Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers revealed the club's owners thought Mario Balotelli was a "£50million player" that they could bring in for cheap and develop.
Rodgers, who was sacked in October last year, signed Balotelli with the money Liverpool received from the sale of Luis Suarez to Barcelona.
The Italian striker cost the club £16m but was one of the Rodgers' last options after he failed to sign Alexis Sanchez.
"We played AC Milan in a friendly in America because what we needed was a replacement for a player who could press from the top end of the field," he told Goals.
"It wasn't just a goalscorer we were after, Luis Suarez was giving so much more than that – the press and how we wanted to work.
"After the AC Milan game I was asked a question and he wasn't someone I felt was suited or fitted the profile of what we were after."
However Rodgers said the club's owners, Fenway Sports Group, thought he could "develop" Balotelli into a world-class player.
"Come the end of summer, when we were struggling to get in the type of player we wanted for that role, the ownership thought [Balotelli] was a player I could maybe develop," he said.
"He's had issues Mario, he's a wonderful talent and make no mistake. You see him on the training field every day, he's six foot three, he's fast, strong, has the touch.
"They thought this is a £50m player that they can bring in for £16m, and I can maybe develop him how I developed a few of the other players.
"When the owners want you to go down that route and there are no other options, you give it a go."
Balotelli went on to score just one Premier League goal in 16 appearances under Rodgers.
Li was born in Beijing, China, as the youngest of two boys and two girls. His father died when he was two years old, leaving the family struggling.
Li was eight when his talent for wushu was noticed at a summer course at school, and he began his practice there.[4] Li participated in the sport of wushu in the non-sparring event. He began his wushu on the Beijing Wushu Team, an athletic group organised to perform martial arts forms during the All China Games. He was coached by renowned wushu coaches Li Junfeng and Wu Bin,[5] who made extra efforts to help the talented boy develop. Wu Bin even bought food for Li's family because they could not afford to buy meat, which was essential for the good physical condition of an athlete. As a member of the team, he received wushu training and went on to win fifteen gold medals and one silver medal in Chinese wushu championships, where, despite his young age, he competed against adults.
My winning first place caused quite a sensation, because I was so young. I was 12 years old, and the other two medallists were in their mid- to late twenties. During the awards ceremony, as I stood on the top step of the podium, I was still shorter than the 2nd and 3rd place medallists. It must have been quite a sight.
Jet Li China's Internet Celebrity
According to Li, once, as a child, when the Chinese National Wushu Team went to perform for President Richard Nixon in the United States, he was asked by Nixon to be his personal bodyguard. Li replied, "I don't want to protect any individual. When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese countrymen!"
Li is a master of several styles of wushu, especially Changquan (Northern Longfist Style) and Fanziquan (Tumbling fist). He has also studied other arts including Baguazhang (Eight trigram palm), Taijiquan (Supreme ultimate fist), Xingyiquan (Shape intent fist), Zuiquan (Drunken fist), Yingzhaoquan (Eagle claw fist) and Tanglangquan (Praying mantis fist). He did not learn Nanquan (Southern fist), because his training focused only in the Northern Shaolin Styles. He has also studied some of wushu's main weapons, such as Sanjiegun (Three section staff), Gun, Dao (Broadsword), Jian (Straight sword) and many more.
It is Jet Li's authentic martial arts prowess that enabled his rise to domestic and international fame.
Acting career
Maisie Williams Sex Scene - The Falling
Chinese films
Jet Li JetLiHK.jpg Jet Li's hand print and autograph at the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong. Traditional Chinese 李連杰 Simplified Chinese 李连杰 [show]Transcriptions Alternative Chinese name Traditional Chinese 李陽中 Simplified Chinese 李阳中 [show]Transcriptions The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce. They likened his career to an aircraft, which likewise "takes-off" as quickly, so they placed the name Jet Li on the movie posters. Soon everybody was calling him by this new name, which was also based on the nickname, "Jet," given to him as a young student, due to his speed and grace when training with the Beijing Wushu team. He made his debut with the 1982 film Shaolin Temple. Some of his more famous Chinese films include:
The Shaolin Temple series (1, 2 and 3), which are considered to be the films which sparked the rebirth of the real Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, China; The Once Upon a Time in China series (Chinese title: Wong Fei Hung), about the legendary Chinese folk hero Master Wong Fei Hung. Fist of Legend (Chinese title: Jing Wu Ying Xiong), a remake of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury. The Fong Sai Yuk films about another Chinese folk hero. Li starred in the 1995 film High Risk, where Jet Li plays a Captain who becomes disillusioned after his wife is murdered by crime lords. Along the way, he pairs up with a wacky sell-out actor, Frankie (played by Jacky Cheung), and proceeds to engage in a series of violent battles in a high-rise building. The setting is similar to that of Die Hard and both their Chinese film titles. This movie is notable in that director Wong Jing had such a terrible experience working with Jackie Chan in Jing's previous film City Hunter that he chose to make Cheung's character a biting satire of Chan. Jet Li would later publicly apologise to Chan for taking part in it.
Li has two wuxia feature films scheduled for release in 2011, The Sorcerer and the White Snake and Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, the latter is helmed by Tsui Hark.
To promote tai chi, in 2012 Jet Li will star in a film titled Tai Chi and will co-produce the movie with Chen Kuo-Fu. Li will portray Tai Chi master Yang Lu-ch'an.
American films
In 1998, he made his American film debut in Lethal Weapon 4 which also marked the first time he had ever played a villain in a film. He agreed to do Lethal Weapon 4 after the producer Joel Silver promised to give him the leading role in his next film, Romeo Must Die (2000) alongside late singer Aaliyah. The film became a box office hit. Though Li spoke very little English at the time of production, his performance as Chinese mafia hitman Wah Sing Ku was praised.[citation needed]
Li turned down Chow Yun-fat's role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) because he promised his wife that he would not make any films during her pregnancy.[13] He also turned down the role of Seraph in The Matrix trilogy, based on his belief that the role was not one which required his skills and that the films were iconic and stunning enough without adding his name to the cast list.
In 2001, he appeared in two more Hollywood films: The One, which was the first of his films with Jason Statham, and Kiss of the Dragon opposite Bridget Fonda which did moderately well at the box office. In July 2001, Li agreed to produce and star in an action film with Jackie Chan which was to be released in 2002 or 2003, but no further news of their collaboration surfaced until 2006. In 2002, the period martial arts epic film Hero was released in the Chinese market. This film was both a commercial and critical success and became the highest-grossing motion picture in Chinese film history at the time.[14] In 2003 he reunited with producer Joel Silver for the action thriller film Cradle 2 the Grave where he starred alongside rapper DMX and fellow martial artist Mark Dacascos. In 2004, Li lent his likeness, voice and provided motion capture work for the video game Jet Li: Rise to Honor.
Li took on a more serious role in the 2005 film, Unleashed (a.k.a. Danny the Dog), where he portrayed an adult with the mentality of a child who has been raised like an animal. Although his martial arts skills were used extensively, it was a somber film with more depth than had been previously seen in Li's films, and co-starred dramatic actors Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman.
In 2006, the martial arts film epic Fearless, was released worldwide. Although he will continue to make martial arts films, Fearless is his last wushu epic.[citation needed] In Fearless, he played Huo Yuanjia, the real-life founder of Chin Woo Athletic Association, who reportedly defeated foreign boxers and Japanese martial artists in publicised events at a time when China's power was seen as eroding. Together with the film Fist of Legend, Li has portrayed both Chen Jun, the student and avenger of Huo Yuanjia (a.k.a. Fok Yun Gap), as well as Huo Yuanjia himself. Fearless was released on 26 January 2006 in Hong Kong, followed by a 22 September 2006 release in the United States where it reached second place in its first weekend.
I stepped into the martial arts movie market when I was only 16. I think I have proved my ability in this field and it won't make sense for me to continue for another five or 10 years. Huo Yuanjia is a conclusion to my life as a martial arts star.[15]
Li has stated in an interview with the Shenzhen Daily newspaper that this will be his last martial arts epic, which is also stated in the film's television promotions. However, he plans to continue his film career in other genres. Specifically, he plans to continue acting in action and martial arts films; epic films deal more with religious and philosophical issues.
