Did you know that veteran icon Jackie Chan currently lives with a hole in his head? The actor has actually opened up about this a lot over the years, sharing that during one of his many stunts, there was a major mishap on set and he ended up gravely injuring himself. He has jumped off high-rises, slid down light poles, and broken nearly every bone in his body, but a routine jump from a wall to a tree branch almost ended his life. In 1985, while filming Armour of God in Yugoslavia, a single snapped branch sent the martial arts legend plunging headfirst onto a boulder. The brutal impact fractured his skull, forced a bone fragment into his brain, and left him with a permanent reminder of his closest brush with death: a physical hole in his head.
In 1985, while filming ‘Armour of God,’ Jackie Chan ended up getting injured
The Washington Post reported that back in 1985, the actor had been in Yugoslavia with his production team as they were filming for ‘Armour of God.’ The scene called for Chan’s character (“Asian Hawk”) to jump from a castle wall onto a nearby tree branch to escape captors. While the 15-foot jump did not seem like much, especially taking into consideration the kind of things he has done for his films over the years, it ended up being a grave mistake on the actor’s part.According to the report, the first take went smoothly, but Chan felt he was moving too slowly. He insisted on a second take for a faster, cleaner shot. As the actor jumped and grabbed the tree branch on the second attempt, the branch snapped mid-air. He ended up plunging approximately 15 feet (5 meters) straight down onto a jagged rock below, striking his head first.In a 2017 interview with WebMD, the actor revealed, “The head injury I got in Yugoslavia in 1986—I was in a coma for 7 days, and everyone thought I was dying. It made me understand that no matter whether I’m doing big stunts or small stunts, I need to be really careful.”Following the massive blow, his skull hit the rock with enough force to crack it open, causing a piece of fractured bone to be driven directly into his brain tissue. Blood immediately began spurting from Chan’s right ear, indicating a severe basilar skull fracture and intracranial hemorrhage. During one of his interviews with Conan O’Brien, the actor even joked about how the camera person who was filming from the ground could have saved him if he pushed him or broke his fall. However, Chan continued and added that instead the camera person cradled his camera and moved away from the scene to protect it.
What happened to Jackie Chan after the accident?
After the injury, the production team rushed the actor to a local Yugoslavian hospital nearby. One of Europe’s top brain surgeons happened to be visiting the region for a medical conference and was brought in to perform urgent neurosurgery, removing the bone fragment from his brain and stabilizing the injury. As a result, the veteran star now lives with a quarter-sized indentation on his head that is covered with a special plastic prosthetic to protect his head. As a result of the fall, the trauma, and the internal bleeding, he also lost a significant portion of hearing in his right ear.Fans can even watch the production team tending to Jackie Chan after his injury; the scenes of his fall and injury were included in the post-credits of ‘Armour of God.’
Why Jackie Chan performs his own stunts
Over the years, the actor has also gotten candid about why he does his own stunts. While talking to WebMD, the actor was asked about why doing his own stunts is so important to him. The actor replied, “Because this is what makes me Jackie Chan. This is why I’m so different and unique. The audience loves to see me do my own stunts. And I can do my fight sequences in one shot, without having to edit them.” He also revealed that he prepares a lot and has his own stunt team that practices with him and is by his side throughout all of his stunts.On the work front, Jackie Chan has appeared in ‘Panda Plan’ (2024) and ‘Karate Kid: Legends’ (2025). Even at 71 years old, the actor continues to do his own stunts and refuses to stop anytime soon.
