Pop Culture

Michelle Yeoh Recalls Jackie Chan Saving Her Life During Unrehearsed Car Stunt

Michelle Yeoh retold the story of how “everything went wrong” while the two were filming 'Police Story 3: Super Cop.'

Without rehearsing, Michelle Yeoh and Jackie Chan recklessly took on a death-defying car chase stunt in the 1992 action flick Police Story 3: Supercop.

The Academy Award-winning actress was on a new episode of Late Night With Seth Meyers, and around the eight-minute mark, Meyers showed Yeoh a still from a commercial she filmed with Chan. This brought up fond memories for the Star Trek: Section 31 star, who said that she and Chan did a "crazy movie together," referring to Supercop.

"I was not very smart, but I did love it," Yeoh said about filming a stunt scene of her jumping onto a moving train while riding a motorcycle. "Because if you think about it, that's the only time that you'd be crazy enough to take a motorcycle and jump it onto a train."

Yeoh also recalled that during a film Q&A event in the United States, audiences were surprised to find out that the stunts didn't require a green screen. "So Jackie and I, we looked at each other and go, 'You did green screens? You coward. When did that happen?'" she joked.

But one of the movie's toughest scenes was one where Yeoh had to land onto Chan's car, with the windshield having to break.

"You know, in Hong Kong, we used to just shoot. We don't rehearse," she told Meyers. "We don't have weeks where we go and practice."

She continued, "So the thing is, and I'm thinking, 'Okay, I'll just roll off the van. So they do let you have a look [to see] how it is. So they park the van and the car. So I'm standing on the van that's not moving. And I go like, 'It's not a very long drop. Six, seven feet. I'll land.'"

But the actress underestimated the jump, as the van was moving wildly while they filmed.

"You're standing there and you go like, 'What the hell?' It's like, 'Can you keep the van steady? Jackie, get your car closer!'" Yeoh continued.

"Of course, everything went wrong in the first take. The windshield did not break. Jackie could not reach forwards. Poor guy. You can see the outtakes."

Yeoh was falling headfirst, to which Chan was successfully able to grab her by her shirt.

Yeoh also discussed the daunting stunt with Entertainment Weekly in 2022, where she explained that because the windshield didn't break, she was sliding off the convertible. In the outtake, although Chan panicked, Yeoh landed in the street before the film crew ran to her aid.

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