Li's 2007 Hollywood film, War, was released in August of that year, and re-teamed him with actor Jason Statham, who previously starred with him in The One, and action choreographer Corey Yuen. War raked in a disappointing $23 million at the box office, becoming one of Li's lowest grossers in America; however, it was a hit on video, accumulating nearly $52 million in rental revenue, more than doubling its box office take.[16] With the exception of Romeo Must Die and the worldwide release of Hero, most of Li's American films have been only modest hits like Kiss of the Dragon, The One, Unleashed, Cradle 2 the Grave, and the worldwide release of Fearless.
He has a very good control of the strength of every fist and kick. In the past, he used too much strength, those that get hit would be in great pain. He's the archetype of power. [...] Yes, he's still the best.
Yuen Woo-ping martial arts choreographer
In late 2007, Li returned again to China to participate in the China/Hong Kong co-production of the period war film The Warlords with Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro. This film with its focus on dramatics rather than martial arts netted Li the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor.
Li and fellow martial arts veteran Jackie Chan finally appeared together onscreen for the first time in The Forbidden Kingdom, which began filming in May 2007 and was released to critical and commercial success on 18 April 2008. The film was based on the legend of the Monkey King from the Chinese folk novel Journey to the West.[18][19] Li also starred as the lead villain in the fantasy action film The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor with actors Brendan Fraser, Isabella Leong and Michelle Yeoh.
After a one-year hiatus from filmmaking, Jet Li returned to acting in 2010, portraying a mercenary in the film The Expendables, teaming up with action stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture. It was the third time he had teamed up with Statham. In 2012, he reprised his role briefly in the sequel The Expendables 2 and returned for the third film The Expendables 3 in 2014.
Personal life
Jet Li (right) with Jackie Chan in Hong Kong.
Jet Li (right) with Mark Zuckerberg Li is a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism.[21] His master is Lho Kunsang.
In 1987, Li married Beijing Wushu Team member and Kids from Shaolin co-star Huang Qiuyan,with whom he has two daughters, Si and Taimi.They divorced in 1990. Since 1999, he has been married to Nina Li Chi (born Li Zhi), a Shanghai-born, Hong Kong-based actress. He has two daughters with her also, Jane (born 2000) and Jada (born 2003).
Li was in the Maldives when a tsunami hit during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Although it was widely reported at the time that he had died during the disaster,[26] he only suffered a minor foot injury, caused by a piece of floating furniture, while he was guiding his 4-year-old daughter Jane and the nanny holding his 1-year-old daughter Jada to safety. The four of them were by the pool and slightly above the beach when the wave came ashore.
In 2009, Li, who previously had US citizenship after years working in the United States, renounced his US citizenship.[2][28] He was thought to have taken up Singaporean citizenship, although Singaporean authorities did not initially provide any confirmation of this. On 28 July 2009, the chairman of One Foundation (the Charity fund of Jet Li) announced that Jet Li had indeed become a Singaporean citizen.[2] He was said to have chosen Singapore for its education system for his two daughters.
In 2009, Li launched his own fitness program that he named "Wuji".[30] The programme consists of elements of martial arts, yoga and pilates; Adidas launched a special clothing line for it that bears the initials of "JL".
In 2013, Li revealed that he suffers from hyperthyroidism and has been dealing with the issue for the past three years. Since his heart rate can hit 130~140 at normal, Li takes medication to control his heart rate and has been advised not to do any sort of exercise.
In his free time he likes to play badminton, table tennis, ride his bicycle, read and meditate. He collects rare Tibetan beads. He says he is never bored in his free time.
Views on life and martial arts
I never say to myself I'm the best fighter in the world. If someone learns martial arts solely to pick fights on the street, to lean on it as a keystone weapon in conflicts, to use it to bully and intimidate others – then that person, in my opinion, cannot be considered a true martial artist.
Li as a Buddhist believes that the difficulties of everyday life can be overcome with the help of religious philosophies.[38] He thinks that fame is not something he can control; therefore, he does not care about it.
According to Li, everything he has ever wanted to tell the world can be found in three of his films: the message of Hero is that the suffering of one person can never be as significant as the suffering of a nation; Unleashed shows that violence is never a solution and Fearless tells that the biggest enemy of a person is himself. Li thinks that the greatest weapon is a smile and the largest power is love.
About Wushu, Li said that he believes the essence of martial arts is not power or speed but inner harmony and considers it a sad development that today's Wushu championships place greater emphasis on form than on the essence of being a martial artist. He believes Wushu now lacks individuality and competitors move like machines, whereas according to his views Wushu should not be considered a race where the fastest athlete wins. He would like to see Wushu as a form of art, where artists have a distinctive style. Li blames the new competition rules that, according to him, place limitations on martial artists.
Li believes that Wushu is not primarily for self-defense and instead of trying to play the hero people should think about peaceful resolutions of conflicts and call the police if necessary: "A gun outdoes years of martial arts training in a split second. Like I've said many times before, it is important to differentiate between movies and reality. The hero in movies may be able to knock the gun off his opponent and save the day, but in real life – probably that is not the case."[42] He has also stated that he has never had to use his martial arts skills in a real life fight and he does not wish to, either.[37]
Philanthropy
Li has been a "philanthropic ambassador" of the Red Cross Society of China since January 2006. He contributed 500,000 yuan (US$62,500) of box office revenues from his film Fearless to the Red Cross' psychological sunshine project, which promotes mental health.
In April 2007, touched by his life-shaking experience in the Maldives when he was close to dying during the 2004 tsunami, Li formed his own non-profit foundation called The One Foundation.[44][45] The One Foundation supports international disaster relief efforts in conjunction with the Red Cross as well as other efforts, including mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Since the starting of the foundation, Li has been involved with recovery efforts in seven disasters, including the 2008 Sichuan earthquake[27] and Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan.[46] In the 2013 Lushan earthquake in Ya'an, Sichuan, Li and other members of the entertainment sector were the first to appeal for donations of money, goods and materials to help the victims of the disaster. Wu Jing was a One Foundation volunteer and helped in the effort.
Li discussed his commitment to philanthropy in an interview with the December 2009 issue of Alliance magazine, stating that "grassroots non-government organizations can help the government in its blind spots. Government relief is not always detail-oriented. Grassroots NGOs can't be as big as a government effort, but they need to be flexible and independent."
In September 2010, Jet Li was appointed by the International Red Cross as the first Good Will Ambassador. He posted online saying "Today I signed a deal with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – IFRC – to become the FIRST goodwill ambassador in the history of this humanitarian organization. I am very honored! At the same time, I will not pause to celebrate, but instead keep pushing forward and do my best to help the world! Thank you all once again for your support and belief in me!"
It was also announced in September 2010, when Li attended to his wax unveiling ceremony in Hong Kong Madame Tussauds, he mentioned that he would be meeting Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to talk about charity work.[52] "Three days ago, I received an email from Gates, hoping I could make time because he and Buffett hoped I could go for a 30-minute chat before the dinner about the future we face as human beings, so I will go," Li said.[53]
Taiji Zen
Jet Li founded Taiji Zen in 2011, along with co-founder Executive chairman Jack Ma. Taiji Zen is a lifestyle company with the mission of spreading "Health and Happiness for All" through a balance of physical wellness and mental fitness. Taiji Zen combined the martial art of Taijiquan (a.k.a. T'ai Chi Chuan) with mindfulness based practices such as meditation. It packaged these art forms into several different classes and online programs.
Filmography
Main article: Jet Li filmography Considering US box office statistics, the most successful Jet Li film as of August 2010 is Lethal Weapon 4, which grossed over 130 million dollars domestically, while the second is The Expendables with over 103 million dollars.[55] Hero is the third most successful foreign language film in the US,[56] and one of the best critically acclaimed Li movies.[57] Fearless is the seventh most successful foreign language film of all time in the US.[56] From a critical point of view, the best acclaimed Li movie is Fist of Legend (Rotten Tomatoes: 100%) and the worst is War (Rotten Tomatoes: 12%).[57]
Chan was born on 7 April 1954, in British Hong Kong, as Chan Kong-sang, to Charles and Lee-Lee Chan, refugees from the Chinese Civil War. He was nicknamed Pao-pao Chinese: 炮炮 ("Cannonball") because the energetic child was always rolling around.[4] His parents worked for the French ambassador in Hong Kong, and Chan spent his formative years within the grounds of the consul's residence in the Victoria Peak district.
