From the book I learned that in contemporary mass media, representations of Asian Americans are still rare. Although they comprise 3.6% of the US population, only 0.8% of TV characters in the period 1991-1992 and 1.3% if TV characters in 1994-1997 were Asian Americans. I really like Jackie Chan, so I did some research from Chan and for me, an Asian people, always so proud of what Jackie Chan did!
In 1976, Jackie Chan received a telegram from Willie Chan, a film producer in the Hong Kong film industry who had been impressed with Jackie's stunt work. Willie Chan offered him an acting role in a film directed by Lo Wei. Lo had seen Chan's performance in the John Woo film Hand of Death (1976) and planned to model him after Bruce Lee with the film New Fist of Fury. His stage name was changed to Sing Lung (Chinese: 成龍, also transcribed as Cheng Long, literally "become the dragon") to emphasize his similarity to Bruce Lee, whose stage name meant "Little Dragon" in Chinese. The film was unsuccessful because Chan was not accustomed to Lee's martial arts style. Despite the film's failure, Lo Wei continued producing films with similar themes, but with little improvement at the box office.
Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under a two-picture deal. Director Yuen Woo-ping allowed Chan complete freedom over his stunt work. The film established the comedic kung Fu genre, and proved refreshing to the Hong Kong audience. Chan then starred in Drunken Master, which finally propelled him to mainstream success.
Willie Chan became Jackie's personal manager and firm friend, and has remained so for over 30 years. He was instrumental in launching Chan's international career, beginning with his first forays into the American film industry in the 1980s. His first Hollywood film was The Big Brawl in 1980. Chan then played a minor role in the 1981 film Run, which grossed $100 million worldwide. Despite being largely ignored by audiences in favor of established American actors such as Burt Reynolds, Chan was impressed by the outtakes shown at the closing credits, inspiring him to include the same device in his future films.
Nowadays, when I saw some media that invite Jackie Chan in Chinese TV show, he is still an astounding man in people’s heart. There is a TV show in China called “happy family”, I just know Chinese name for that TV show. Recently Jackie Chan just coming there to have fun, because it’s a funny TV shows. One of the presenters was in New York now. She take the video records that all she ask New York people about Jackie Chan. All of the answer is yes and they all love him! In my mind I think Jackie Chan was an amazing men in Asian American media work.
He pays a lot to get this gorgeous achievement. The dangerous nature of his stunts makes it difficult for Chan to get insurance, especially in the United States, where his stunt work is contractually limited. Chan holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Stunts by a Living Actor", which emphasizes, "No insurance company will underwrite Chan's productions in which he performs all his own stunts". In addition, he holds an unrecognized record for the most number of takes for a single shot in a film, having shot over 2900 retakes for a complex scene involving a Jianzi game in Dragon Lord.
He has performed most of his own stunts throughout his film career, which are choreographed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. He has stated in interviews that the primary inspiration for his more comedic stunts were films such as The General directed by and starring Buster Keaton, who was also known to perform his own stunts. Since its establishment in 1983, Chan has used the team in all his subsequent films to make choreographing easier, given his understanding of each member's abilities. Chan and his team undertake many of the stunts performed by other characters in his films, shooting the scenes so that their faces are obscured.
Thank you!
Cheng Li
"Jackie Chan From Hong Kong to Receive Stunt Award". Xinhuanet. 16 May 2002. 29 February 2012.