When Bruce Lee needed to apologise to Jackie Chan on set: “My face was all swollen”
There was once a deep respect between Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee that evolved on set between the two legends of martial arts cinema. Chan had found deep inspiration in Lee, who’d become a global superstar when Chan was still on the stuntman circuit, but when Lee died in 1973, it was Chan who seemed to step into his shoes.
Naturally, without Lee, Chan had been the go-to for casting directors wanting to fill those serious martial arts roles, but it wasn’t long before Chan managed to craft a unique identity of his own, combining his fighting skills with a tongue-in-cheek sense of humour. The two stars’ relationship began when Chan was working as Lee’s stuntman.
Interestingly, though, there was a moment in the professional relationship between Chan and Lee where the movie star hit the young stuntman harder than he’d expected. Chan was only earning around 80 cents per day, so when Lee hit him in a staged fight, he pretended his injury was worse than it really was in order to garner some sympathy.
“As a stunt guy, you can get hit every day,” Chan once told Variety. “It doesn’t matter. I pretend I’m hurt, and then he comes to help me. ‘I’m sorry,’ he says. The whole day and the whole night, every time I turn around, I see Lee looking to see if I’m okay. I wanted him to hit me again.”
At that point, Chan had not entered into the part of his career where he became one of the most recognisable actors in the world, whereas Lee was in the midst of his notoriety. As such, Chan likely played up to the spotlight; when Lee really clocked him hard, he was sure to let the martial arts legend know about it.
In his 1998 memoir Jackie Chan: My Life in Action, Chan explained in further detail how the incident went down. “In rehearsal, I was told he would hit me lightly, I’d fall down like I was unconscious, and then he’d pose briefly for the camera before running away,” he noted. “Well, that’s how it was supposed to happen! Once the cameras were rolling, the adrenaline of the moment must have taken over.”
The actor continued: “I ran in to attack him, he spun around, and pow!… But Bruce knew the mistake he’d made… And the whole rest of the day, between scenes, he would just look over at me and say ‘I’m sorry,’ because my face was all swollen, like a chipmunk’s. Of all the things Bruce did and all the things he represented, I admire him most for his kindness that day.”