Chan attended the Nah-Hwa Primary School on Hong Kong Island, where he failed his first year, after which his parents withdrew him from the school. In 1960, his father emigrated to Canberra, Australia, to work as the head cook for the American embassy, and Chan was sent to the China Drama Academy, a Peking Opera School run by Master Yu Jim-yuen.[5][6] Chan trained rigorously for the next decade, excelling in martial arts and acrobatics.[7] He eventually became part of the Seven Little Fortunes, a performance group made up of the school's best students, gaining the stage name Yuen Lo in homage to his master. Chan became close friends with fellow group members Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, and the three of them later became known as the Three Brothers or Three Dragons.[8] After entering the film industry, Chan along with Sammo Hung got the opportunity to train in Hapkido under the grand master Jin Pal Kim, and Chan eventually attained a black belt.[9] Jackie Chan also trained in other styles of Martial Arts such as Karate, Judo, TaeKwonDo, & Jeet Kune Do.
He began his career by appearing in small roles at the age of five. At age eight, he appeared with some of his fellow "Little Fortunes" in the film Big and Little Wong Tin Bar (1962) with Li Li Hua playing his mother. Chan appeared with Li again the following year, in The Love Eterne (1963) and had a small role in King Hu's 1966 film Come Drink with Me.[10] In 1971, after an appearance as an extra in another kung fu film, A Touch of Zen, Chan was signed to Chu Mu's Great Earth Film Company.[11] At seventeen, he worked as a stuntman in the Bruce Lee films Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon under the stage name Chan Yuen Lung (Chinese: 陳元龍).[12] He received his first starring role later that year in Little Tiger of Canton that had a limited release in Hong Kong in 1973.[13] In 1975, due to the commercial failures of his early ventures into films and trouble finding stunt work, Chan starred in a comedic adult film All in the Family in which Chan appears in his first nude sex scene. It is the only film he has made to date without a single fight scene or stunt sequence.[14] Jackie Chan later also appeared in one other sex scene, in Shinjuku Incident.
Chan joined his parents in Canberra in 1976, where he briefly attended Dickson College and worked as a construction worker.[15] A fellow builder named Jack took Chan under his wing, thus earning Chan the nickname of "Little Jack" that was later shortened to "Jackie", and the name Jackie Chan has stuck with him ever since.[16] In the late 1990s, Chan changed his Chinese name to Fong Si-lung (Chinese: 房仕龍), since his father's original surname was Fong.
Film career
Early exploits: 1976–1979
Jackie Chan began his film career as a stuntman in the Bruce Lee films Fist of Fury (1972) and Enter the Dragon (1973, pictured). In 1976, Jackie Chan received a telegram from Willie Chan, a film producer in the Hong Kong film industry who had been impressed with Jackie's stunt work. Willie Chan offered him an acting role in a film directed by Lo Wei. Lo had seen Chan's performance in the John Woo film Hand of Death (1976) and planned to model him after Bruce Lee with the film New Fist of Fury.[11] His stage name was changed to Sing Lung (Chinese: 成龍, also transcribed as Cheng Long,[17] literally "become the dragon") to emphasise his similarity to Bruce Lee, whose stage name meant "Little Dragon" in Chinese. The film was unsuccessful because Chan was not accustomed to Lee's martial arts style. Despite the film's failure, Lo Wei continued producing films with similar themes, but with little improvement at the box office.
Chan's first major breakthrough was the 1978 film Snake in the Eagle's Shadow, shot while he was loaned to Seasonal Film Corporation under a two-picture deal.[19] Director Yuen Woo-ping allowed Chan complete freedom over his stunt work. The film established the comedic kung fu genre, and proved refreshing to the Hong Kong audience.[20] Chan then starred in Drunken Master, which finally propelled him to mainstream success.
Upon Chan's return to Lo Wei's studio, Lo tried to replicate the comedic approach of Drunken Master, producing Half a Loaf of Kung Fu and Spiritual Kung Fu.[16] He also gave Chan the opportunity to co-direct The Fearless Hyena with Kenneth Tsang. When Willie Chan left the company, he advised Jackie to decide for himself whether or not to stay with Lo Wei. During the shooting of Fearless Hyena Part II, Chan broke his contract and joined Golden Harvest, prompting Lo to blackmail Chan with triads, blaming Willie for his star's departure. The dispute was resolved with the help of fellow actor and director Jimmy Wang Yu, allowing Chan to stay with Golden Harvest.
Success in the action comedy genre: 1980–1987
Willie Chan became Jackie's personal manager and firm friend, and has remained so for over 30 years. He was instrumental in launching Chan's international career, beginning with his first forays into the American film industry in the 1980s. His first Hollywood film was The Big Brawl in 1980.[22] Chan then played a minor role in the 1981 film The Cannonball Run, which grossed $100 million worldwide. Despite being largely ignored by audiences in favour of established American actors such as Burt Reynolds, Chan was impressed by the outtakes shown at the closing credits, inspiring him to include the same device in his future films.
After the commercial failure of The Protector in 1985, Chan temporarily abandoned his attempts to break into the US market, returning his focus to Hong Kong films.[18]
Back in Hong Kong, Chan's films began to reach a larger audience in East Asia, with early successes in the lucrative Japanese market including The Young Master (1980) and Dragon Lord (1982). The Young Master went on to beat previous box office records set by Bruce Lee and established Chan as Hong Kong cinema's top star. With Dragon Lord, he began experimenting with elaborate stunt action sequences,[23] including the final fight scene where he performs various stunts, including one where he does a back flip off a loft and falls to the lower ground.[24]
Chan produced a number of action comedy films with his opera school friends Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao. The three co-starred together for the first time in 1983 in Project A, which introduced a dangerous stunt-driven style of martial arts that won it the Best Action Design Award at the third annual Hong Kong Film Awards.[25] Over the following two years, the "Three Brothers" appeared in Wheels on Meals and the original Lucky Stars trilogy.[26][27] In 1985, Chan made the first Police Story film, a US-influenced action comedy in which Chan performed a number of dangerous stunts. It was named the "Best Film" at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards.[28] In 1987, Chan played "Asian Hawk," an Indiana Jones-esque character, in the film Armour of God. The film was Chan's biggest domestic box office success up to that point, grossing over HK$35 million.
Acclaimed sequels and Hollywood breakthrough: 1988–1998
In 1988, Chan starred alongside Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao for the last time to date, in the film Dragons Forever. Hung co-directed with Corey Yuen, and the villain in the film was played by Yuen Wah, both of whom were fellow graduates of the China Drama Academy.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Chan starred in a number of successful sequels beginning with Police Story 2, which won the award for Best Action Choreography at the 1989 Hong Kong Film Awards. This was followed by Armour of God II: Operation Condor, and Police Story 3: Super Cop, for which Chan won the Best Actor Award at the 1993 Golden Horse Film Festival. In 1994, Chan reprised his role as Wong Fei-hung in Drunken Master II, which was listed in Time Magazine's All-Time 100 Movies.[30] Another sequel, Police Story 4: First Strike, brought more awards and domestic box office success for Chan, but did not fare as well in foreign markets.
Chan rekindled his Hollywood ambitions in the 1990s, but refused early offers to play villains in Hollywood films to avoid being typecast in future roles. For example, Sylvester Stallone offered him the role of Simon Phoenix, a criminal in the futuristic film Demolition Man. Chan declined and the role was taken by Wesley Snipes.
Chan finally succeeded in establishing a foothold in the North American market in 1995 with a worldwide release of Rumble in the Bronx, attaining a cult following in the United States that was rare for Hong Kong movie stars.[33] The success of Rumble in the Bronx led to a 1996 release of Police Story 3: Super Cop in the United States under the title Supercop, which grossed a total of US$16,270,600. Chan's first huge blockbuster success came when he co-starred with Chris Tucker in the 1998 buddy cop action comedy Rush Hour,[34] grossing US$130 million in the United States alone.[19] This film made him a Hollywood star, after which he wrote his autobiography in collaboration with Jeff Yang entitled I Am Jackie Chan.
