Article and Interview by Dr. Craig D. Reid

(This article first appeared in Outré #2)

He's known under a variety of appellations among them, Cheng Lung, Yuan Lu, Chen Gang Shen, and Sing Lungyet fans of Asian cinema know there's only one Jackie Chan.

In the beginning, opportunistic producers put him in the dubious position of trying to fill the void left by Bruce Lee. Realizing that being tagged as a Lee imitator would result in a dead-end career, Chan soon developed his own style of "kung fu comedy," adding inventive slapstick comedy, astonishing fight scenes, and death- defying stunt work to the standard martial arts formula.

For contemporary audiences, viewing a Jackie Chan movie is like watching a live-action cartoon. His incredible strength, physical prowess, and acrobatic skills recall the exhilarating silent films of Buster Keaton and Douglas Fairbanks. Chan's established screen image is an immediately likable one: he's a cheerful, good-natured soul with a strong sense of right and wrong (though he's not above resorting to a little chicanery to get things accomplished). And he's always the hero. Deliberately, Chan will only play "good guy" roles; he wants to deliver exactly what his fans have come to expect from him.

Chan may not be a house- hold name in this country (although he does have a large following of devoted American Jackiephiles), but internationally, he's a mega- star. In many countries, the release of a new Jackie Chan film is a major event. He also enjoys a lucrative singing career (his music videos are shown constantly on Asian television), and his face appears on countless posters, magazine covers, and public service announcements.

Born in Hong Kong on April 7, 1954 as Chen Gang Shen, Jackie was nearly sold at birth to a British doctor for $26 because his immigrant parents couldn't afford to feed him. Jackie recalls, "Because I was a large, fat baby, I was given the Chinese nickname A-Puo, which means 'cannonball.' Then at age six, when I moved to Australia, my school teacher thought I said 'Paul.' But I couldn't pronounce Paul well enough, so I was called Steve.

"When I worked on a construction sight, a friend thought 'Steve' [wasn't suitable] so he introduced me as Jack Chan. I added a 'y' because 'Jacky' has a better rhythm. Then [producer] Raymond Chow changed my name to 'Jackie.'"

After a year in Australia, Jackie was sent back to Hong Kong where he signed a ten-year contract to learn Chinese opera at a live-in boarding school. His face becomes serious as he remembers this period. "Every day we would train from five in the morning until midnight, and anyone caught taking it easy would be whipped and starved. When I joined the school, I wanted to learn kung fu. I was asked if I wanted to join for three, five or ten years. I didn't know how long these times were, so I just chose ten years. Oopsa looong time!

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