In each personality, there are different sides. Abuse of substances such as alcohol and drugs brings out the sides we didn’t know existed or never wanted to surface. Jackie Chan explores this in his memoir, newly released in English.
The novel has been represented recently by Chan’s admissions of guilt. In the memoir he speaks of the regret he felt cheating on his wife, ultimately leading to a pregnancy. Furthermore, he details a time he hit his son, being “very heavy-handed”.
This novel was originally published in China in 2015. It was dictated and co-written by Zhu Mo. She explained that the translation is entirely accurate. She expressed disappointment at the focus on Chan’s indiscretions in the media.
Chan is one of few non-Western Hollywood icons
However, the book does go into detail about many aspects of Jackie’s life. This includes growing up poor, going to a drama school with high levels of discipline. His father moving to Australia, eventually followed by his mother. Also, we gain insight into the fight against low wages for stunt work. He was paid as little as HK$5 a day for some of his early stunt work.
Moreover, this novel goes into immense detail of a non-Western Hollywood success story. It establishes the abuse of alcohol that many celebrities battle through. Jackie Chan is very honest with how he “went around in a haze” from being drunk all the time. This caused behaviours such as gambling, sex with prostitutes and violence.
Jackie Chan is the world’s second highest paid actor. Therefore, his brutal honesty is to be commended but not overlooked. Men talking about their weaknesses and their regrets are something to be learnt from.
