-
- So originally you were like
an athlete from Hong Kong?
-
- Yes, yes, yes.
-
- [Kelly] Like, fencing?
-
- Yeah, I was a fencer.
-
I was a fencer.
- Cool.
-
- That's cool.
-
- My parents, they were Olympians too.
-
- [Kelly] Yeah.
- Yeah,
-
my dad is a fencer and my mom's a gymnast.
-
- Wow, so I guess it
would've been a let down
-
if you didn't do something
in that category.
-
(all laughing)
- Yes, I mean,
-
I was prepping for
London Olympics back then
-
and then while prepping
I just told my parents,
-
"Hey, you know what,
-
I always had this dream about music.
-
Let me do my thing and-"
-
- How did that go over (laughs)?
-
- I mean, they want me of
course to go to the Olympics,
-
you know, do my thing.
-
And it took me seven
months to persuade them.
-
- Wow, but you were persistent.
-
That's a lot of months.
-
- Yeah, they were really against me.
-
And then they're like,
"You're outta your mind."
-
My principal told me that,
-
this is the worst,
-
worst decision you're gonna
ever make in your life.
-
- [Kelly] Have you sent him a letter?
-
- No, no, no.
-
- I think he knows by now he was wrong.
-
- [Kelly] Or like a signed headshot.
-
- Then after I debut as a singer
-
and I went back to have a
concert and I invited him.
-
And then he said, "Jackson,
we believed in you."
-
(all laughing)
Hey, we believed in you.
-
- This happens, it happens.
-
That happened to me.
-
I was like, "What?"
-
People were totally like,
-
"That's never gonna happen,
everybody has a dream."
-
And then they were like, "The whole time,"
-
you'd see them on news and they're like,
-
"We believed from the beginning."
-
And I'm like,
-
"You are a liar."
- We knew you were the one.
-
- Yeah, yeah.
-
So, wait, were your parents
worried about you guys
-
in the entertainment industry?
-
Were they worried?
-
- Yeah, at first I said,
-
"Hey, I passed this audition in Korea.
-
I'm going, I'm leaving."
-
And then they're like, "You know what..."
-
They told me about this, like,
-
"Entertainment, no
they're gonna kidnap you
-
and put you in a cave and-"
-
- (laughs) Wait.
- What?
-
- They're gonna do this,
yeah, like, parents.
-
- Yeah.
-
- And then they're like, "No,
you're not gonna do that.
-
We're not gonna see you again.
-
You're gonna be MIA."
-
And I'm like, "No, let me live my dream."
-
And, yeah, seven month of persuading them
-
and they're supportive.
-
- That's amazing.
-
- Do we have to sit this far?
-
(Natasha laughs)
- (indistinct) Sit here.
-
You're just so cool,
we're giving you room.
-
- We wanna adopt him.
-
(audience laughing)
-
- Come here, come here.
-
- [Kelly] We're giving you room.
-
- Nobody's gonna kidnap you, son.
-
- [Kelly] You are not-
- There's no caves for you.
-
- [Kelly] You are not going-
- You made it, kid.
-
- [Kelly] To a cave.
- You made it, kid.