35 Things You Might Not Have Known About The Action Star #8 - Sylvester Stallone

1.  He was expelled from 14 schools as a kid.
2. This was because of violent behaviour
3. And also anti-social behavior.
4. He doesn't like his first name.
5. That's why he calls himself "Sly".
6. His classmates voted him "most likely to end up in the electric chair".
7. He is the only actor to have 5 box office records in five decades(1970s-2020s)
8. His mother is a fan of Jackie Chan.
9. Him and Jackie Chan are friends.
10. In fact, they co-starred against eachother and Whoopie Goldberg in "Burn Hollywood Burn"
11.  All his children's names begin with the letter "S": Sage, Sargeoh, Sophia, Sistine and Scarlet.
12. He was payed 60,000 for Cop Land, but he only did so he could star in a serious role.
13. He oil paints in his spare time.
14. Da Vinci is his hero.
15. He broke up with his girlfriend over a FedEx letter in 1994.
16. They reconciled in 1995.
17. They got married in 1997.
18. He is a fan and friend of Elton John.
19. He refused 4 million dollars to do a commercial because he had to cut his hair.
20. Even after being offered another million he would NOT do the commercial.
21. He is one of George Bush's favourite actors.
22. He is Empire's #92nd best actor of October 1997.
23. His first job was as a lion cage cleaner.
24. He worked on the script of Beverly Hills Cop
25. During the filming of Victory (1981), Stallone broke a finger trying to save a penalty kick from Pelé.
26. He turned down the role of two Bruce Willis roles.
27. One of them was as John McClane for Die Hard.
28. The other was for Pulp Fiction.
29. He called for America to ban guns after his friend died.
30. Unironically he uses many guns in his movies.
31. He is the all time Razzie movie award champion.
32.  Since his evolution to fame and fortune, he stopped going to church.
33. But in 2006, he came back to the Catholic church when he started filming "Rocky Balboa".
34. Sylvester sued his former business manager, Kenneth Starr, for giving him bad business advice.
35. He has been a lifelong repbulican.

 

35 Things You Might Not Have Known About The Action Star #7 - Chuck Norris

1.  There are only three Americans who have recieved an eight degree black belt in Taekwondo.
2. Yes, he is one of them.
3. He often trained with Bruce Lee.
4. He also fought him in "Way of the Dragon".
5. Bruce Lee said in a real fight that Chuck would win.
6. He has made two martial arts.
7. He visited US forces fighting in Iraq 2006.
8.  He later produced a film called Answering the call, which documented and featured this trip to Iraq.
9. He is a military veteran
10. Steve McQueen got Chuck Norris into acting.
11. Chuck Norris needed to obey a producer’s request in order to face off against Bruce Lee.
12. That request was to gain 20 pounds.
13.  Chuck Norris had his own cartoon series.
14. Chuck Norris’s full name is Carlos Ray Norris.
15. Norris was named after his father’s minister, Carlos Berry.
16. He was an introvert at school.
17. He was not athletic.
18. He was academically mediocre.
19.  While on the waiting list for the police force, in 1962, Norris opened his first martial arts studio.
20. 1989 was the year that Norris received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
21. In 1992 with support from President George Bush, Norris set up his own charitable organization called Kickstart.
    
22. Norris has only ever lost ten fights in his life.
23. On March 28, 2007, Norris became an honorary United States Marine 
24. Norris claimed his favorite Chuck Norris Fact was “They wanted to add his face to Mount Rushmore, but the granite is not hard enough for his beard.”
25. Norris has shared that his parent’s unstable finances and the embarrassment of his father’s alcoholism are the main reasons for his introverted character as a child.
26. He is also a producer.
27. And a screenwriter.
28. And a book writer.
    
29. He was discharged from the US Air Force in August 1962.
30. He has a 10th degree black belt in Tang Soo Do
31. At the 2010 ActionFest, Norris won the Lifetime Achievement Award.
32. Chuck Norris' website's footer has some Chuck Norris Facts on the bottom.
33. He was the World Karate Champion of 1972.
34. He got choked by his teacher as a kid.
35. He is literally immune to rattlesnakes.
    
