"I'm tired of fighting. I've always known that I can't be an action star all my life"
About this Quote
The second sentence sharpens the subtext: "I've always known" suggests this isn't a sudden complaint but a long-held, practical awareness. Chan built a career on defying limits, yet he frames aging as inevitability, not tragedy. That rhetorical move protects his legacy. It repositions him from daredevil to craftsman: someone who chose risk deliberately and now chooses change deliberately. He's not surrendering; he's editing the myth.
Context matters because Chan's stardom was forged in Hong Kong action cinema's brutal production culture, where performers often did their own stunts and safety nets were thinner, both literally and figuratively. His injuries are part of the public record, almost part of the marketing. By voicing fatigue, he punctures the fantasy that action heroes are inexhaustible, while also negotiating with audience expectations that can trap actors in a loop of sequels and self-imitation.
It's a bid for permission: to age onscreen, to pursue different roles, to be admired for something besides impact. The line reads like a personal boundary set in public, which is exactly the kind of move that rewrites a star's narrative before the culture does it for him.
Quote Details
| Topic | Letting Go |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Chan, Jackie. (2026, January 16). I'm tired of fighting. I've always known that I can't be an action star all my life. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-tired-of-fighting-ive-always-known-that-i-cant-112005/
Chicago Style
Chan, Jackie. "I'm tired of fighting. I've always known that I can't be an action star all my life." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-tired-of-fighting-ive-always-known-that-i-cant-112005/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'm tired of fighting. I've always known that I can't be an action star all my life." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-tired-of-fighting-ive-always-known-that-i-cant-112005/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.







