In a recent interview, 71-year-old Jackie Chan shared a surprising memory about his father, Charles Chan, who once revealed to him that he had worked as a spy.
“My father suddenly said, ‘Son, I’m old. I might sleep and never wake up.’ Then he told me, ‘My father was a spy,’” the Rush Hour star recalled.
Jackie said he was in his 40s when he learned the truth and was initially too shocked to respond. “Five hours later, I said, okay. Now I’m ready,” he added.
In 2003, Chan released a documentary titled Traces of the Dragon: Jackie Chan and His Lost Family, which explored his family’s hidden past. It revealed that his father had been a government spy during the Chinese Civil War in the 1940s, while his mother, Lee-lee, had once worked as an opium smuggler and gambler.
Chan also spoke about his return to the Karate Kid franchise after 25 years in Karate Kid: Legends, saying:
“[It’s a] memory…not just a movie. Not only can I use my [martial arts] technique, I can show the Chinese culture to the world.”