    
    
    

35 Things You Might Not Have Known About The Action Star #5: Sammo Kam-Bo Hung

1.  He was credited as Sammo Kam-Po Hung for Yes, Madam.
2. He was credited as Samo Hung for Wheels on Meals.
3. George Lucas wanted him to choreograph the fights in Star Wars
4. His name is spelt "Samo" but since it kept on being mispronounced as "Say-mo" another M was added to it.
5. He attended the same school as Biao Yuen,
6. He also attended the same school as Jackie Chan.
7. He ALSO attended the same school as Yuen Wah.
8. Together they make the three brothers
9. In a street fight someone shoved a broken Coke bottle up his mouth. 
10. That is how he got his scar.
11. He knows seven fighting styles.
12. Sammo is known for his infectious laugh and playful personality. He often breaks into impromptu dance moves or jokes on set, creating a joyful and collaborative atmosphere.
13. Sammo became a director due to a string of injuries early in his career. Unable to perform stunts, he took on directing roles, later finding success and acclaim.
14. Him and his two "brothers" all worked with Bruce Lee. Biao Yuen and Jackie Chan were his stunt doubles.
15. Sammo is actively involved in charity work, supporting organizations that focus on children's welfare, animal rights, and disaster relief.
16. He established the Hong Kong Action Stunt Guild Association to train and support stunt performers and preserve the legacy of Hong Kong action cinema.
17. Despite his fame, Sammo still performs many of his own stunts. From high falls to complex fight sequences, his dedication to practical effects is admirable.
18.  Sammo is considered one of the greatest action choreographers of all time. His innovative and realistic fight scenes have influenced countless films and martial artists.
19. Remember the person Bruce Lee fights in the beginning of Enter the Dragon?
    
20. Sammo began his film career as a child extra in Bruce Lee's "Fist of Fury." Bruce Lee's influence greatly impacted Sammo's fighting style and dedication to film.
21. Some of Jackie Chan's most popular films were directed by him. 
22. This includes:
23. Project A as the co-director.
24. Winners and Sinners..
25. Wheels on Meals...
26. My Lucky Stars...
27. Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars..
28. First Mission..
29. & Dragons Forever.
30. His fighting skills are so good that the crew of First Mission asked him to fight in the film.
31. His character is disabled in that film.
32. He starred in Enter the Dragon.
33. He also starred as the main character of Enter the Fat Dragon, a spinoff.
34. He appeared in the first Australian martial arts film.
35. He also choreographed it.
    
    
    

35 Things You Might Not Have Known About The Action Star #4: Bruce Lee

1.   Went bowling with Jackie Chan in July 1973.
2. His favourite stuntman of his was Jackie Chan.
3. He spoke four languages.
4. He was capable of doing pushups with ONE finger.
5. He was capable of doing pushups with a 250 pound man on his back.
6. Bruce was born in the year of the dragon, 1940, in the hour of the dragon (6 a.m)
7.  He tought Kareem Abdul Jabbar martial arts.
8. He was a Hong Kong cha cha cha dance champion.
9. He was trained by Ip Man for 3 years.
10. He trained to the Mission Impossible theme.
11. He could name every karate term.
12. Once fought Chuck Norris.
13. Chuck Norris attended his funeral (July 25, 1973)
    
14. He recieved 30,000 for "The Big Boss" & "Fist of Fury".
15. When he did sparring sessions, he preffered them full-contact.
16. Lee was a perfectionist his whole life.
17. When he recieved money as a child actor, he kept it in a box.
18. Or he used it to buy gifts for his family.
19. Ranked 100 on Empire's 1997 list of the top 100 movie stars.
20. Ranked as the second most inspiring Asian American on the Goldsea American Asia Daily list of Top 100 most inspiring Asian-Americans
21. He was so fast on the set of his movies that they had to slow down the footage.
22. The heaviest he ever weighed was 73 kg.
23. Developed a trick for showing off his speed: a person held a coin and closed his hand and, as he closed it, Lee would take it and could even swap the coin for another.
24. His private lessons cost $275 an hour because of how much students he got.
25. Was constantly challenged by movie extras and other men seeking to gain fame by beating him in a fight.
    
