[2014.06.08] WILLIE CHAN TALKS ABOUT JACKIE CHAN

courtesy of mingpao.com

courtesy of on.cc

Known as the "gold label manager" Willie Chan Chi Keung yesterday appeared on a Commercial Radio interview and revealed his past superstar clients' rises and falls, his years with Jackie Chan and the reason that they finally parted ways.

Known as the "gold label manager" in the 90s, Chan Chi Keung single handedly turned Jackie Chan from stunt man to superstar and has been many classic films' executive producer and producer. Chan Chi Keung deserved credit for Jackie Chan's achievements today, but why did he choose to part ways with Jackie Chan in 2008? He said, "He began to go overboard and wouldn't hear that I had to say. Now next to him were either big bosses or rich guys. He no longer needed me and I couldn't help him with anything anymore. I knew someone wanted to take my spot, so I would rather leave on my own first." Chan Chi Keung admitted that he felt the end of the managerial relationship with Jackie Chan was regrettable. "For 37 or 38 years everything I did, from Jackie Chan not knowing any English at all, dragging him onto the plane to work all over the place, to taking care of his family, the birth of Cho Ming (Jaycee Chan), finding a home for him in the U.S. I took care of everything for him. How can I not feel any regret?" Chan Chi Keung also said that now he would not feel awkward when he and Jackie Chan met. This year he even participated in Jackie Chan's birthday party.

Over his years as a manager, Chan Chi Keung admitted that the most difficult was the 1999 Elaine Ng Yi Lei's "Little Dragon Girl" incident. Back then Jackie Chan in order to avoid the press flew from Canada to Taiwan to Singapore before returning to Hong Kong. As for why Jackie Chan said at the press conference, "I made a mistake that any man in the world would make!" Chan Chi Keung said, "At the time he had many advisers and many suggestions, at first actually Jackie Chan wanted to tell the story from the Bible when a woman was being stoned. He wanted to say, 'Who has not sinned?' Yet he made a mistake and said 'a mistake that any man would make!' We were shocked too." Back then Chan Chi Keung was rumored to secretly contacted Ng Yi Lei and hoped to settle the matter for Jackie Chan. Chan Chi Keung stressed, "I really didn't, I don't know if anyone else did."

As for his other superstar Jacky Cheung Hok Yau, Chan Chi Keung recalled when he signed Cheung Hok Yau he asked him what his goal was. Hok Yau said that he hoped to buy a home for his family. "I told him if you wanted to make money to buy a home, then you had to make movies. You had to any and all movies. In the end he still chose to buy a home, thus he made many of the so-called 'rotten films'. Fans yelled at me for ruining their idols. At the time Hok Yau was not happy with his work either, because he knew that ultimately he loved singing the most. His career gradually started to darken." As for the reason of him closing his management company in 92, Chan Chi Keung admitted that he once faced threats from the mob. "I was luckier than Cheung Kwok Chung, I wasn't frightened with a gun. Yet I received as many threats. Someone wanted me to arrange for my artists to work on films. They threw a script at me and said, 'The script is right here are you taking it or not?' At the time I was very worried and felt a lot of pressure. Jackie Chan saw me frowning all the time and urged me to quit. At the time he even said that he would take care of me! Thus I decided to end the management company." Now he has no life pressure and he feels relaxed. He is much happier and very pleased.