It seems everyone who worked with Bruce Lee was a massive fan — and that certainly includes Jackie Chan.
The two iconic martial artists worked together on the classic Enter the Dragon — albeit for just a few moments — as the late Lee was the star and young Chan was among the many thugs easy dispatched by Lee’s character.
Chan once told a funny story recently shared by Lee’s family about their time working together on Dragon, which involved Lee accidentally hitting him for real during a fight.
“I was behind the camera and I would just see Bruce Lee,” Chan began. “Then I ran and suddenly it was all black in front of my eyes. He had hit just one stick right on my head. I felt dizzy and I looked at Bruce Lee — he kept acting until the director said cut.”
The Rush Hour actor continued, “He then threw his stick, turned around and said, ‘Oh my God’ and ran to me and lifted me up and said sorry. I was not in pain anymore. I was a young guy and very tough. But I pretended to be in pain so that Bruce Lee holds me for as long as he can. I kept pretending the whole day.”
There has been a lot of talk about Lee and his personality over the summer after he was portrayed in QuentinTarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Family and friends of Lee were not pleased with how the character was written and blasted the director for putting forth a highly arrogant caricature. However, they said actor Mike Moh did a fine job.
Tarantino defended the writing of the character, saying, in his opinion, Lee was actually “kind of an arrogant guy.”
That statement, too, was criticized by family and friends.
Watch Chan’s story, below.
