How Jackie Chan Almost Died On The Set Of His New Movie... Again

On how he almost died filming Kung Fu Yoga
“[Director Stanley Tong] almost killed me. I’m lucky to be alive. I had abdominal pains and told him about it. But he said that it was probably a swollen lymph node and told me to take painkillers. So, I continued filming. But the pain persisted. When I went to London to film, the pain became unbearable. They called in a doctor who told me to stop filming immediately and get admitted to the hospital. Turns out, my abdominal muscles had started to rot and my intestines were intertwined. I could have died. Life is too fragile. The next day, I resumed work like this (leans forward while clutching his tummy). After that, I had to go to Iceland to dive into water that was minus 10 degrees cold! They suggested getting a stunt double. But I told them, ‘No way, I’ll do it myself’. And I came out of it alive. Heaven is really good to me.”

Jackie doing his thing in Kung Fu Yoga.

On being the consummate professional
“I had every right to stop filming to recuperate for three months or even half a year. What could be more important than my health? But there were so many people [depending on me] on set. So... I was like forget it, let’s carry on.”

On being stuck with a lion (yes, a real one) in a car while filming a car chase scene in Dubai
“That was really very scary! I’ve already [filmed with a lion] in [the 2005 martial arts movie] The Myth. That scene had a lion chasing me but it was edited out afterwards. It was so hard to shoot! The lion would get very hot and we would have to fan it. And it’d walk for a while before deciding to just lie down on the ground. I also once let a leopard chase me and that didn’t turn out well too.”

Jackie at the movie's Singapore press con held at Equarius Hotel, Resorts World Sentosa.

On telling a young actor off for being a diva on set of Railroad Tigers. Jackie had revealed that the actor’s fighting scenes were all done by his stunt double and all he had to do was pretend to pant
“Actually, what I had said then applies to a lot of people, including female stars. The other day, after filming a scene, a director told me, ‘All four actors weren’t present. It was their stunt doubles doing all the action scenes.’ This didn't happen on my movie. But directors often complain to me. So I speak out on their behalf. I hope these people realise it’s them that I’m talking about and that they'll change their attitude.”

On his pal Andy Lau's accident
“He is someone who demands a lot of himself. If he can do a stunt himself, he will. Such things happen every day. But it doesn’t get reported, unless it’s a star. I immediately rang his manager up. They’ve returned to Hongkong and sought medical attention. Before he left [for Thailand], he even had a meal with me. Hopefully he'll be all right, he’s done so many good deeds.”

On rumours that his 34-year-old son, Jaycee Chan, is dating 16-year-old cellist Nana Ouyang
“What did you just say? I recently went for an operation and my brain isn’t working too well.”

Kung Fu Yoga opens in cinemas on Jan 27.

Photos: Kelvin Chia/Golden Village