Jackie Chan may be one of the biggest action stars in the world today, in the world today, but there was a time when people apparently didn’t think he was leading-man material.

And according to veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Ng See Yuen, one actress made that very clear to Jackie’s face.

At a recent film and television sharing session, See Yuen, who helped launched Jackie’s career with kung fu comedies, recalled an incident involving Jackie and Taiwanese actress Chang Ling, who was a huge star at the time.

Jackie, now 72, was still relatively unknown then.

According to See Yuen, director Lo Wei was planning a new movie and wanted Chang Ling, who had shot to fame in Taiwan with 1973 hit TV series The Bodyguard, to play the female lead.

Lo Wei then brought Jackie along to meet her in her dressing room.

As Lo Wei enthusiastically pitched the movie and talked up the script, Chang Ling, who was doing her makeup in front of a mirror, asked who the male lead would be.

Lo Wei pointed to Jackie and said: “Him.”

Chang Ling allegedly took one look at Jackie and scoffed: Chang Ling allegedly took one look at Jackie and scoffed: “Is someone like you even worthy of being paired with me?”

Ouch.

See Yuen said he heard about the exchange from someone who witnessed it firsthand.

Years later, after Jackie had become an international superstar, See Yuen decided to ask him if the incident had really happened.

Jackie’s response?

“I’ll remember it till the day I die!”

See Yuen said the story showed just how differently people can be treated in showbiz before and after they become famous.

Jackie certainly didn’t have an easy road to the top.

Hong Kong director Wong Jing previously revealed that Jackie was earning just HK$3,000 (S$489) a month while making movies with Lo Wei early in his career.

Despite his martial arts skills, the films failed to make much of an impact at the box office. Jackie was reportedly even reduced to tears after being mocked by famed writer Gu Long.

And when director Yuen Woo Ping wanted to cast Jackie in 1978 action comedy Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow, even See Yuen wasn’t convinced.

See Yuen, who was the film’s producer, reportedly pointed out that Jackie’s previous movies had flopped and instead recommended actor Kam Tung, whom he thought was “10 times better than Jackie Chan”.

After arguing over the casting with Woo Ping, See Yuen eventually relented.

“Forget it. If I lose money on this movie, so be it. I’ll support you. Use Jackie Chan,” Wong recalled See Yuen saying.

As we now know, he didn’t lose that money.

Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow became a hit and helped turn Jackie into a star.

Jackie followed it up with Drunken Master, which went on to gross three times as much as Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow.

Talk about having the last laugh.

Snake in the Eagle’s Shadow

Photos: 成龙/Weibo, 魏君子/XHS, 劍花煙雨江南, 酷乐人物