Faces of the News: Jet Li

Illustration by Rene Elevera

Chinese actor Jet Li took to social media on Wednesday to reassure his 21 million followers that he was not suffering ill health as claimed by false reports that have since gone viral, fueled by badly angled pictures of him taken during a visit to Tibet.

Although the actor posted more recent photographs showing him looking sprightly despite his 55 years, Li’s fans continued to wish him better health, and to post pictures of him in his much younger years.

It didn’t help that the trailer for his latest project, a short film starring billionaire Jack Ma, showed him being bested by the supposed martial arts expert and Alibaba founder.

But Li has been in the movie business for the past 36 years and presumably knows how to turn his fans’ affection into box office earnings.

He was expected to appear in a live-action Disney production of “Mulan,” which has been scheduled for release in 2020.