Fame in Hollywood and Dramatization: 1999–2007
Jet Li and Jackie Chan In 1998, Chan released his final film for Golden Harvest, Who Am I?. After leaving Golden Harvest in 1999, he produced and starred alongside Shu Qi in Gorgeous a romantic comedy that focused on personal relationships and featured only a few martial arts sequences.[35] Chan then helped create a PlayStation game in 2000 called Jackie Chan Stuntmaster, to which he lent his voice and performed the motion capture.[36] He continued his Hollywood success in 2000 when he teamed up with Owen Wilson in the Western action comedy Shanghai Noon which spawned the sequel Shanghai Knights (2003).[37] He reunited with Chris Tucker for Rush Hour 2 (2001) which was an even bigger success than the original grossing $347 million worldwide. He experimented with special effects with The Tuxedo (2002) and The Medallion (2003) which were not as successful critically or commercially. In 2004 he teamed up with Steve Coogan in the big-budget loose adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days.
Despite the success of the Rush Hour and Shanghai Noon films, Chan became frustrated with Hollywood over the limited range of roles and lack of control over the filmmaking process.[38] In response to Golden Harvest's withdrawal from the film industry in 2003, Chan started his own film production company, JCE Movies Limited (Jackie Chan Emperor Movies Limited) in association with Emperor Multimedia Group (EMG).[19] His films have since featured an increasing number of dramatic scenes while continuing to succeed at the box office; examples include New Police Story (2004), The Myth (2005) and the hit film Rob-B-Hood (2006).[39][40][41]
Chan's next release was the third installment in the Rush Hour series: Rush Hour 3 in August 2007. It grossed US$255 million.[42] However, it was a disappointment in Hong Kong, grossing only HK$3.5 million during its opening weekend.
New experiments and change in style: 2008–present
Chan at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012
Jackie Chan on the set of Chinese Zodiac (May 2, 2012)
Filming of The Forbidden Kingdom (released in 2008), Chan's first onscreen collaboration with fellow Chinese actor Jet Li, was completed on 24 August 2007 and the movie was released in April 2008. The movie featured heavy use of effects and wires.[44][45] Chan voiced Master Monkey in Kung Fu Panda (released in June 2008), appearing with Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, and Angelina Jolie.[46] In addition, he has assisted Anthony Szeto in an advisory capacity for the writer-director's film Wushu, released on 1 May 2008. The film stars Sammo Hung and Wang Wenjie as father and son.
In November 2007, Chan began filming Shinjuku Incident, a dramatic role featuring no martial arts sequences with director Derek Yee, which sees Chan take on the role of a Chinese immigrant in Japan.[48] The film was released on 2 April 2009. According to his blog, Chan discussed his wishes to direct a film after completing Shinjuku Incident, something he has not done for a number of years.[49] The film is expected to be the third in the Armour of God series, and has a working title of Armour of God III: Chinese Zodiac. The film was released on 12 December 2012.[50] Because the Screen Actors Guild did not go on strike, Chan started shooting his next Hollywood movie The Spy Next Door at the end of October in New Mexico.[51] In The Spy Next Door, Chan plays an undercover agent whose cover is blown when he looks after the children of his girlfriend. In Little Big Soldier, Chan stars, alongside Leehom Wang as a soldier in the Warring States period in China. He is the lone survivor of his army and must bring a captured enemy soldier Leehom Wang to the capital of his province.
In 2010 he starred with Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid, a remake of the 1984 original.[52] This was Chan's first dramatic American film. He plays Mr. Han, a kung fu master and maintenance man who teaches Jaden Smith's character kung fu so he can defend himself from school bullies. His role in "The Karate Kid" garnered Jackie Chan the Favorite Buttkicker award at the Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards in 2011.
In Chan's next movie, Shaolin, he plays the cook of the temple instead of one of the major characters.
His 100th movie, 1911, was released on September 26, 2011. Chan was the co-director, executive producer, and lead star of the movie.[54] While Chan has directed over ten films over his career, this was his first directorial work since Who Am I? in 1998. 1911 premiered in North America on 14 October.
While at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, Chan announced that he was retiring from action films citing that he was getting too old for the genre. He later clarified that he would not be completely retiring from action films, but would be performing fewer stunts and taking care of his body more.[56]
In 2015, Chan was awarded the title of "Datuk" by Malaysia as he helped Malaysia to boost its tourism, especially in Kuala Lumpur where he previously shot his films.
Music career
Further information: Jackie Chan discography
Chan and Qin Hailu singing in Shanghai, China in August 2006. Chan had vocal lessons whilst at the Peking Opera School in his childhood. He began producing records professionally in the 1980s and has gone on to become a successful singer in Hong Kong and Asia. He has released 20 albums since 1984 and has performed vocals in Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Taiwanese and English. He often sings the theme songs of his films, which play over the closing credits. Chan's first musical recording was "Kung Fu Fighting Man", the theme song played over the closing credits of The Young Master (1980).[58] At least 10 of these recordings have been released on soundtrack albums for the films.[59][60] His Cantonese song Story of a Hero (英雄故事) (theme song of Police Story) was selected by the Royal Hong Kong Police and incorporated into their recruitment advertisement in 1994.
Chan voiced the character of Shang in the Chinese release of the Walt Disney animated feature, Mulan (1998). He also performed the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You", for the film's soundtrack. For the US release, the speaking voice was performed by B.D. Wong and the singing voice was done by Donny Osmond.
In 2007, Chan recorded and released "We Are Ready", the official one-year countdown song to the 2008 Summer Olympics which he performed at a ceremony marking the one-year countdown to the 2008 Summer Paralympics.[62] Chan also released one of the two official Olympics albums, Official Album for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games – Jackie Chan's Version, which featured a number of special guest appearances.[63] Chan performed "Hard to Say Goodbye" along with Andy Lau, Liu Huan and Wakin (Emil) Chau, at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.
Academic career
Chan received his Doctor of Social Science degree in 1996 from the Hong Kong Baptist University.[65] In 2009, he received another honorary doctorate from the University of Cambodia,[66][67] and has also been awarded an honorary professorship by the Savannah College of Art and Design in Hong Kong in 2008.
Prof Chan is currently a faculty member of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University,[69] where he teaches the subject of tourism management. As of 2015, he also serves as the Dean of the Jackie Chan Film and Television Academy under the Wuhan Institute of Design and Sciences.
Personal life
In 1982, Chan married Lin Feng-jiao (a.k.a. Joan Lin), a Taiwanese actress. Their son, singer and actor Jaycee Chan, was born that same year.[38] As a result of an extra-marital affair with Chan, Elaine Ng Yi-Lei bore a daughter in 1999.He speaks Cantonese, Mandarin, English, and American Sign Language and also speaks some German, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, and Thai.Chan is an avid football fan and supports the Hong Kong national football team, England National Football Team, and Manchester City.
Stunts and screen persona
Jackie Chan tries on a fighter pilot's helmet with night vision goggles Chan has performed most of his own stunts throughout his film career, which are choreographed by the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. He has stated in interviews that the primary inspiration for his more comedic stunts were films such as The General directed by and starring Buster Keaton, who was also known to perform his own stunts. Since its establishment in 1983, Chan has used the team in all his subsequent films to make choreographing easier, given his understanding of each member's abilities.[76] Chan and his team undertake many of the stunts performed by other characters in his films, shooting the scenes so that their faces are obscured.
The dangerous nature of his stunts makes it difficult for Chan to get insurance, especially in the United States, where his stunt work is contractually limited. Chan holds the Guinness World Record for "Most Stunts by a Living Actor", which emphasises "no insurance company will underwrite Chan's productions in which he performs all his own stunts".
Chan has been injured frequently when attempting stunts; many of them have been shown as outtakes or as bloopers during the closing credits of his films. He came closest to death filming Armour of God, when he fell from a tree and fractured his skull. Over the years, Chan has dislocated his pelvis and also broken numerous parts of body including his fingers, toes, nose, both cheekbones, hips, sternum, neck, ankle, and ribs.[79][80] Promotional materials for Rumble in the Bronx emphasised that Chan performed all of the stunts, and one version of the movie poster even diagrammed his many injuries.