26.  It was theorized that his death was a curse.
27. It was theorized his death were Japanese demons.
    
28. His son's death on the set of the Crow in 1993 was used as a reason as to this curse.
29. He was a gang leader.
30. He felt breaking boards had nothing to do with martial arts.
31. Ironically, in "The Big Boss" (1971), his character gets drunk at a dinner party and breaks a board.
32. He once knocked out a wrestler in 10 seconds
33. On Nov. 27, 2005 (what would've been his 45th birthday) he got a gold statue dedicated to himself in Hong Kong.
34. He made a short film on the set of The Big Boss for his family.
35. Missing an episode of his favourite soap drama could leave him upset for days.
    
    
    

35 Things You Might Not Have Known About the Action Star #3 - Michelle Yeoh

1.  She returned from a five-year hiatus just so she could work on Police Story 3: Supercop.
2. She was so good at fighting in "Tomorrow Never Dies" that they had to call up Sing ba Gan (Jackie Chan's stunt team) to find a stuntman that was as good as her.
3. She is Samo Hung's favourite actress.
4. She is so good with stuntwork that Jackie Chan got jealous on the set of Supercop.
5. She was billed as Michelle Khan for the release of Supercop.
6. She was billed as Michelle Kheng for the release of Yes Madam.
7. She trained for eight hours a day before filming Yes Madam
   
8. She was Miss Malaysia of 1983.
9. She agreed to doing a commercial with a "Sing Lung" and she didn't even know that was Jackie Chan.
10.  She has no proper training in Kung fu.
11. She almost quit acting in 1996 because of a failed stunt.
12. Most of the roles she has were originally made for men.
13. She is the first Malaysian to win an Academy Award.
14. She speaks four languages.
15. She wanted to be a ballerina
16. She was forced to do Miss Malaysia
17. She does her own stunts
18. She is often mistaken to be from Hong Kong
19. She has her own production company, Mythical Films.
    
20. Yeoh can hold her breath for over 4 minutes.
21. She credits Jackie Chan's work ethic and dedication to stunts as a major influence on her own career.
22. She also has called him a male chauvinist pig.
    
23. Yeoh is the first Malaysian to star in a Hollywood blockbuster (Tomorrow Never Dies) and the first Asian actress to lead a Disney animated film (Raya and the Last Dragon).
24. She's a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and advocates for children's education and welfare worldwide.
25.   She avoids dubbing to maintain authenticity in her performances.
26. She trained Kate Winslet for the fight scenes in Ang Lee's Hulk and Lucy Liu for Charlie's Angels.
27. Yeoh speaks out against Hollywood's typecasting and fights for more representation of Asian actors in leading roles.
28. She designed many of the cool weapons and tech Wai Lin uses in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" herself.
29. In the male-dominated world of action films, Michelle Yeoh helped pave the way for strong female characters. Her powerful performances challenged stereotypes and inspired generations of actresses.
30. Michelle Yeoh is a passionate animal rights activist. She's spoken out against cruelty and even refused to wear fur in costumes, opting for faux alternatives.
31. In the 1980s, Hong Kong action cinema was dominated by men. Yeoh shattered the glass ceiling, becoming one of the first female action stars and paving the way for others like Lucy Liu and Zhang Ziyi.
32.    She performed in various stage productions and even choreographed some of her own fight scenes.
33. Yeoh's first love was ballet, even attending the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance in London. An injury at 15 forced her to switch paths, leading her to the world of action cinema.
34. She performed the motorcycle stunt in Supercop, despite not knowing how to ride a motorcycle.
35. Michelle Yeoh was promoted as Sammo Hung's favourite actress in the trailer for Yes Madam.
    
    
    
    

35 Things You Might Not Have Known about the Action Star #2 - Bruce Wilis

 

