Movie icon Jackie Chan, 71, recently opened up about his future in Hollywood, revealing when he plans to retire from his legendary acting career. Speaking with Haute Living on Tuesday, May 6, during an interview about his upcoming film Karate Kid: Legends, the martial arts legend shared his thoughts on retirement and stunts.
Despite concerns about his health, Chan, who has been in the business for over six decades, reaffirmed that he still performs his own stunts and intends to continue doing so for as long as possible.
“Of course, I always do my own stunts. It’s who I am,” he insisted. “That’s not changing until the day I retire, which is never!”
“When you’ve done it for 64 years straight, there’s no physical preparation anymore,” Chan continued.
“Everything is in your heart and soul; it is muscle memory.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the “Armour of God” actor detailed how far action sequences have come since 1962, when he first started in the biz.
“In the old days, the only way was to be there and jump; that’s it,” Chan explained.
“Today, with computers, actors can do anything, but there’s always a sense of reality that you feel is missing.”
He also called the technological advancements a “double-edged sword.”
“On one hand, actors become more and more capable of doing impossible stunts with the help of technology,” Chan said, “and yet, on the other hand, the concept of danger and limit gets blurred and the audience is numb.”
However, the “Rumble in the Bronx” star admitted that performing one’s own stunts is “dangerous.”
“But I’m not encouraging anybody to risk their lives to do the stunts like I did,” Chan said, “It truly is too dangerous.”
Chan’s acting career kicked off with the Cantonese film “Big and Little Wong Tin Bar” when he appeared as an extra at age 8.