Jakie Chan is the definition of a global superstar. The man made a name for himself outside of Hollywood, and he became so popular that Hollywood had to take notice. For decades he has put his body on the line to give fans incredible cinematic moments, frequently while also making us laugh hysterically. He’s truly a legend, which is why recent images had a lot of fans very worried about him.
For context, some recent pictures of the action star went viral. They showed an actor who was looking much older than we were used to seeing. While Jackie Chan just turned 70, he’s always looked quite good for his age, and images of a white-haired and seemingly more frail Chan were not what we were expecting to see. The good news is that fans need not worry. The actor posted to Instagram to reveal that the pictures going around were of him in makeup for a role where he played a much older character. He explained…
Not so long ago, a lot of friends saw some recent photos of me on the internet, and they were all concerned about my health. I want to take this opportunity to let everyone know, don’t worry! It’s just a character appearance for my latest movie. The character requires me to have white hair, white beard and look old.
A lot of his fans are probably breathing a sigh of relief reading these words. The setting of the pictures, showing Chan in an interview, certainly didn’t indicate that his look was for a role, but, things like white hair, since he apparently isn’t using a wig, can’t simply be removed when cameras aren’t rolling. The actor insisted that while he might look much older, he’s still in great shape.
It’s not shocking that fans would jump to the conclusion that Chan was ill or in otherwise failing health. Years ago images of Chadwick Boseman showed the actor to be incredibly thin, and fans were equally concerned. A few months later, Boseman passed away from cancer that most people didn’t know he had. So, when an actor looks physically different, you never really know what's going on behind the scenes until they explain it.
Jackie Chan has been acting since the 1960s, nearly his entire life, and he shows few signs of slowing down, even at 70. Fans will see him later this year on the 2024 movie schedule as the Karate Kid 6 release date is set for this December. The film will bring together his reboot movie with the original franchise. Plus, fans and Chris Tucker are still hoping that Rush Hour 4 could happen at some point. There’s certainly no reason to believe Jackie Chan’s age will stand in the way of that.
While Jackie Chan may not be quite as old as he looks, he doesn’t seem to mind the passage of time. Elsewhere in his post, he quotes his friend, Sammo Hung, saying…
'...being able to grow old is a fortunate thing.' Especially for us stunt people, we don’t know how lucky we are to be able to grow old.
The day may come when Jackie Chan actually looks like he did in these viral images, but that day is not today. Nobody needs to worry about Jackie Chan. He’s doing fine, and just doing what he needs to do to make movies.
