Martial arts legend Jet Li revealed in his newly released book that he earned just one yuan (equivalent to $0.14 today) a day while filming his debut film Shaolin Temple at age 17 in 1982.About The Film: The Hong Kong-Chinese film has sold nearly 500 million tickets at the Chinese box office, becoming one of China’s highest-grossing films of all time when adjusted for inflation. The film became so influential that a remake was made in 2011 called Shaolin, starring Andy Lau, Nicholas Tse and Jackie Chan.Humble beginnings: In his book, “Looking for Jet Li: Beyond Life and Death,” the 60-year-old superstar talked about how and why he persevered despite his meager compensation for the groundbreaking film.
“My earnings were incomparable to what others were making in the 1990s. Despite that, I was treated like a Hollywood star at the time. The amount I earned while breaking my arms and legs to survive in the industry paled in comparison to what the businessmen doing global investments were earning.”
Balance between dreams and reality. Although Lee only earned about $750 from his film debut, he was determined to pursue an acting career. After completing Shaolin Temple, he made the difficult decision not to return to martial arts competition as it would have jeopardized his budding acting career.“If I were to become an athlete again, my acting career would have to stop,” Lee wrote in the book. “I could not refuse to participate in the competition due to the rules of the organization. For me it was the only way to get out of it.” the competition was to get injured.”
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Long Journey To Stardom: The success of the film led to two sequels, “Shaolin Temple 2: Kids from Shaolin” in 1984 and “Shaolin Temple 3: Martial Arts of Shaolin” in 1986, during which Li continued to receive minimal pay. He even contemplated quitting the industry due to poor working conditions and disagreements with directors.But his persistence eventually paid off as the films eventually made Lee the first mainland Chinese superstar in Hong Kong and later in Hollywood. His fame allowed him to receive high salaries several decades later. For instance, Li earned 70 million yuan ($9.6 million) in the 2002 epic “Hero” and 100 million yuan ($13.7 million) for 2007’s “The Warlords.”