is in fact an idea I’ve had for at least 20 years. I like the film Midnight Run very much so (I) wanted to do something in that vein, like a highway movie. Over the years, I’ve been thinking of doing this with Jet Li or Queen Latifah, and later I discussed it with Owen Wilson and Chris Tucker, too. But it took a while to make it happen.”

How was it working with Johnny Knoxville? Were you a fan of Johnny’s work before this?

“To be honest, I didn’t know him at all. But when we worked together, I was impressed by him. He loves to do all his own stunts. I worried about him getting injured (laughs) but of course, my JC stunt team protected him all along.”

What about Fan Bingbing?

“We’ve been friends for a long time. Nine years ago, we worked together on Shinjuku Incident. She played my girlfriend and this time she is my goddaughter. Well, time flies by on me!”

You are famous for your incredible stunts. Can you tell us about the stunt process for this film and do you have any favorites?

“With every movie I worked on, I love to create different styles of stunts and make them unique. In Skiptrace, one of my favorites I think was fighting with the Russian lady using the Matryoshka doll. I like to make use of the objects or the location to design the stunt.”

How were the other actors with the stunts for this film?

“They were all good, and of course, they were trained by my JC stunt team.”

Any unforgettable moments on the set?

“The memorable moment on the set for me was a very dangerous scene. I was on a raft with Johnny and I was supposed to fall into the river and pretend I didn’t know how to swim. I am not a good swimmer. The river was very rough and I nearly got myself drowned.”

Tell us about where the film was shot.

“We filmed in Russia, Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Guangxi, Macau and Hong Kong. The most memorable location for me would be Inner Mongolia and Guangxi, because of their unique costumes and traditions.”

How do you think this film will appeal to an international audience?

“I think Skiptrace will appeal to international audience because it’s the typical Jackie Chan comedy, stunts and actions. More than that, it shows the audience a different scenery of China.”

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