Jackie Chan was given an honorary Oscar at the Governors Awards, after a staggering 56 years making movies.
The 62-year-old was handed the award by his Rush Hour co-star Chris Tucker on Saturday night, but not before stars including Tom Hanks and Michelle Yeoh listed his lengthy achievements.
Calling the Hong Kong-born star “Jackie ‘Chantastic’ Chan” and comparing him to John Wayne and Buster Keaton, Hanks said it was gratifying to be able to finally acknowledge Chan’s extensive work.
In an exuberant speech, Chan said he knew he wanted an Oscar after seeing one of the prestigious awards at Sylvester Stallone’s house many years ago, Variety reports.
“After 56 years in the film industry, making more than 200 films, after so many bones, finally,” he quipped to the star-studded audience while holding his sought-after Oscar.
Chan had the audience in stitches after recalling a story about watching the Academy Awards on TV with his parents, and his father always asking him why he didn’t have one of the statuettes, despite having made so many movies.
He praised Hong Kong for making him “proud to be Chinese,” and thanked his fans, saying they were the reason “I continue to make movies, jumping through windows, kicking and punching, breaking my bones.”
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, hosts of the eighth annual ceremony, also bestowed honorary Oscars on British film editor Anne V. Coates, casting director Lynn Stalmaster and documentarian Frederick Wiseman.
