Summary

• Jackie Chan & Jet Li have both portrayed Wong Fei-hung multiple times in their kung fu careers.
• Wong Fei-hung, a real-life kung fu master, was known for his martial arts prowess and medical skills.
• Wong Fei-hung's popularity as a character in kung fu films allows for creative interpretations in storytelling by filmmakers.

Jackie Chan and Jet Li have had multiple turns at playing Wong Fei-hung in their kung fu movies. For the most part, the paths of the two kung fu legends have only converged once on the big screen, which was the time The Forbidden Kingdom. However, their history with real-life kung fu master Wong Fei-hung marks gives them another connection.

Along with Bruce Lee, the two are widely regarded as the biggest stars in the history of kung fu movies. Chan and Li have all led separate, thriving careers as leading actors, each playing a long list of characters over the decades. Due to the number of projects both have all been involved in, it may not necessarily come as a surprise that there's been some overlap with their roles. What is out of the ordinary, though, is the fact that there's one character that both actors have played - not once, but twice.

Jackie Chan & Jet Li Played Wong Fei-hung A Combined 6 Times

Combined, the two stars have had a total of six opportunities to bring Wong Fei-hung to life. Of the two, the first to play the martial artist was Chan, who portrayed him in Yuen Woo-ping's Drunken Master, the 1978 movie that helped launch the actor to stardom to Hong Kong. More than a decade later, Jet Li was cast as Wong in Once Upon a Time in China, which offered a completely different, less comedic take on the martial artist's life, so much that it's easy to forget that Drunken Master's hero and Once Upon a Time's protagonist are the same person.

Once Upon a Time in China's success led to it quickly becoming a franchise, one that called for Li to reprise the role in two direct sequels, plus a spinoff titled Last Hero in China. His last stint as the character came with 1993's Once Upon a Time in China III, which didn't end the Once Upon a Time in China series but did create a break in Li's time as the character, who was recast with Vincent Zhao. During this time, Drunken Master II brought back Chan to play his version of Wong 16 years later. Three years later, Li also returned to the Wong role, playing him one final time in Once Upon a Time in China and America.

Jackie Chan & Jet Li's Wong Fei-hung Roles:

Who Wong Fei-hung Was In Real Life

As for the real Wong Fei-hung, historical records provide a great deal of information about his life, though much of what's said about him is built on folklore and lacks in concrete proof. Born in 1847, Wong lived in China during the Qing dynasty and learned Hung Gar martial arts from his father (as depicted in both aforementioned movie franchises.) He also trained under several other famed martial artists as well, which helped him master all sorts of kung fu tecniques and styles, the most famous of which being the Shadowless Kick.

In addition to his expertise in kung fu, Wong was also proficient in medicine. Using these skills, Wong spent much of his time working as a physician. This contributed greatly to the respect and goodwill he achieved in the era. He also taught what he had learned as a martial artist in schools he had opened, spreading his knowledge and increasing his fame further. The positive impression he left on people seemingly impacted Chinese legends, which often characterize him as a hero who defended others from oppressive forces like the Imperial Japanese Army.

Why Wong Fei-hung Is The Main Character In So Many Kung Fu Movies

As Jackie Chan and Jet Li's repeated appearances as the character proves, Wong Fei-hung is a popular choice among filmmakers when it comes to choosing a protagonist for a kung fu film. This is largely due to his prominence in Chinese folklore. He's easily one of the most well-known martial artists in real life, whose exploits in the 19th century were fodder for martial arts movies like Once Upon a Time in China and Chan's Drunken Master movies, even if they were both fictional s of his journey.

There are a lot of holes in Wong Fei-hung's recorded history, especially since he was a civilian and not a military or political official. But that aspect of his life hasn't exactly been a deterrent for filmmakers when it comes to telling Wong Fei-hung's story; rather, it's opened the door for movies to offer their own interpretations of Wong's adventures, like how Drunken Master centered on drunken fist kung fu, which Wong supposedly practiced. Because of this detail, not every Wong Fei-hung film has to feel like a remake of the same movie. As the differences between Drunken Master and Once Upon a Time in China show, they can go in wildly different directions.

Other Famous Actors Who Have Played Wong Fei-hung

True to Wong Fei-hung's legendary status in China, his importance to kung fu cinema extends well beyond Jackie Chan and Jet Li. They're the biggest names to play him, but not the only ones, nor were they first. That distinction goes to Kwan Tak-hing, who played Wong in dozens of lesser-known Hong Kong movies, beginning in the 1940s.

Wong Fei-hung began to become a bit more mainstream in 1973 when Shaw Brothers, the top studio in the martial arts film industry, started incorporating him into their 1970s kung fu movies. An early instance of this was 1973's The Master of Kung Fu, which put Ku Feng in the role of Wong. Three years later, Gordon Liu starred as Wong in Challenge of the Masters, two years before Chan played him in Drunken Master. Similar to how Li and Chan didn't stop with just one Wong Fei-hung movie; Liu played the character again in 1981's Martial Club, another Shaw Brothers film.

One of Shaw Brothers' biggest stars in the 1970s and 1980s, Gordon Liu is known for several martial arts classics, including The 36th Chamber of Shaolin.

Sammo Hung, another icon in Hong Kong martial arts movies had a noteworthy cameo as Wong Fei-hung in Jackie Chan's Around the World in 80 Days. His role in the film had a special meaning: by including him, Around the World in 80 Days was able to reunite Chan with a frequent collaborator and co-star. What's more, it allowed Chan to interact with a character he himself had played twice in his career, not to mention the role that helped make him famous in the first place.