Jackie Chan Turned Down This Lead Role That Would Have Been His Big Hollywood Comeback

The nomination list for The 95th Academy Awards is out, and it's official which movie was the crème de la crème of 2022! Everything Everywhere All At Once dominates the rotary with 11 nominations. 

The lead actress Michelle Yeoh has been receiving a stream of praise for her remarkable performance since the film's worldwide premiere on April 8 2022, and now more so after Everything Everywhere All At Once has been nominated for 11 categories for the Oscars.

However, the film's co-writers, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert didn't have Yeoh in mind when they began helming the script in 2016. They were aiming to get the icon Jackie Chan on board, a martial art master, known for implementing and directing his own stunts in classic action movies such as Shaolin Wooden Men (1976), Hand of Death (1976), Fantasy Mission Force (1983), The Young Master (1980), to name a few. 

When Chan turned down the role, it was offered to Yeoh, who, despite not having a long-running resume like him, did the part justice and then some!

In her interview with The Guardian last year, Yeoh talked about how Jackie Chan texted her to congratulate her on the film’s success upon receiving hails from critics and fans. Though Yeoh thanked Jackie, she still joked that he turned down the opportunity that hoisted her career to greater heights. “Your loss bro!” she replied to Chan’s message.

Michelle Yeoh and Jackie Chan are actually acting buddies and co-starred in the Hong Kong action film Police Story 3: Supercop (1992), a sequel to Police Story 2 (1988) and Police Story (1985), where Jackie played the lead police detective 'Kevin'. Yeoh also lent her voice to the animated martial arts film Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), where Chan reprised his role from the first film as Master Monkey.

The following are the categories that Everything Everywhere All At Once has been nominated:

• Best Actor in a Supporting Role- Ke Huy Quan 

• Best Actress in a Leading Role- Michelle Yeoh 

• Best Actress in a Supporting Role- Jamie Lee Curtis 

• Best Actress in a Supporting Role- Stephanie Hsu

• Best Costume Design- Shirley Kurata 

• Best Directing- Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert 

• Best Film Editing- Paul Rogers 

• Best Music (Original Score)- Son Lux 

• Best Music (Original Song)- David Byrne, Ryan Lott and Mitski 

• Best Picture- Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert and Jonathan Wang 

• Best Writing (Original Screenplay)- Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert

Other 2022 hits recognized by the Oscars include The Whale starring Brendan Fraser, Tom Cruise’s Top Gun: Maverick, Marvel’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Elvis starring Austin Butler, Tár starring Cate Blanchett and Avatar: The Way of Water. 

The 95th Academy Awards event is scheduled to take place on March 12, 2023, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.