Jackie Chan had everyone cracking up on The Kelly Clarkson Show on June 3, 2025, when he spilled a hilarious tidbit about his time filming Rush Hour. While chatting with Kelly Clarkson alongside his Karate Kid: Legends co-stars Ralph Macchio and Ben Wang, the action-comedy icon admitted he couldn’t understand a word his co-star Chris Tucker was saying during the 1998 blockbuster. That classic line from Tucker’s Detective James Carter—“Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth?”—turns out, was pretty much Chan’s real-life struggle on set.
At 71, Chan laughed as he shared how Tucker’s fast-talking vibe completely threw him off. “The whole movie, I’m like, ‘What’s Chris Tucker saying?’ No idea!” he told Clarkson, explaining he leaned hard on his dialect coach, who was parked right behind the camera. “I’d ask, ‘What did he say?’ He talks so fast!” Chan said, grinning. Every scene was a challenge, with new dialogue tweaks leaving him scrambling to keep up. When Clarkson asked if he ever fessed up to Tucker about struggling with the improv bits, Chan just nodded, “Yes,” and the crowd burst out laughing.
This gem of a story adds such a fun twist to Rush Hour’s charm, a movie that won fans over with Chan’s insane martial arts moves and Tucker’s non-stop comedy as they teamed up to save a kidnapped girl. The film was a massive hit, racking up love from audiences and critics alike. Chan also shared a sweet tidbit about how he got better at English by listening to country music, which he found way easier to follow because of its slower pace.
Looking back, Chan said the first Rush Hour was his favorite of the trilogy, shot on a tight budget and crazy schedule—“go, go, go!”—compared to the bigger, slower-paced sequels. His struggle with Tucker’s dialogue is classic Jackie, always diving into challenges headfirst, whether it’s wild stunts or acting in a new language. Fresh off his role as Mr. Han in Karate Kid: Legends, which hit theaters May 30, 2025, Chan’s still bringing his signature mix of heart and action, bridging kung fu with the franchise’s karate roots alongside Macchio’s Daniel LaRusso.
Chan’s honesty about his Rush Hour days is just so him—real, relatable, and full of charm. With whispers of a Rush Hour 4 still out there (he mentioned talks at the 2022 Red Sea Film Festival), fans are dying to know if he and Tucker will team up again for more chaos. For now, this story about Chan being totally lost with Tucker’s lines is the kind of behind-the-scenes gold that makes you love Rush Hour even more.