Jackie Chan at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Chan created his screen persona as a response to the late Bruce Lee, and the numerous imitators who appeared before and after Lee's death. In contrast to Lee's characters, who were typically stern, morally upright heroes, Chan plays well-meaning, slightly foolish regular men (often at the mercy of their friends, girlfriends or families) who always triumph in the end despite the odds.Additionally, Chan has stated that he deliberately styles his movement to be the opposite of Lee's: where Lee held his arms wide, Chan holds his tight to the body; where Lee was loose and flowing, Chan is tight and choppy. Despite the success of the Rush Hour series, Chan has stated that he is not a fan of it since he neither appreciates the action scenes in the movie, nor understands American humour.
In the 2000s the aging Chan grew tired of being typecast as an action hero, prompting him to act with more emotion in his latest films.[82] In New Police Story, he portrayed a character suffering from alcoholism and mourning his murdered colleagues.[59] To further shed the image of "nice guy", Chan played an anti-hero for the first time in Rob-B-Hood starring as Thongs, a burglar with gambling problems.[83] In 2009's Shinjuku Incident, a serious drama about unsavory characters set in Tokyo, Chan plays a low-level gangster.
Image and celebrity status
Jackie Chan's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Jackie Chan enjoys his experiences on the flight deck aboard USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) Dec. 2, 2002. Chan has received worldwide recognition for his acting and stunt work. His awards include the Innovator Award from the American Choreography Awards and a lifetime achievement award from the Taurus World Stunt Awards.[85] He has stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the Hong Kong Avenue of Stars.In addition, Chan has also been honoured by placing his hand and footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. Despite considerable box office success in the Northsouth Territories, Chan's American films have been criticised with regard to their action choreography. Reviewers of Rush Hour 2, The Tuxedo, and Shanghai Knights criticised the toning down of Chan's fighting scenes, citing less intensity compared to his earlier films.The comedic value of his films is questioned; some critics stating that it can be childish at times.[91] Chan was awarded the MBE in 1989 and the Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS) in 1999.
Chan has been the subject of Ash's song "Kung Fu", Heavy Vegetable's "Jackie Chan Is a Punk Rocker", Leehom Wang's "Long Live Chinese People", as well as in "Jackie Chan" by Frank Chickens, and television shows Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, Celebrity Deathmatch and Family Guy. He has been the inspiration for manga such as Dragon Ball (including a character with the alias "Jackie Chun"),[92] the character Lei Wulong in Tekken and the fighting-type Pokémon Hitmonchan.
Jackie Chan has a sponsorship deal with Mitsubishi Motors that has resulted in the appearance of Mitsubishi cars in a number of his films. Furthermore, Mitsubishi launched a limited series of Evolution cars personally customised by Chan.
A number of video games have featured Chan. Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu was released in 1990 for the PC-Engine and NES. In 1995, Chan was featured in the arcade fighting game Jackie Chan The Kung-Fu Master. A series of Japanese games were released on the MSX by Pony, based on several of Chan's films (Project A, Project A 2, Police Story, The Protector and Wheels on Meals).
Chan says he has always wanted to be a role model to children, and has remained popular with them due to his good-natured acting style. He has generally refused to play villains and has been very restrained in using swear words in his films – he persuaded the director of Rush Hour to take "fuck" out of the script. Chan's greatest regret in life is not having received a proper education,inspiring him to fund educational institutions around the world. He funded the construction of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the Australian National University and the establishment of schools in poor regions of China.
Chan is a spokesperson for the Government of Hong Kong, appearing in public service announcements. In a Clean Hong Kong commercial, he urged the people of Hong Kong to be more considerate with regards to littering, a problem that has been widespread for decades.Furthermore, in an advertisement promoting nationalism, he gave a short explanation of the March of the Volunteers, the national anthem of the People's Republic of China. When Hong Kong Disneyland opened in 2005, Chan participated in the opening ceremony.[106] In the United States, Chan appeared alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in a government advert to combat copyright infringement and made another public service announcement with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca to encourage people, especially Asians, to join the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
Construction has begun on a Jackie Chan museum in Shanghai. In November 2013 a statue of Chan was unveiled in front of what is now known as the JC Film Gallery, scheduled to open in the spring of 2014.
On 25 June 2013, Chan responded to a hoax Facebook page created a few days earlier that alleged he had died. He said that several people contacted him to congratulate him on his recent engagement, and soon thereafter contacted him again to ask if he was still alive. He posted a Facebook message, commenting: "If I died, I would probably tell the world!"
On 1 February 2015, Chan was awarded the title of Panglima Mahkota Wilayah by the Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaysia Tuanku Abdul Halim in conjunction with the country's Federal Territory Day. It carries the title of Datuk in Malaysia.
In 2015, a made-up word inspired by Chan's description of his hair during an interview for a commercial, duang, became an internet viral meme in China. The Chinese character for the word is a composite of two characters of Chan's name.
Political views and controversy
The Hong Kong Star, in Hong Kong. During a news conference in Shanghai on 28 March 2004, Chan referred to the recently concluded Republic of China 2004 presidential election in Taiwan, in which Democratic Progressive Party candidates Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu were re-elected as President and Vice-President, as "the biggest joke in the world". A Taiwanese legislator and senior member of the DPP, Parris Chang, called for the government of Taiwan to ban his films and bar him the right to visit Taiwan. Police and security personnel separated Chan from scores of protesters shouting "Jackie Chan, get out" when he arrived at Taipei airport in June 2008.
Jackie Chan at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Referring to his participation in the torch relay for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Chan spoke out against demonstrators who disrupted the relay several times attempting to draw attention to a wide-ranging number of grievances against the Chinese government. He warned that "publicity seekers" planning to stop him from carrying the Olympic Torch "not get anywhere near" him. Chan also argued that China was attempting reform and that the Olympics coverage that year would be a chance for the country to learn from the outside world.
In 2009, Chan was named an "anti-drug ambassador" by the Chinese government, actively taking part in anti-drug campaigns and supporting President Xi Jinping's declaration that illegal drugs should be eradicated, and their users punished severely. In 2014, when his own son Jaycee was arrested for cannabis use, he said that he was "angry", "shocked", "heartbroken" and "ashamed" of his son. He also remarked, "I hope all young people will learn a lesson from Jaycee and stay far from the harm of drugs. I say to Jaycee that you have to accept the consequences when you do something wrong."
On 18 April 2009, during a panel discussion at the annual Boao Forum for Asia, he questioned whether or not broad freedom is a good thing. Noting the strong tensions in Hong Kong and Taiwan, he said, "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want." Chan's comments prompted angry responses from several prominent figures in Taiwan and Hong Kong.A spokesman later said Chan was referring to freedom in the entertainment industry, rather than in Chinese society at large.
In December 2012, Chan caused outrage when he criticized Hong Kong as a "city of protest", suggesting that demonstrators' rights in Hong Kong should be limited. The same month, in an interview with Phoenix TV, Chan stated that the United States was the "most corrupt" country in the world, which in turn angered parts of the online community and prompted a critical response from journalist Max Fisher, who argued that Chan's comments were rooted "not just in attitudes toward America but in China's proud but sometimes insecure view of itself." Other articles situated Chan's comments in the context of his career and life in America, including his "embrace of the American film market and his seeking asylum in the United States from Hong Kong triads.
Entrepreneurship and philanthropy
The Duke of Cambridge with actor Jackie Chan at the London Conference on The Illegal Wildlife Trade at the Natural History Museum, 12 February 2014. In addition to his film production and distribution company, JCE Movies Limited, Jackie Chan also owns or co-owns the production companies JC Group China, Jackie & Willie Productions (with Willie Chan) and Jackie & JJ Productions.Chan has also put his name to Jackie Chan Theater International, a cinema chain in China, co-run by Hong Kong company Sparkle Roll Group Ltd. The first—Jackie Chan-Yaolai International Cinema—opened in February 2010, and is claimed to be the largest cinema complex in China, with 17 screens and 3,500 seats. Chan expressed his hopes that the size of the venue would afford young, non-commercial directors the opportunity to have their films screened. 15 further cinemas in the chain are planned for 2010,[needs update] throughout Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, with a potential total of 65 cinemas throughout the country proposed. In 2004, Chan launched his own line of clothing, which bears a Chinese dragon logo and the English word "Jackie", or the initials "JC". Chan also has a number of other branded businesses. His sushi restaurant chain, Jackie's Kitchen, has outlets throughout Hong Kong, as well as seven in South Korea, with plans to open another in Las Vegas. Jackie Chan's Cafe has outlets in Beijing, Singapore, and the Philippines. Other ventures include Jackie Chan Signature Club gyms (a partnership with California Fitness), and a line of chocolates, cookies and nutritional oatcakes.With each of his businesses, a percentage of the profits goes to various charities, including the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation.
