Chinese kung fu star Jackie Chan revealed that he nearly drowned in an accident when he was filming the new action film "Vanguard".

"Vanguard" is the latest project between him and his longtime collaborator Stanley Tong since they started to work together in the early 1990s.

"You need fight to survive when you are in the hands of Tong, it's not easy," 65-year-old Jackie Chan laughed, joking at a press conference held on Wednesday in Beijing. 

According to him, during the filming of a jet ski scene, he was trapped under a rock, unable to extricate himself and almost drowned. Chan told reporters that he then quietly told himself "Jackie, don't panic!"

Chan was eventually rescued, and still smiling, went on to comfort the director and crew once he was pulled out of the water. Tong remembered that he was in a state of panic while waiting on the shore, "When I saw Jackie saved and when he emerged out of the water, I just could not hold back my tears."

"When I took a shower later that night and remembered the incident, I suddenly felt really scared and started shaking. I was thinking about how I could have so easily died," Chan added.

Jackie Chan has been known to put himself on the brink of human extremes and risk his life while filming intense kung fu and action scenes. He rarely uses body doubles or CGI special effects when he does stunts such as jumping off tall buildings.

The actor said his injury during the filming of "Rumble in the Bronx" in 1994 is still with him today, but has inspired him to this day, "I spare no effort in every film, and I don't want to let the audience down." Tong added that Chan has achieved so much precisely because he dares to do what others would not. 

Director Tong has made several hugely successful Jackie Chan movies such as "Police Story 3: Super Cop,""Rumble in the Bronx,""The Myth,""CZ12" and "Kung Fu Yoga"."Rumble in the Bronx" (1995) was Chan's North American breakthrough film and a stellar success, which propelled Chan into mainstream American pop culture. "Kung Fu Yoga" (2017) was Chan's highest-grossing film in China, making 1.75 billion yuan ($254 million) at the box office.

The new film "Vanguard" tells of a squad of security guards who manage to rescue hostages kidnapped by an international mercenary organization. It will be released nationwide on Jan. 25, the start of China's 7-day traditional Lunar New Year holiday season. Tong said that the new film will be "the best, most thrilling and most satisfying action comedy ever during the Chinese Spring Festival."

The film is the ninth cinematic cooperation between Chan and Tong. Stanley Tong and Jackie Chan both said that the new movie is an "upgrade" and that the inclusion of other young actors such as Yang Yang, Zhu Zhengting and Miya Muqi has made the film even more interesting. "They all share Jackie Chan's DNA," Tong said.

Back in September, Tong also once said at a promotion event held in Foshan, Guangdong province that "the film represents our efforts to turn Chinese stories into an global action blockbuster. We will do original action scenes with our own characteristics. We should not follow what Hollywood has done, we should make it so great, that Hollywood should instead learn from us."

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