Opinion | Jet Li photo with daughters paints contrasting picture to Jackie Chan’s turbulent family life
- Li’s Christmas Day picture alongside his children shows happy private life
- Stark contrast to Chan, whose memoir reveals darker side and troubled past
They are good friends away from the film set, and divide opinion among martial arts fans as to who is the bigger star. But 2018 showed the vastly differing family lives of Jackie Chan and Jet Li.
Fans around the world were given a rare glimpse into Li’s private life when the Once Upon a Time in China and Romeo Must Die star posted a Christmas Day picture with his two daughters.
Jane, 18, and Jada, 15, have often been kept out of the spotlight by their famous father, but fans were grateful to see Li’s children looking healthy and happy.
Li himself has caused concern this year after struggling with hyperthyroidism – a condition which accelerates the body’s metabolism, causing unintentional weight loss and a rapid or irregular heartbeat.
Pictures of the 55-year-old looking frail went viral in the summer, but he later claimed he was “doing great and feeling great” – which appeared to be backed up by the Instagram snap.
His two daughters with former Hong Kong actress Nina Li Chi, whom he married in 1999, towered over their 1.7-metre tall father in their platform shoes, though, and Li could not have looked prouder.