Jackie Chan may be 71, but Hollywood’s favorite action legend is still throwing punches—and taking hits. During a red carpet interview at the New York premiere of Karate Kid: Legends, Chan casually revealed he was injured on set just last week.
“I just hurt myself last week,” he said with a smile, even lifting his pant leg to show off a fresh bruise. “Every action movie, everybody get hurt—even me.”
Fans of the Hong Kong-born superstar know this is nothing new. Chan, who broke into the U.S. market with hits like Rush Hour, Drunken Master, and Shanghai Noon, has built his reputation on doing his own death-defying stunts. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t take a toll.
“When I’m filming, I doesn’t feel pain or hurt,” he explained. “But after cut, I go home, I can cripple.”
Despite the wear and tear, Chan says he has no plans to retire. In a separate interview on the UK’s Lorraine, he admitted he sometimes wishes he could rely on CGI—but knows fans wouldn’t go for it. “They want to see Jackie Chan do the real things, so I have to do the real things.”
The martial arts icon also revealed he’s ready to shift gears. “I want the audience [to] know I’m not the action star; I’m the actor who can fight,” he told People. “Please, director, invite me to do something different—not always a fight, fight, fight.”
Online, fans are standing firmly behind him. One YouTube commenter wrote, “Even if he’s 90 years old, we’ll watch his movies and admire him. Jackie forever.” Another simply said, “A legend.”
Up next for Chan? A film about panda conservation—and of course, Karate Kid: Legends, which hits U.S. theaters on May 30.