As one of the most well known martial artists and a man renowned for performing his own stunts in Hollywood, one might wonder if he can also swim?
Yes, Jackie Chan can swim – perhaps not surprising to most people with Jackie’s well-known stunt history in his films. However, what many might find surprising is the fact that Jackie has admitted to not being a strong swimmer.
Curious? Keep reading to hear more about Jackie’s past stunts and the stunt that went wrong that prompted his confession of not being a strong swimmer.
History of Stunts
Hollywood has a long tradition of stunts in movies from comical mishaps to thrilling action sequences and in his long career Jackie Chan has performed some of the more iconic stunts in both instances.
Though Jackie first began his acting career at the young age of 8, he would really first begin his career as a stuntman for various Chinese media at the age of 17. While initially off to a slow start his willingness to perform death-defying stunts that no one else wanted to perform at the time helped him stand out from the crowd and in 1971 he would be signed on to various films as the stunt double for the legendary Bruce Lee.
It wasn’t instant fame for Jackie however as it would still take a bit of time for him to really make his own name in the movie and stunt industry. While he would go on to land a breakout role in the 1978 hit film Drunken Master he would still have quite a way to go before he became the famous Jackie Chan we know today. In fact, one can say that it was not until 1985 when Jackie starred in the movie Police Story that he really made a breakout and found his stride in thrilling and comedic stunt work.
However long it may have taken though Jackie did indeed hit his stride and is now known and beloved for the crazy stunts he has performed and the risks he is willing to take for his work. To get a short but thrilling glimpse of his work and the risks he took over the years take a look at one of these YouTube links below to see what I mean.
Skiptrace Stunt Mishap
As beloved and well-known as Jackie has become for his amazing stunt work and comedic timing, it is perhaps not so surprising that with his willingness to perform incredible stunts he has also shown his willingness to suffer for his work.
So with that said, maybe it isn’t so surprising that in his 2016 film Skiptrace something was bound to go wrong. Unfortunately for Jackie this stunt involved rushing water and an untrustworthy raft. Thanks to some quick thinking he was able to avoid that brush with death but by his own words he wasn’t strong enough to swim out of the torrent on his own.
Jackie is not a newcomer to either swimming or aquatic stunts at this point in time. But perhaps for his sake and for the sake of the future of stuntwork he should avoid risky rafting stunts for the foreseeable future.
Amazing Stuntman, Average Swimmer
So yes, while Jackie Chan is rightfully known as an amazing stuntman with an incredible sense of humor, an Olympic swimmer he sadly is not. Let’s all hope that he will stick to either aerial or ground stunts in the future and leave the swimming to the leisurely pool and relaxing lazy river.