Jet Li, the hero of all the kids born in the 1990s (and possibly after), has once again become the talk of the town due to how he looks.
And it is not in a good way.
The famous actor who played Wong Fei Hung has caused many of his fans to worry after his recent appearance in a video.
Here is what happened.
Jet Li Appears in a Video Looking Old and Haggard
In a video making rounds on Weibo, the popular Chinese microblogging site, Jet Li can be seen looking haggard and old.
The actor appears to have deep wrinkles around his eyes and cheeks. His cheekbones are protruding out quite prominently, and his skin appears to be saggy.
Here is an image for your reference, we hope you don’t get a shock.
The caption on the video is also merciless in its criticism of how Jet Li currently looks.
Roughly translated from Chinese, the caption says that the “60-year-old Jet Li, who appears to be very skinny and whose face shows obvious signs of ageing, has sparked debate”.
Jet Li was apparently attending a public event when his latest appearance caught the attention of netizens.
Curiously enough, his hair still appeared to be jet black and slick, like that of a young man. His hairstylist should get a raise for keeping his hair this healthy.
In response to Jet Li’s current physical appearance, many have called the actor and martial arts practitioner an “80-year-old grandfather”.
How is it possible that the heartthrob from the 1990s now looks 20 years older than he actually is? We cannot be the only ones who are heartbroken…
For those who have forgotten how this heartthrob used to look, here is an old post from his Instagram page to remind you of his dashingly good looks back in the day.
In this post, Jet Li appeared dapper in a suit, with his eyes full of life and looking very healthy.
Apart from calling Jet Li an old grandpa, there were also comments saying that he looks like the Taiwanese comedian-host Jacky Wu. The latter is known for having prominent cheekbones and has not managed to escape developing more than a few wrinkles as he aged.
There were other snarky comments made at Jet Li’s nationality instead of his looks. The comments said that they were uninterested in him now that he was a “foreigner”.
Jet Li had reportedly converted his foreign citizenship to that of Singapore in 2009 by becoming a naturalised citizen. Well, he’s no foreigner to us, and we are still concerned about him.
Of course, fans of Jet Li cannot accept that the popular actor, who was once a top star in the entertainment industry, is simply growing old.
Many netizens started to speculate about the reasons for Jet Li’s haggard appearance, including speculations that he might be in ill health.
This could very well be what happened to the actor, given that he previously made public his battles with health issues.
In particular, back in 2018, the actor revealed that he had been undergoing treatment as part of his battle against hyperthyroidism. His health issues have plagued him since 2013.
During that time, Jet Li’s metabolism was severely impacted, and his weight fluctuated greatly in a short span of time. He also endured exceedingly fast heart rates, with his heart rate reaching 130 to 140 beats per minute even when he was not doing any strenuous exercise.
His condition became more stable after a year or so, but unfortunately relapsed again. This time, his body and eyes became swollen.
Struggling with a health condition can definitely be a reason why one’s appearance changes drastically for the worse.
Take Chadwick Boseman, for example. The actor who played the iconic Black Panther in the wildly successful Marvel series suffered from colon cancer before he passed away several years back.
Before he passed and the news of his struggle with health problems came to light, there were many netizens who ridiculed and mocked him for his skinny appearance.
Thankfully, Jet Li looks much healthier than Chadwick Boseman did before he passed. We can only hope that his latest appearance does not signify anything more sinister than a poor make-up and styling team.
Of course, the possibility that this video making its rounds on Weibo is simply an anomaly where Jet Li was having a bad day and did not look his best. Or it could be poor lighting and bad angles which made the actor look worse than he actually looked.
Earlier this year, in January, the actor posted several pictures on his Instagram account, and he still looked fresh-faced and handsome while mingling with some spiritual leaders.
There was no sign of any haggardness going on then.
Jet Li and his representatives have not commented on his latest appearance at the time of writing this article.
So what do you think? Is this a case of Jet Li being ill, or was the passage of time simply not kind to him?