Before “Ballard” and “Mission: Impossible”, before Hollywood came calling, Maggie Q was just trying to survive in a foreign country with $20 to her name — and no idea where her next opportunity would come from.
“You didn’t really know where your money was going,” Maggie recalled about those early days in Hong Kong. “They kind of took it, and you never saw it again.”
From Commercials to Action Star: The Jackie Chan Offer Maggie Q Almost Rejected
She was doing commercials when a life-changing offer came her way. Jackie Chan, already a global superstar, had a management company at the time. His team approached Maggie out of the blue.
“They said, ‘Hey, we want to represent you,’ and I was so confused. I was like… for what?” she said with a laugh. “They told me they were finding young actors to do action films. I said, ‘Well, I’m not an actor, so I don’t really know what you want.’ And they said, ‘No, people are asking for you. They want to see you in films.’ And I just thought, why?”
Despite the prestige, she turned them down — at least at first.
“With somebody that big, I said no, because I’m the opposite of most people,” she explained. “Instead of being in awe of the fame and everything he had built, I thought, well, if I don’t know what I’m doing and I disappoint this person, it’s really stupid, right?”
But she made them a promise: “I said, look — in six months, if people are still asking about me, weirdly, then we can talk.” Sure enough, six months later, they came back.
That decision to take the leap would shape everything that came next. “Jackie Chan became like a mentor to me,” Maggie said. “He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen or experienced. So in those early days, to witness that type of work ethic, I think it cemented something in me.”
Maggie already considered herself a hard worker — but seeing Jackie changed her entire mindset. “At that time, I saw him and went, ‘Oh — it takes 1,000%. Not 100%. Not 200%. Everything you have.’”
Soon after, she moved to the U.S. and landed her first big film: Mission: Impossible III. “When I worked with Tom Cruise — same work ethic,” she said. “Very successful people. I got to see very early on what that took.”
Maggie Q Reflects on Jackie Chan’s Unforgettable Lesson in Integrity and Ownership
Behind the charisma, Jackie had set a standard — not just in performance, but in character. “If you work for him, he expects a certain standard. He’s not giving you a free ride,” Maggie said. “He taught us to have a ton of integrity, and not just to work hard, but to treat people extremely well — and also take responsibility, not just for the things you’re in charge of, but for things happening around you. You don’t need to be asked to do the right thing.”
She recalled one unforgettable moment on the set of “Around the World in 80 Days,” when Jackie gave her a quick — and very public — lesson in accountability. “We were shooting in Thailand, and I was doing a little cameo for fun,” she said. “We walked through set and he smacks me on the shoulder. I was like, ‘Oh?’ And he goes, ‘Did you just walk past that?’ I said, ‘Walk past what?’ And I hadn’t even noticed — there was a water bottle on the ground. And he goes, ‘You don’t walk past trash, Maggie. You pick it up.’”
That moment stuck. It wasn’t about the trash. It was about pride — in your work, your environment, and your role in it all. That level of ownership is something Maggie has carried with her ever since. But she never forgot how hard it was to bet on herself in the first place — especially so far from home.
“I was in a country where I didn’t speak the language. My mom’s Vietnamese. I’m not Chinese, I don’t have any Chinese blood,” she said. “It was really scary. I felt like such an outsider. And I was broke — like, $20 to my name broke.”
Looking back, the experience shaped her grit, her work ethic, and her unwavering sense of loyalty — values that now shine through in every character she plays, including Renée Ballard. And it all started because Jackie Chan — and Maggie Q — saw something in her before she ever saw it in herself. “Ballard” is streaming on Prime Video.
More On:Vibes and Views TV