Martial arts legend Jet Li is one of the most celebrated action stars ever but not many know how rough he had it at the start of his acting career.

In his new book Looking for Jet Li:Beyond Life and Death, Jet, 60, revealed that he made one yuan (about S$0.20) a day when he acted in his first movie — the iconic Shaolin Temple — in 1980.

"That was totally incomparable to what people made for movies in the '90s. Despite that, I was treated like a Hollywood star at that time," he recalled. 

"How much I made while breaking my arms and legs to survive in the movie industry was nothing compared to what the tycoons doing global investments earned," added Jet. 

Despite that, Jet, who was only 17 then and a professional martial artist, was hell-bent on becoming an actor.

"In 1981, I was done with the movie and was asked to go back to compete in martial arts competitions. At that time, if I had returned to be an athlete, my acting career would have to stop," he explained.

"I couldn't say no to competing because of the organisation's rules. The only thing I could do to quit the competition was to get injured. I then started hoping day and night that I would get hurt."

In the end, Jet really did suffer a serious injury during practice.  His doctor also issued him a letter describing him as medically disabled, and it marked the end of his career as an athlete.

"It was what I had hoped for. But at the same time, the doctor also said that I couldn't exert myself in martial arts films anymore," said Jet. 

That was around the same time Jet had his first taste of fame, thanks to Shaolin Temple, which premiered in 1982. 

"All of a sudden I became a movie star who was known by everyone. Many people asked for my autograph and there were many interview requests. It was as though my glorious movie career was about to begin. In actual fact, my dream of being in movies was already destroyed because of my injury," he lamented. 

Thankfully, Jet pushed on, and the rest, as you know, is history.