Jackie Chan is a man that is delightful to watch. He is fast as hell and his fight scenes have some of my favorite martial arts coreography. One of the things that has always shocked and amazed is the fact that he does all his own stunts. News today from cinematical indicates that may not be entirely true:
Stunt man Bruce Law claims on his blog that he has doubled for the martial arts action star in his Chinese-language films. Although some of Chan’s appeal is that he performs stunts himself, it is widely known that for insurance purposes he is required to be replaced by stuntmen in dangerous scenes shot for Hollywood-financed films. But as for his films made back home in Hong Kong, Chan is supposedly doing all his own stunts in those. Chan’s spokesman, Solon So, denies the claim, though, and insists that his client only uses substitutes when working for Hollywood.
Personally, I have no problem with this. Chan has done enough stunts in his life to get the respect of anyone. I would rather see him in more films than wreck himself doing a stunt, (a matter of when not if.) I can certainly appreciate why he would want to keep this a secret – he has attained a title of “stunt master” and may fear to lose it. Who can blame him; I wouldn’t want to go to yellow belt after having black either.
On the other side of the coin I can see why Bruce Law (the stunt double) would “spill the beans.” If he was doing stunts for Chan – you know they were crazy, crazy, unsafe and unwholesome acts of death defiance. People want credit for what they do – especially if it is outstanding work.
Both Chan and Law want the respect that is due to them, and I can’t say I blame either of them for their actions. I just hope this will open doors for Law, because I don’t think he will me getting much work from Jackie anytime soon.