Chan is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and has championed charitable works and causes. He has campaigned for conservation, against animal abuse and has promoted disaster relief efforts for floods in mainland China and the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.
Jackie Chan joins US President Barack Obama to welcome China's President, Hu Jintao, to the state dinner at the White House on 19 January 2011. In June 2006, citing his admiration of the efforts made by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates to help those in need, Chan pledged the donation of half his assets to charity upon his death. On 10 March 2008, Chan was the guest of honour for the launch, by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, of the Jackie Chan Science Centre at the John Curtin School of Medical Research of the Australian National University. Chan is also a supporter and ambassador of Save China's Tigers, which aims to save the endangered South China Tiger through breeding and releasing them into the wild. Following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Chan donated RMB ¥10 million to help those in need. In addition, he is planning to make a film about the Chinese earthquake to raise money for survivors. In response to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Chan and fellow Hong Kong-based celebrities, including American rapper MC Jin, headlined a special three-hour charity concert, titled Artistes 311 Love Beyond Borders, on 1 April 2011 to help with Japan's disaster recovery effort.The 3-hour concert raised over $3.3 million.
Chan founded the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation in 1988, to offers scholarship and active help to Hong Kong's young people and provide aid to victims of natural disaster or illness. In 2005 Chan created the Dragon's Heart Foundation to help children and the elderly in remote areas of China by building schools, providing books, fees, and uniforms for children; the organization expanded its reach to Europe in 2011.
The foundation also provides for the elderly with donations of warm clothing, wheelchairs, and other items.
Donnie Yen (born 27 July 1963), also known as Yen Ji-dan (甄子丹), is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director and producer, action choreographer, and multiple-time world wushu tournament champion.
Yen is credited by many. for contributing to the popularization of the traditional martial arts style known as Wing Chun. He played Wing Chun grandmaster Yip Man in the 2008 film Ip Man, which was a box office success. This has led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, leading to hundreds of new Wing Chun schools to be opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia.[6] Ip Chun, the eldest son of Ip Man, even mentioned that he is grateful to Yen for making his family art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered.
Yen is considered to be Hong Kong's top action star; director Peter Chan mentioned that he "is the 'it' action person right now" and "has built himself into a bona fide leading man, who happens to be an action star."[8] Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream of Chinese culture, by choreographing MMA in many of his recent films. Yen has displayed notable skills in a wide variety of martial arts, being well-versed in boxing, kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, taekwondo, Muay Thai, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. Seen as one of the most popular film stars in Asia in recent years, Yen was one of the highest paid actors in Asia in 2009.[9] Yen has earned 220 million HKD (28.4 million USD) from four films and six advertisements in 2013.
Early life
Yen's mother, Bow-sim Mark (麥寶嬋), is a Fu Style Wudangquan (internal martial arts) and Tai Chi grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen (甄雲龍), is a newspaper editor.[11] Yen was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong, and then to Boston, Massachusetts, United States, when he was 11.[12] His younger sister, Chris Yen, is also a martial artist and actress, and appeared in the 2007 film Adventures of Johnny Tao: Rock Around the Dragon.
At a young age, under influence from his mother, Yen developed an interest in martial arts and began experimenting with various styles, including t'ai chi and other traditional Chinese martial arts. Yen then started karate when he was nine. Yen focused on practicing wushu seriously at age of fourteen after dropping out of school. His parents were concerned that he was spending too much time in the Boston Combat Zone, so they sent him to Beijing on a two-year training program with the Beijing Wushu Team.[12] When Yen decided to return to the United States, he made a side-trip to Hong Kong and met action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping there. Yen finally started taekwondo on his later teens around age of sixteen.
Yen also came from a family of musicians. His mother is a soprano, in addition to being a martial arts teacher in Boston, while his father is a violinist.[13] From a young age, he was taught by his parents to play musical instruments, including the piano.[14][15] He also knows hip-hop dancing and breakdancing.
Career
Donnie Yen in Seoul in 2005
Yen was a stuntman in his earliest films, Shaolin Drunkard (1983) . At the age of 20, he got his first acting role in the 1984 film Drunken Tai Chi.
After filming Drunken Tai Chi and Tiger Cage (1988), Yen made his breakthrough role as General Nap-lan in Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), which included a fight scene between his character and Wong Fei-hung (played by Jet Li). Yen had a starring role in the film Iron Monkey in 1993. Yen and Li appeared together again in the 2002 film Hero, where Yen played a spear (or qiang) fighter who fought with Li's character, an unnamed swordsman. The film was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 2003 Academy Awards.
In 1995, Yen starred as Chen Zhen (Cantonese: Chan Zan) in the television series Fist of Fury produced by ATV, which is adapted from the 1972 film of the same title that starred Bruce Lee as Chen Zhen. Yen reprised his role as Chen Zhen in the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen.
In 1997, Yen started the production company Bullet Films, and made his directorial debut in Legend of the Wolf (1997) and Ballistic Kiss (1998), in which he played the lead character. Yen went on to choreograph fight scenes and appeared in minor roles in some Hollywood films, such as Highlander: Endgame (2000) and Blade II (2002).
In 2003, Yen played the antagonist against Jackie Chan in Shanghai Knights.
Yen choreographed most of the fight animation in the 2004 video game Onimusha 3, which featured actors Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jean Reno. Yen continued to be active in the Hong Kong cinema in the 2000s, starring as Chu Zhaonan in Tsui Hark's wuxia epic film Seven Swords, and as Ma Kwun in Wilson Yip's brutal crime drama film SPL: Sha Po Lang in 2005. Both films were featured at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. Later that year, Yen co-starred with Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue in Wilson Yip's Dragon Tiger Gate, an adaptation of Wong Yuk-long's manhua series Oriental Heroes. Yen also worked as action choreographer in Stormbreaker, starring Alex Pettyfer. Yen's continued to work with Wilson Yip in Flash Point (2007) in which he starred as the lead character and served as producer and action choreographer for the film. He won the Best Action Choreography at the Golden Horse Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards for his performance in Flash Point.
In 2008, Yen starred in Ip Man, a semi-biographical account of Yip Man, the Wing Chun master of Bruce Lee. Ip Man marked Yen's fourth collaboration with director Wilson Yip, reuniting him with his co-stars in SPL: Sha Po Lang, Sammo Hung and Simon Yam. Ip Man became the biggest box office hit to date which featured Yen in the leading role, grossing HK$25 million in Hong Kong and 100 million yuan in China.
In August 2011, while Yen was on a vacation with his family in the United States, he reportedly received an invitation by producer Avi Lerner to star in The Expendables 2. It was stated that Yen is considering the offer, and has many films at hand, and will not decide until he sees if the script appeals to him or not. Later on, Yen revealed to the Hong Kong media that he has rejected the role.
In 2011, Yen revealed that he is venturing into other genres of movies, and has taken up two comedy roles in a row, All's Well, Ends Well 2011 and All's Well, Ends Well 2012 and will be working with Carina Lau in the former and Sandra Ng in the latter. Both films obtained huge critical and box-office successes and proved that Yen is a versatile actor.
Yen took a 6 months break in the 2nd half of 2011 after the filming of Monkey King 3D, citing the reason that he wants to spend more time with his family and be with his children more often during their growing up process.
In 2012, Yen returned to the movie industry and commence the filming of Special Identity where he plays the main lead, an undercover cop and also takes on the role of action choreographer. In 2013, it is reported that Donnie Yen will be playing the lead role for The Iceman Cometh 3D, a sci-fi action film which deals with time-travelling, the whole movie is filmed in 3D. Yen has confirmed that MMA will be used in both of the above films.
In February 2013, the Weinstein Company has confirmed to have purchased the rights of a Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon sequel and is contacting Yen to play the male lead. In March 2013, Hong Kong magazines surfaced photos of Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein travelling to Hong Kong specially to meet up with Donnie Yen to persuade him to accept the offer. It was reported that Yen is considering the role and is quoted as saying “The first is that my schedule this year is very packed. The second is that the first film is already such a classic. I am afraid of the pressure, that the original cannot be surpassed.”[26]
In May 2013, during the annual Cannes Film Festival, the Weinstein Company announced that Donnie Yen will play the lead role in the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Sequel, titled Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon II – The Green Destiny, with leading female action star Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien. It will be directed by Donnie Yen's mentor, Yuen Woo-ping. It is revealed that the movie will be filmed in both English and Mandarin to appeal to the international market.
