Jackie Chan Quotes

My affection for Taiwan… is witnessed by everyone. My wife is Taiwanese and I am a son-in-law of Taiwan. I am half Taiwanese.

I hate interviews – but you have to do them.

I want to try something different in Hollywood, to tell the audience I am not just an actor star – I am an actor, too.

I want to be an Asian Robert De Niro.

Besides entertainment and action, I want to educate. You know, as a producer or director, we do have a responsibility to society.

Of course I get hurt.

I went by myself to Hollywood, I spoke no English, every day I had to go to school.

Most of the time, I’m not even working; I’m just helping people, because I feel that I am too lucky.

I love wushu a lot and I would love to see it included in future Olympic Games.

Every country when they have Olympics, a lot of people come out opposed.

When I give somebody something and see their face, it just makes me so happy.

As a father, I always want my son to be perfect. When he was young, I tried to train him in martial arts, but he said, ‘I don’t want to become like Bruce Lee’s son, with everybody telling me how good my father was.’ I just think my son is too lazy.

My schedule goes: wake up, running, exercise, downstairs, running shoes off, then to the shower. That’s the Jackie Chan diary.

I’m not sure if it’s good to have freedom or not. I’m really confused now.

Cinema reflects culture and there is no harm in adapting technology, but not at the cost of losing your originality.

Actor’s life is very long.

I play a nobody in Japan.

I like to give back.

When I got depressed, I watched Bruce Lee movies. I learned everything from Bruce Lee.

When I’m in meetings until 5am and then have to get up two hours later for filming, sometimes I ask myself ‘why?’

For me the greatest source of income is still movies. Nothing – stocks, financial speculation, real estate speculation or businesses – makes more money for me than making movies.

Coffee is a language in itself.

I know I have to run 20 more minutes if I eat ice cream. Basically, I eat everything, but I just do more training.

Speaking English is like tongue-twist for me. I can speak each word perfect, but then you have to string them together like, ‘Blah, blah, blah.’ That’s when I get crazy.

I just want people to remember me like I remember Buster Keaton. When they talk about Buster Keaton or Gene Kelly, people say, ‘Ah yes, they good.’ Maybe one day, they remember Jackie Chan that way.

We learn martial arts as helping weakness. You never fight for people to get hurt. You’re always helping people.

I hate violence, yes I do. It’s kind of a dilemma, huh?.

The ads all call me fearless, but that’s just publicity. Anyone who thinks I’m not scared out of my mind whenever I do one of my stunts is crazier than I am.

I think the family movie is very important to everybody right now.

In the past when I was in Hollywood, I was like a dog. I felt humiliated. My English was not good. People would even ask me ‘Jackie Who?’.

I never wanted to be the next Bruce Lee. I just wanted to be the first Jackie Chan.

After all those years in Asia, I don’t have to do promotion anymore. We just release a Jackie Chan movie and – Boom! – people go.

If everyone does some good, think of what a good world this will be.

I’m afraid to fail again.

Sometimes, I’m very embarrassed.

In every movie I do have a dialogue.

Olympics for me is love, peace, united.

I’ve got a very interesting background.

I have a metal plate in my head, and can pop my shoulder and pop it back.

I want to play a fireman and a spy. I want to learn special effects.

I now have two different audiences. There’s the one that has been watching my action films for 20 years, and the American family audience. American jokes, less fighting.

Don’t try to be like Jackie. There is only one Jackie. Study computers instead.

I want to be in ‘Avatar’. I want somebody to hire me to be Superman, a Chinese Superman or Spider-Man.

Do not let circumstances control you. You change your circumstances.

My dream is to continue filming until my body tells me to stop.

You cannot mix sports with politics.

A lot of people ask me when I do a stunt, ‘Jackie, are you scared?’ Of course I’m scared. I’m not Superman.

Why did I become Jackie Chan? Mostly because I work very hard. When people were sleeping, I was still training.

I know I have a responsibility to the fans.

I’ve choreographed all of my movies.

The world is too violent right now.

Money for me today does not really matter.

I feel that there are a few things in the world without cultural barriers.

I’ve seen too many ups and downs in the movie industry.

Sometimes I’d like to play the bad guy and sometimes I’d like to die in a movie.

Very difficult to understand American audience, what they like, what they don’t like. Some movie I like very much, it doesn’t work. Some movie I don’t like, it gets big box office. Very difficult.

I feel like I have lived all over the world since I get to go everywhere to film.

I loved cowboy movies when I was a kid. When I was five years old, I was already wearing a cowboy hat and suit. When I grew up, I knew John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Kirk Douglas and so on.

In America there’s no way I can make the kind of movie I like to make.

It is totally different making films in the East than in the West. In the East, I make my own Jackie Chan films, and it’s like my family. Sometimes I pick up the camera because I choreograph all the fighting scenes, even when I’m not fighting. I don’t have my own chair. I just sit on the set with everybody.

Sometimes I do need to go to karaoke, sometimes I need to relax.

When I was young I didn’t care about education, just money and box office.

When I make a film – I direct my own film, I write my own script – that’s what I want to hear from the audience. ‘Oh, thank you, Jackie!’

Chinese people need to be controlled; otherwise, they will do whatever they want.

I make American films for American audiences and Asian films for Asian audiences.

One day, I want to make a PG film.

I’m not a god – I do bad things.

The kids never listen to you, especially the youngest ones.

I’m gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we’re not being controlled, we’ll just do what we want.

Now I am older, I understand we have to accept who we are.