Jackie Chan is looking back on one of the most stunning moments of his life.
In a recent interview with People, the legendary actor and martial artist remembered the life-changing moment when his father Charles told him he was a spy.
Chan, now 71, remembered being in his forties when his father turned to him in the car and said, “I have a secret to tell you. Son, I’m old. I might sleep and never wake up. I have a secret to tell you. You are not ‘Chan,’ not ‘Jackie Chan.’ Your original name is ‘Fang.'”
For Chan’s biggest fans, this revelation isn’t exactly breaking news.
The conversation with his father prompted Chan to dig deeper into his family history and helped shine light on their story in the 2003 documentary, Traces of the Dragon: Jackie Chan and His Lost Family.
The documentary explores his father’s work as a government spy during the Chinese Civil War and his mother Lee-lee’s life as an opium smuggler and gambler.
Later in the People interview, Chan told the magazine he doesn’t get why people love his 1998 cult classic film, Rush Hour.
“After the movie finished, I still don’t like it. Because I just don’t understand a lot of things. The culture is totally different,” he explained, before referencing the famous scene where Chief Inspector Lee (Chan) changes the dial on Detective James Carter’s (Chris Tucker) radio.
“The people laughing [about] ‘Never touch a Black man’s radio,'” Chan remembered. “Why, why so funny? I just don’t understand. Totally different culture. I was very disappointed. I finished, I go back to Asia to make my own film. Then, suddenly, I get a phone call. ‘Jackie! We break all records in three days—$70 million! Let’s do a part two, then part three, and part four!'”