It is revealed during the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon II press conference that the Weinstein Company has obtained rights to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and is planning a re-make and hence is negotiating with Yen, George Clooney and Zhang Ziyi to star in the upcoming film. Donnie Yen has since declined the offer, due to scheduling conflicts for the filming of Ip Man 3.
In late March 2015, Ip Man 3 was announced. Yen will be reprising his role as the titular character, Bruce Lee's martial arts master, Ip Man. Retired Professional Boxer - Former Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson has been confirmed to join the cast.
Donnie Yen has since mentioned that he is a big fan of Mike Tyson, and has watched many of his professional boxing bouts, and is excited to work with him. Mike Tyson stated during a press conference that he is a huge fan of Donnie Yen, and has watched the first two Ip Man movies more than three times each and is honored to be invited for the final installment of the trilogy.
Principal photography for Ip Man 3 has begun on 25 March 2015, with a tentative release date of Lunar New Year 2016, in 3D.
During Ip Man 3's announcement press conference, Donnie Yen appeared visibly thinner and has personally stated that at age 51, this might be his last Kung Fu film.
In August 2015, Yen was confirmed on the cast list of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Martial arts history, style and philosophy
Donnie Yen
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Weight 165 lb (75 kg; 11 st 11 lb)
Style Boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Hapkido, Jeet Kune Do, Wing Chun, Wrestling, Wushu
Rank 6th Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo
Black Belt in Judo
Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist.[1] He learned Tai Chi from a young age, under his mother's tutelage. He then wanted to learn taekwondo in his teenage years, earning a 6th Dan in the process. At the time, the Beijing wushu team had a scout in the United States, and invited Yen over to Beijing, China, where he began training at the Beijing Sports Institute, the same facility where champion-turned actor Jet Li trained; this is where the two of them crossed paths for the first time.
Upon his return to the United States, he won gold medals in various wushu competitions.
Yen later went on to discover and to seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain respectively black and purple belts from judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and went on to study the art of parkour, wrestling, Muay Thai, kickboxing and boxing under various trainers. His exposure to mixed martial arts (MMA) was heightened when he went back to the United States from 2000 to 2003. While making his Hollywood debut, he also took time off to learn the various martial arts forms.[37] The progress was evident when he returned to Asia, where he implemented his newfound knowledge of MMA showcased in films such as SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005) and Flash Point (2007).
Near the end of 2007, Yen added a new martial arts system to his arsenal. He was offered the role of Wing Chun grandmaster and Bruce Lee's mentor, Ip Man, in a 2008 film named after the grandmaster. He worked hard and studied Wing Chun under Ip Man's eldest son, Ip Chun for 9 months before tackling the role.[38][39] Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, and complimented that Yen is a great martial artist and a fast learner, and has managed to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone else he has taught.
Yen believes that combining many martial arts together will produce the most effective and harmonious style. Yen has said, "When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart."[41] He believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat.[42] He has mentioned that he would have competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury.
Real fighting experience and prowess
Donnie Yen was a rebel when he was young, due to the huge expectations and pressures from his parents as his mother is the founder of the Chinese Wushu Research Institute in Boston and his father was a scholar and a musician.[43] Yen joined a Chinatown gang in Boston, MA, in his early years. He was a very curious teenager who sought to exchange martial arts knowledge with people from different martial arts backgrounds which led to him gaining profound knowledge in practical martial arts, and having a reputation as a street brawler.
There's one reported occasion that confirms him being an efficient martial artist. According to news reports by Hong Kong news channels in the late 1990s, Yen was at a nightclub with his then girlfriend, Joey Meng. Inside the nightclub, Joey got harassed by a troublesome gang who had taken an interest in her. Yen warned them to leave her alone but to no avail. As Yen and Joey left the club, the gang followed and attacked Yen. According to the news, Yen beat up eight members of the gang who were hospitalized.
This incident is still known in Hong Kong to this day - with people bringing it up in discussions concerning real fights as well as in relation to comparing credible fighting skills of various Hong Kong martial arts actors.
Malaysian Tan Sri and Martial Arts Star Michelle Yeoh has said that Donnie Yen is the fastest guy she has worked with. Other martial arts stars such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li also admit that Yen may be the best fighter in terms of practical combat in the Asian Cinematic Universe.
World class fighters such as former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Cung Le and former World Boxing Heavyweight Champion Mike Tyson who have worked with Donnie Yen in films Bodyguards and Assassins and Ip Man 3 respectively, have both claimed that Donnie Yen is an incredible martial artist and will do well in authentic combat.[46]
Action choreography
Donnie Yen is considered as one of the premiere action choreographer in the world, being invited by Hollywood to Choreograph Blockbusters such as Blade II, Highlander: Endgame and Shanghai Knights. In Asia, he is the action choreographer for most of his movies, and won multiple awards for his action choreography.
Yen most famous works include films such as Flash Point and SPL: Sha Po Lang. He has mentioned that the main differences in film-making in Asia and Hollywood is with regards to freedom and control. In Asia, the action choreographer takes over the scene during the fight scene. This means that for action scenes filmed in Asia, the choreographer becomes the director and is in full control over camera placements, camera angles and the relationship between the drama and the action, therefore the main director is not needed at all. While in Hollywood, Donnie explains that action choreographer simply choreograph the actions with the director, full control such as settings and camera angles are still within the control of the main director.
Yen's work as a choreographer won him "Best Action Choreography" awards at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and the 2008 and 2011 Golden Horse Film Awards.
Yen was the fight choreographer for the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen. For this film, Yen mentioned that he included Jeet Kune Do elements as a tribute to Bruce Lee, who played Chen Zhen in the 1972 film Fist of Fury.[48] Furthermore, he incorporated many MMA elements in the film, coupled with the utilization of Wing Chun. Yen also stated that the concept behind Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do is similar to that of MMA, hence the incorporation of many forms of martial arts is a necessity in this film.[49]
He won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography 4 times, being one of the most frequent winner for this coveted award, his winning choreography includes The Twins Effect, SPL: Sha Po Lang, Flash Point and Kung Fu Jungle.[50] Although uncredited, Donnie Yen was also action co-choreographer for Hong Kong Film Award winners such as Ip Man, Ip Man 2 and Bodyguards and Assassins.
Personal life and philanthropic work
Yen has stated that he is a big fan of the MMA organization Ultimate Fighting Championship, and has watched almost every UFC event available. In various interviews, he has mentioned that he would have loved to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury.
In the October 2014, Donnie Yen was invited to be a guest speaker in front of a crowd of 20,000 youths for We Day Vancouver, where he spoke about the hardships he faced growing up, and how he overcame difficulties to become the reigning martial arts star.[52]
Yen is a known advocate of charity, known for his generous donations to various charity. In 2015, he personally visited refugee camps in Thailand, bringing donations and gifts for the refugees.Donnie Yen is also an ambassador for the international charity known as Free the Children.
In 1993, Yen married Zing-Ci Leung. Their son, Jeff, was born in 1995. Yen married Cecilia Wang in Toronto in 2003. They have a daughter, Jasmine, born in 2004, and a son, James, born in 2007.
