Actor Jackie Chan is known to the world as one of the best action stars. The Rush Hour actor has starred in many films both in Chinese and in English. His penchant for creative stunts in action sequences and performing those stunts by himself has made him a household name across the globe.
In 2015, the honorary Academy Award winner wrote a memoir about his life. Titled ‘Never Grow Up’, the book revealed many of the star’s personal stories of how he handled fame. He also mentions one instance where he had hit his son.
Jackie Chan’s Revelation About Hitting His Son
The Dunken Master actor Jackie Chan married actress Joan Lin in 1982. Lin was one of the biggest stars in the Hong Kong film industry and appeared in more than 70 films in her ten-year career. She retired from the film industry after her marriage to Jackie Chan. Together, they had their son Jaycee Chan.
In his memoir, Jackie Chan spoke more about the affair between him and model-turned-actress Elaine Ng Ti-Lei in 1999. The affair also led to Ng Ti-Lei having a child, Etta Lg Chok Lam, who he has not fostered. In the memoir, he talks about the affair and how he dealt with it,
“In 1999, I made a serious mistake. When the news broke about an affair I’d had that resulted in a child, the media frenzy was like a bomb going off. I wanted to phone Joan but I didn’t know what to say. I wouldn’t be able to explain this.”
The Who Am I actor also mentioned how he was as a father to Jaycee Chan. He reveals one instance where he had beaten his son, which scared Joan Lin,
“When [my son Jaycee] was still young, I hit him once, and was very heavy-handed — directly lifting him and throwing him onto the sofa…That time I really scared him and his mother to death, and I myself was very regretful.”
While the actor regrets his actions, he has also mentioned that children misbehaved and had to be hit to be disciplined.
Jackie Chan’s Relationship With His Son Jaycee Chan
Jackie Chan’s son Jaycee Chan is also an actor and singer. However, he has not seen the success that his father saw despite heavy promotions and support. Since his debut in 2004, he has been in multiple films and has released two albums. However, none of them have received commercial success. He has been known as a spendthrift by the Chinese media.
In an awards ceremony in 2011, Jackie Chan mentioned that he would donate his fortune t charity instead of passing it on to his son. He stated,
“If he is capable, he can make his own money. If he is not, then he will just be wasting my money.”
In 2014, Jaycee Chan was arrested for drug possession and was convicted of his charges after being found with marijuana. The actor spent 6 months in prison after pleading guilty in a trial. Jackie Chan was China’s anti-drug ambassador at the time. After his release, Jaycee issued a public apology for his actions and revealed that his father had not used his connections to issue a reduced sentence. The actor had also lost many of his brand deals and acting gigs due to his arrest.
Source: Variety
