Jackie Chan makes his mark in Hollywood, again
Actor leaves imprints at the Chinese Theatre to replace the ones that have been misplaced.
Film star Jackie Chan on Thursday became the first person to twice leave the imprints of his hands and feet in cement at Hollywood's famed Chinese Theatre.
Chan, who has starred in some 150 films in a career spanning more than 40 years, first left imprints in the courtyard of the cinema in 1997, adding to a collection that features screen legends such as Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe.
But over the years, as ownership of the theatre changed hands and slabs moved around to make room for new entries, the slab with Chan's prints was lost.
Representatives at the newly named TCL Chinese Theatre confirmed that Chan was the first two-time inductee. They said they did not know when the prints vanished, but were sure that the slab was not stolen.
It also proved that - at least in Hollywood - Chan, 59, had been forgiven after sparking controversy by branding America the world's "most corrupt" country in a TV interview in January.
Chan, who was born in Hong Kong, said China had been bullied by international powers for a long time and only began making progress in recent years.
He went on to say America is "the most corrupt [country] in the world" - not China.
"Where does this great breakdown [of corruption] come from? It started exactly from the [rest of the] world, the United States ... If our own countrymen don't support our country, who will?" Chan said.
His comments were slammed by foreign affairs blogger Max Fisher as "anti-American" and a reflection of China's insecurity about itself.
Chan left imprints of his hands, feet and nose in cement, accompanied by his co-star Chris Tucker and co-star Jaden Smith.
Chan told a crowd gathered for the occasion how he had dreamed of leaving his mark at the cinema long before 1997.
"My first time in the Chinese Theatre, I walked on the red carpet ... and I saw that there were so many stars doing interviews.
"At that time, I had nothing to do, standing there looking around. All those years, I dreamed. Slowly, slowly, I got there," he said.
Last month at the Cannes film festival, Chan told Reuters that after countless broken bones and smashed teeth, he was giving up doing his own stunts but wanted to continue acting across different genres.
