Jackie Chan Gave Up On Hollywood In The '80s ‘Cos It Took Him 1 Month To Memorise 1 Line In English

Martial arts legend Jackie Chan is one of the few Asian stars who found success in Hollywood.

However, the road to Tinseltown wasn't easy.

The 68-year-old, who is the moderator of new Chinese acting reality competition Memories Beyond Horizon, recently shared more about that journey with contestants on the show.

Jackie, whose first foray into the US film industry was with The Big Brawl in 1980, recalled that he was often compared to Bruce Lee — not something he regarded as a compliment.

"Many people compared me with Bruce Lee, saying that I'm the second Bruce Lee. But I can't compare with him. We don't want to be number one. We want to be the only one,” he said.

And to become a good action star requires a lot of training and commitment.

"Every time, I would practise doing four sets of 500 punches," he shared.

Practise makes perfect

When Chinese actress Shen Yue asked if there were times where he felt unconfident in front of the camera, Jackie replied that there were too many.  

“When I was shooting New Police Story and I had to jump from the lights, I just went for it. I am not Superman. I get scared too, which is why I try to protect [actors] now, because I have seen many people get hurt, including myself,” he said.

His confidence also took a major hit when he was acting in Hollywood in the ‘80s. His English wasn't good, and he would often flub his lines.

"I could take a month to memorise one line and could even recite it in my dreams. I would often [have] NG [takes] due to my inaccurate pronunciation and when I finally got it right, [the crew] would praise me. [But] no one paid attention to my moves. At that time, I felt that I could not continue like this, so I gave up on Hollywood," he explained.

It was just too stressful acting in English

Following the commercial failure of The Protector in 1985, Jackie shifted his attention away from Hollywood and back to Hong Kong.

13 years later, he took another stab at Hollywood and found success with buddy cop action comedy Rush Hour. He went on to make two more Rush Hour films, along with other hit Hollywood movies.

Photos: Memories Beyond Horizon