Jaycee Chan

Early life and education

Jaycee was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, the son of Hong Kong action/martial arts star Jackie Chan and Taiwanese actress Joan Lin. Sources, including Jackie Chan's autobiography, state that he was born in 1984 and that his parents were married in 1983. On the other hand, Jackie's official website states that he was born in 1982.

Jaycee briefly attended the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, for two semesters, but did not graduate. He has a penchant for luxury cars and nightlife and stated that he left school because “all you can see in Virginia is sheep.”

Jaycee speaks Cantonese, Mandarin and English.

Career

Giving up on school, Jaycee moved to Hong Kong in 2003 to pursue his career. He composed the music and wrote the lyrics for 10 of the 13 tracks on his first CD, "Jaycee" (2004). His film debut was The Twins Effect II, in which his father had a cameo role. His second role was a Hong Kong romance film 2 Young, in which he co-starred with Hong Kong Cantopop singer Fiona Sit. They both worked together again on Break Up Club in 2010. In 2007, he co-starred alongside Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue in Benny Chan's action film Invisible Target.

Despite heavy promotions and awards, his albums and movies have had dismal sales. His film Double Trouble only grossed US$9,000 in Hong Kong, making it one of the biggest box office failures ever.

In early 2009, Chinese websites reported that he has given up his United States citizenship in favor of Chinese citizenship (Hong Kong residency) to appeal to local audiences.

He voiced the younger version of his father's character, Master Monkey in Secrets of the Furious Five. In addition, he voiced Master Crane in the Cantonese version of Kung Fu Panda and its sequel, Kung Fu Panda 2.

Jaycee and his father Jackie starred together in Jackie's 100th film, 1911. The team-up resulted in Jackie Chan's least profitable and worst reviewed film to date.

To appeal to non-Chinese audiences, his studios hired Korean and Singaporean artists, Jang Nara and Fann Wong, to promote Jaycee's new film, Whoever. The film was meant to satire Jaycee's life as a playboy from a famous father. Once again, the film was a box office disaster, not placing in the Chinese top ten, despite a government mandate requiring it to be played at half the nation's theaters. The studios decided not to release the film theatrically in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Before his arrest in August 2014, Jaycee was filming Monk Comes Down the Mountain, for which his role was not credited due to his arrest.

in 2015, his father revealed that Jaycee had shown interest on writing a script for a sequel to CZ12 and will make the film "if it's right".

Relationship with Jackie Chan

During an awards ceremony in Beijing in April 2011, Jackie stated that he would be donating half his money to charity when he dies, instead of to his son. Jackie explained, "If he is capable, he can make his own money. If he is not, then he will just be wasting my money."

It was reported that he and his father, Jackie Chan have an estranged relationship with each other. However, after serving six months in jail, Jaycee finally met up with his father for the first time in Taiwan. The two seem to have reconciled. "I hadn't seen him for too long. I feel he's matured this time," Jackie Chan said. "We didn't talk about unhappy things. It was all family chat. We talked into the night and didn't sleep." Before leaving to do a promotion, he gave his son a haircut.

Legal issues

On August 18, 2014, it was reported that Chan had been arrested on August 14, by Beijing police due to drug possession, alongside Ko Chen-tung (also known as Kai Ko) a Taiwanese actor. Police later found more than 3 ounces of marijuana after searching Chan's apartment. While Ko was set to be released 14 days after his arrest, Chan faced criminal charges and sentences up to the death penalty or life imprisonment for allegedly hosting others to consume marijuana. Chan, whose father Jackie had been China's anti-drug goodwill ambassador since 2009, admitted to taking drugs for 8 years. Soon after, Jackie Chan has made a public apology for his son's drug use. On September 17, 2014, procurator’s office approved the formal arrest of Chan on suspicion of “accommodating drug users”.

Chan spent his 32nd birthday in custody, his mother stated that her son has borrowed more than a hundred books to read since he was detained. On December 22, 2014, four months after his arrest, Chan was indicted by Chinese authorities for sheltering other people to use drugs. His trial finally began on January 9, 2015 in Beijing, after spending 148 days in detention. Chan was sentenced to six months in prison and fined 2,000 yuan (~$320 USD). Chan confessed that he broke the law and he should be punished for his actions and that he would not do it again. His parents did not attend their son's hearing although the elder Chan was reportedly in Beijing. His father repeatedly said that he will not use his connections to lighten his son's sentence.

It was later revealed that during his detention, Chan wrote a three-page remorse letter to his mother in which he promised that he would not repeat his mistakes in the future.

Chan was released from jail on February 13 during midnight hours. One day after his release, Chan held a conference in Beijing to make a public apology by saying that he had "no reason" and "no excuse" for his law breaking and his arrest had “a negative impact on society” and that it disappointed his supporters while causing losses for those who worked with him. In his four-minute speech, he promised that he will be a law-abiding citizen and while he still has plans to continue in the entertainment industry, he is more focused on spending Chinese New Year with his parents. He stated that prison life was "harsh" and his father did not use any connections to help ease his sentence. He extended a deep bow before and after his speech.

Personal life

Ever since he was released from prison, he has been living with his mother in Taipei, keeps a low profile, and often wears a mask to avoid being seen in public. He still keeps in touch with Kai Ko.