Overview

• Jackie Chan said his father, Charles Chan, confessed during a car ride that he had served as a spy for Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist Kuomintang in the 1930s and 1940s.
• The actor learned about his father’s espionage work and his family’s original surname, Fong, when he was in his 40s.
• He recalled feeling “very shocked” by the confession and initially struggled to process the hidden history.
• Chan commissioned the 2003 documentary “Traces of the Dragon: Jackie Chan and His Lost Family,” which also uncovered his mother Lee-lee’s involvement in opium smuggling and gambling.
• His comments coincided with the release of Karate Kid: Legends, in which he reprises his role as Mr. Han alongside Ralph Macchio and mentors newcomer Ben Wang.