1. He has dementia.
2. A movie category at the Razzie Awards was named after him: "Worst Bruce Willis Film".
3. It was then removed because the Razzie awarders were unaware he had dementia.
4. He played John McClane in Die Hard because the producers were looking for a person to bring humour to the film.
5. He offered 1 million to anyone who would bring in Al-Qaeda terrorists in 2005.
6.  Filmed his scenes in "Mortal Thoughts" in 10 days.
7. He divorced in 1998 for no reason.
8. In 1997 he stated he wouldn't do any more violent movies. 
9. Then the next two Die Hards released in 2007 and 2013.
10. Then he said it again in 2001.
11. And again in 2013.
12. He was the first guest actor to appear on Friends (1993)
13. Speaking of Friends, the characters on the show are big fans of Die Hard 1 & 2.
14. He is left handed but learned to right with both hands in 1998.
15. He won an Emmy for his role in Friends.
16. He turned down the role of a ghost for the film 'Ghost' in 1990 because he thought it would ruin his career.
17. Ironically one of his most critically acclaimed films was released in 1999 and had him playing a ghost. 
18. Bruce Willis did all of McClane's stunts in Die Hard.
19. Only celebrity to show up at Julia Robert's 1994 wedding.
20. Most bloopers of Die Hard feature Willis trying to add light-hearted humor to the movie.
21. First actor to voice a character in a video game.
22. Made songs as a teenager
23. One of those songs are about cheeseburgers.
24. He had been acting for 30 years before acting in a family feature film (The Kid in 2000).
25. He reprised the John McClane role from Die Hard 1-2 in Loaded Weapon (1993).
26. The only reason he starred in an episode of Friends was because he lost a bet.
27. He stuttered as a kid a lot.
28. He stopped stuttering as an actor.
29. His character from Moonlighting (1985) was supposedly accurate to Willis at the time.
30. He wears his watch upside down.
31. He also does this in movies like Die Hard III and Mercury Rising
32. In the last episode of Moonlighting a Die Hard poster is ripped down from a video rental store.
33. Bruce Willis was the last person to audition for Moonlighting.
34. Willis did not get along with his costar in Moonlighting.
35. He filled in for David Letterman on an episode he was supposed to star in.
    

35 Things You Might Not Have Known about the Action Star #1 - Jackie Chan

1. He got plastic surgery in 1975 to look more 'Western'. That's why if you compare Jacky in 1976 to Jacky in 1977, you get a very different look.
   
2.  Lo Wei had made Bruce Lee so successful that he made a sequel to Fist of Fury 3 years after his death starring Jacky.
   
3.  In that movie he purposefully looked bad with nunchucks so he could stop being compared to Lee.
4.  He made Police Story because of the failure of The Protector.
5. In 1982, he went to court so that Lo Wei didn't release "Fearless Hyena Part II" but lost the case.
6. Sings the theme songs of most of his films since 1980
7. When he released and sang the song "Kungfu Fighting Man" which was in English, Cantonese was the only language he knew.
8. He had 12 roles for the film CZ12, which coincidentally released on 12/12/12 .
9. He was mentioned in the song Kung Fu by Ash.
10. He put the song Kung Fu in the closing credits of the American version of "Rumble in the Bronx"
11. He had a film company (Golden Way Films) from 1985-1992, but only released seventeen films, and Jackie is in 10 of them.
12. His real name (Chan Kong-Sang) means Chan born in Hong Kong.
13. Chan was threathened by Triads to come back to Lo Wei Motion Picture Company.
14. Jackie Chan's first film for Golden Harvest was originally 120m longer.
15. His favourite film of his own is Police Story.
16. The ending song of Police Story was used for a Hong Kong Police Force ad in 1994.
17. He only did Cannonball Run 2 because of the contract with Warner Bros.
18. He would have starred in the Samo Hung/Biao Yuen film "Burger Cop" if he wasn't filming Rumble in the Bronx.
19. He was forced to marry his girlfriend.
20. The female s#!c!d3 rate in Hong Kong went up because his character in Dragons Forever had a girlfriend.
21. His Project A films have scenes that remind audiences of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, but he had never watched their films.
22. He was punched by one of his fans on the set of Rush Hour 2 (April 2001) because the fan assumed he would block the punch.
23. He went out bowling with Bruce Lee in July 1973.
24. He was supposed to serve as a stuntman to Bruce Lee in Game of Death.
25. He says that doing stunts is easier then speaking English.
26. He is best friends with Sylvester Stallone.
27. He collaborated with Whoopie Goldberg and Sylvester Stallone in 1998's "Burn Hollywood Burn"
28. He has a fear of needles.
29. He would have starred in a film about a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center if there wasn't a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.
30. He got his name Jackie in Australia.
31. He hates violence.
32. He directed the Hong Kong version of the Protector. That's how much he hated the film.
33. Speaking of The Protector, he walked off set because of how bad Glickenhaus directed.
34. He did the coal stunt in "Drunken Master II" three times.
35. He disowned his daughter for being LGTBQ.