Hailing from a humble household, Jackie Chan was completely unaware of luxury during his childhood. However, working through his reel life, starting as a child actor, Chan built a fortune like none. Nevertheless, his early life taught him the values of relationships and money, as he recalled his father’s sacrifice during an interview.
Revealing how he held deep resentment for his father during his early years, Jackie Chan mentioned turning his hatred into admiration. Recalling the sacrifices his father made just to buy Chan a small house in Hong Kong, the martial arts legend expressed his affection for his father.
Jackie Chan Recalls His Father’s Absence During His Childhood
Born in 1954, in Hong Kong, which turned into a haven for Chinese escaping communist rule on the mainland, Jackie Chan recalled his humble upbringing. Growing up in a rather poor household, Chan mentioned realizing the values of relationships, money, and time, early in his life. Thus, starting to work from a young age, the legend ventured into cinema with his passion for martial arts.
Years after reaching the summit of success, Jackie Chan sat for an interview where he discussed his childhood years and profoundly talked about his parents’ contributions to his success. Discussing how his father often stayed away from home, for his work, Chan mentioned missing him deeply. However, he later claimed, that his longingness turned into hatred.
Speaking about how his father often stayed out of the country for years, Jackie Chan recalled the absence of his father in his life. “I think everybody knows, I was born in a very poor family and my father was in the French embassy when I was young” Chan shared. He further added, “When I was 7, my father moved to Australia, American embassy”, leaving behind Chan and his family in Hong Kong.
Jackie Chan Turned His Resentment For His Father Into Admiration
Discussing the years spent away from his father, Jackie Chan recalled training hard to make a career out of his passion. “I was in martial arts school. Training training. One day I became a child actor.” Recalling the hardships he went through to make himself stable, Chan mentioned how he transformed himself into one of the greatest action legends, after 10 years of rigorous training.
During those years, Jackie Chan mentioned feeling overwhelmed with hatred for his father. However, after years of remaining away from family, Chan’s father returned from Australia to Hong Kong. Discussing the deep resentment he felt for all those years Chan mentioned how his hatred turned into affection because of what his father did.
“My father came over to Hong Kong and spent 10 years of salary to buy a small house for me. And at that time I was pretty angry at my father, ‘why just go away, while I stayed by myself at the Hong Kong martial arts school’. After that I realized, my father worked 10 years in Australia, and came back to just buy a tiny house…Then I realized my father worked so hard.”
Thereafter, Jackie Chan turned himself into a superstar, taking admiration from his father. Chan has ever since been grateful to his parents for their sacrifices and the gift they gave him with all the money they accumulated throughout the decade. The martial arts legend still kept the priceless gift in his possession.
Source: SOH Talks & Ideas Archive