Filmography
Main article: Donnie Yen filmography
Awards and nominations
Year Nominated work Award Category Results
1993 Once Upon a Time in China II Hong Kong Film Award Best Supporting Actor Nominated
2002 Iron Monkey Taurus World Stunt Awards Best Fight Nominated
2003 The Twins Effect Golden Horse Awards Best Action Choreography Won
2004 The Twins Effect Hong Kong Film Award Best Action Choreography Won
2006 Kill Zone Hong Kong Film Award Best Action Choreography Won
2007 Dragon Tiger Gate Hong Kong Film Award Best Action Choreography Nominated
2007 Dragon Tiger Gate Golden Bauhinia Awards Best Action Choreography Won
2007 Flash Point Golden Horse Awards Best Action Choreography Won
2008 Flash Point Hong Kong Film Award Best Action Choreography Won
2008 Flash Point Taurus World Stunt Awards Best Action in a Foreign Language Film Won
2009 Ip Man Beijing College Student Film Festival Best Actor Won
2009 Ip Man Hong Kong Film Award Best Actor Nominated
2009 Ip Man Huabiao Film Award Outstanding Abroad Actor Won
2010 Bodyguards and Assassins Hundred Flowers Awards Best Actor Nominated
2011 Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen Hong Kong Film Award Best Action Choreography Nominated
2011 The Lost Bladesman The 3rd Macau International Movie Festival Best Actor Won
2011 Dragon Golden Horse Awards Best Action Choreography Won
2012 Dragon Hong Kong Film Award Best Action Choreography Nominated
2014 Special ID Hong Kong Film Award Best Action Choreography Nominated
2014 8th Asian Film Awards 8th Asian Film Awards Asian Outstanding Actor Won
2015 Youku Night Awards Youku Night Awards 2014's Most Influential Actor Won
2015 The Monkey King 15th Huading Awards Best Actor Won
2015 Kung Fu Jungle Hong Kong Film Award Best Action Choreography Won
Japanom Yeerum (Thai: จาพนม ยีรัมย์),[2][3] formerly Tatchakorn Yeerum (Thai: ทัชชกร ยีรัมย์; rtgs: Thatchakon Yiram) or Phanom Yeerum (Thai: พนม ยีรัมย์; rtgs: Phanom Yiram; [pʰanom jiːram]; born February 5, 1976), better known internationally as Tony Jaa, in Thailand as Jaa Phanom (Thai: จา พนม; rtgs: Cha Phanom), is a Thai martial artist, physical educator, actor, action choreographer, film producer, stuntman, director, and has spent time as a Buddhist monk.[5] His films include Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, Tom-Yum-Goong (also called Warrior King or The Protector), Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning, Ong Bak 3 and Tom Yum Goong 2 (or The Protector 2).
Early life
Tony Jaa was born in Surin province, Isan, Thailand, and was raised in a rural area in Surin. His hometown is 400 km from Bangkok. As he grew up he watched films by Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Vince Lam and Jet Li at temple fairs, which was his inspiration to learn martial arts. He was so inspired by them that while he was doing chores or playing with friends, he would imitate the martial arts moves that he had seen, practicing in his father's rice paddy. When he was 10 years old, he threatened his father that he would kill himself if he was not taught by Panna Rittikrai.
"What they [Chan, Lee and Li] did was so beautiful, so heroic that I wanted to do it too," Jaa told Time in a 2004 interview. "I practiced until I could do the move exactly as I had seen the masters do it."[7][8]
He began training in muay thai at the local temple from age 8 and at age 15 he requested to become a protégé of stuntman and action-film director Panna Rittikrai.[4] Panna had instructed Jaa to attend Maha Sarakham College of Physical Education in Maha Sarakham Province.
Although born in Thailand, Jaa is actually of Kuy descent and he can speak Thai, Northern Khmer (the language of approximately 50% of the people in Surin) and Kuy.
Career
Stunt work
Tony Jaa's most notable stunt work was being the stunt man for the character of Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat Annihilation. Tony initially worked as a stuntman for 14 years, Muay Thai Stunt, appearing in many of Panna's films. He doubled for Sammo Hung when the martial-arts actor made a commercial for an energy drink that required him to grasp an elephant's tusks and somersault onto the elephant's back.[10] He was also a stunt double in the Thai television series Insee Daeng (Red Eagle).[11]
Acting
Together, Panna and Jaa developed an interest in muay boran, the predecessor of muay Thai and worked and trained for four years at the art with the intention of developing a film about it. Eventually they were able to put together a short film showing what Jaa could do with the help of instructor Grandmaster Mark Harris. One of the people they showed it to was producer-director Prachya Pinkaew, who was duly impressed.
This led to Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior in 2003, Jaa's break-out role as a leading man. Jaa did all the stunts without mechanical assistance or computer-generated effects and it showcased his style of extreme acrobatics and speedy, dance-like moves. Injuries suffered in the filming included a ligament injury and a sprained ankle. One scene in the film involved fighting with another actor while his own trousers were on fire. "I actually got burned," he said in a 2005 interview. "I really had to concentrate because once my pants were on fire the flames spread upwards very fast and burnt my eyebrows, my eyelashes and my nose. Then we had to do a couple more takes to get it right.".[12]
His second major movie was Tom-Yum-Goong (The Protector in the US), named after a type of Thai soup and including a style of muay Thai that imitates elephants.
In August 2006, he was in New York to promote the US release of The Protector, including an appearance at the Museum of the Moving Image.
Next projects
Sahamongkol Film International advertised that Tony Jaa's third film would be called Sword or Daab Atamas, about the art of Thai two-sword fighting (daab song mue), with a script by Prapas Chonsalanont.[14] But due to a falling out between Prachya and Jaa, which neither have publicly commented on, Sword has been cancelled.
On March 2006 it was reported that there would be a sequel to Ong-Bak, Ong-Bak 2. With Jaa both directing and starring, it started pre-production in fall 2006 and was released in December 2008.
While Jaa and Amogelang were working on Ong-Bak 2, director Prachya Pinkaew and action ya choreographer Panna Rittikrai were working on Chocolate, starring a female martial artist, Nicharee Vismistananda, and released February 6, 2008.[15] Jaa had been cast in a small role in a third installment of the King Naresuan film series directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol, although the film was ultimately cancelled. Ong Bak 3 was released in 2010 and provides a conclusion to this Thai trilogy.
Other developments
His films captured the attention of his hero, Jackie Chan, who asked director Brett Ratner to cast Jaa in Rush Hour 3. "I gave the director videos of Tony Jaa because I think Tony Jaa is the most well-rounded of all action stars," Chan told the Associated Press.[19] "The director liked him a lot," Chan said.[19] However, Jaa said he'd be unable to participate because of scheduling conflicts with the shooting of Ong Bak 2.
Tony Jaa also released Ong Bak 3, as a sequel to the prequel Ong Bak 2.
Monasticism
On May 28, 2010, Jaa became a Buddhist monk at a Buddhist temple in Surin, Thailand.,
Return to acting
After leaving the monastery, it came as a surprise to all that Jaa accepted a deal with Sahamongkol film company. He filmed Tom Yum Goong 2 for them, with Chocolate star Jija Yanin in a major role too, the first time Jaa has shared the big screen with another international martial arts star. Director Prachya Pinkaew and choreographer Panna Rittikrai also returned for this film.
In 2013, he teamed up with Dolph Lundgren in the Thai western-comedy A Man Will Rise (which remains unfinished) and in 2014 in Lundgren's pet project Skin Trade, directed by Ekachai Uekrongtham.[22] Then Jaa co-starred in the blockbuster action film Furious 7 (2015). Jaa also teamed up with fellow actor Wu Jing in Hong Kong- Chinese action film SPL II.
Jaa was briefly attached to the remake of Kickboxer.[24] However, in November 2014, it was announced that he had exited the project.
Personal life
Tony Jaa officially registered his marriage to longtime girlfriend Piyarat Chotiwattananont on 29 December 2011. The wedding ceremony was held on 3 May 2012. The couple have one child.
Filmography
Actor
Year Title Role Note 1994 Spirited Killer Supporting role[27] 1996 Mission Hunter 2 Supporting role[29] 1996 Hard Gun Supporting role[28] 1997 Mortal Kombat: Annihilation Stunt double for Robin Shou Uncredited 2001 Nuk leng klong yao Supporting role[30] 2003 Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior Ting Main role, action choreographer 2004 The Bodyguard Himself Cameo 2005 Tom-Yum-Goong Kham Main role, action choreographer 2007 The Bodyguard 2 Himself Cameo 2008 Ong Bak 2 Tian Main role, action choreographer, director and stunt coordinator 2010 Ong Bak 3 Tian Main role, action choreographer, director and stunt coordinator 2013 A Man Will Rise Unknown Main role; uncompleted 2013 Tom Yum Goong 2 Kham Main role and action choreographer 2014 Skin Trade Tony Vitayakul Co-starring role 2015 SPL II: A Time For Consequences Chai Hong Kong debut film 2015 Furious 7 Kiet Hollywood debut film 2016 Never Back Down 3 Filming
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