Having started as a child actor, Hong Kong star Jackie Chan, 70, has decades of experience in the entertainment industry – some of it high, and some of it low.
As a stuntman he earned just HK$150 a day. After years of toiling in the industry, he received a pay cheque of HK$4mil for a movie in 1980.
In a recent interview, he remembered being very excited when he got paid a record-breaking HK$4.7mil for his role in The Young Master, which grossed over HK$10mil.
According to an article on China Press, Chan said that after receiving the huge sum, he splurged on seven luxury watches in a single trip to a watch store.
He’d wear a different watch when he was out eating with members from his team to "show off" his new wealth.
The spree didn’t stop with just watches – Chan also went to a designer store to get some high-end clothing, a stark contrast to his earlier days of scrimping and saving.
The pay cheque marked a significant milestone to someone like Chan, who've had his share of struggles.
He said that the company that paid him that amount, Golden Harvest, had first approached him with a HK$1mil offer, far surpassing the salaries of top stars like Brigitte Lin at the time which was around HK$100,000
However, Chan initially turned down the deal due to loyalty to filmmaker Lo Wei.
It wasn’t until later, when Golden Harvest sweetened the deal, that Jackie made the leap, changing the trajectory of his career forever.
