Profile of Donnie Yen on Famous Like Me

Donnie Yen (甄子丹, pinyin: Zhēn Zǐdān, born July 27, 1963), is a martial artist and a film actor.

Biography

The son of martial arts master Bow Sim Mark, Yen was born in Guangdong (Canton) and raised in Boston, United States. He is a well known film and television actor in Hong Kong and, more recently, in the West, having been featured in many movies with prominent, internationally known actors such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh.

From a young age, Yen was interested in martial arts of all kind, experimenting with various styles, from Taekwondo to Wushu. Yen decided to stick with Wushu, and moved to Beijing to further train. During his training in China, his instructor Mr. Lee demanded Donnie cut his hippie-style mullet as it was unappropriate. It was there that he met Yuen Woo-ping, an up and coming fight choreographer. Yen's first film role was at age 19 in 1984 in the film Xiao Tai Ji. The film revolved around drunken Tai Chi, and although not a critical success, the film helped Yen to achieve further notability. Over the years, Donnie would send martial arts magazines and books from North America back to Mr. Lee in China.

However, Yen gained his breakthrough role in 1992 as General Lan in Once Upon a Time in China II. His finale fight against Wong Fei-Hung (Jet Li) remains one of the most celebrated fights in martial arts films to this day. This fight scene could be considered one of the very best in martial arts films, and has been revisited to an extent in 2002's Hero, where Yen and Li face off again.

In 1997, Yen started a production company known as Bullet Films, and made his directorial debut. Two of his films, Legend of the Wolf and Ballistic Kiss, in which he also starred, are widely considered to be groundbreaking in their style and tone.

Donnie was married in 2003 in Toronto. He has a daughter, Jasmine. Donnie has a son from a previous relationship. His name is Man Cheuk Yen.

Donnie Yen choreographed most of the fighting animation in the 2004 videogame Onimusha 3 (Also starring Kaneshiro Takeshi and Jean Reno).

Most recently, Donnie can be seen as Chu in Tsui Hark's wuxia epic Seven Swords, and opposite Sammo Hung and Simon Yam in the brutal crime drama Sha Po Lang. Both films were featured this year at the Toronto Film Festival.

Donnie is currently working on Stormbreaker, starring Alicia Silverstone, as the action cheorographer and action director. He is also set to star as Wang Xiao Long in Dragon Tiger Gate, an adaptation of a popular Chinese comic novel, opposite Nicholas Tse.

Filmography

• Miracle Fighters 2 (1983)
• Drunken Tai Chi (1984)
• Mismatched Couples (1985)
• Tiger Cage (1988)
• The Last Conflict (1988)
• In the Line of Duty IV: Witness (1989)
• Tiger Cage 2 (1990)
• Holy Virgin vs. the Evil Dead (1991)
• Crystal Hunt (1991)
• Cheetah on Fire (1992)
• Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)
• New Dragon Gate Inn (1992)
• Iron Monkey (1993)
• Butterfly Sword (1993)
• Hero Among Heroes (1993)
• Wing Chun (1994)
• Circus Kid (1994)
• Satan Returns (1996)
• Black Rose 2 (1996)
• Legend of the Wolf (1997)
• Asian Cops - High Voltage (1997)
• Ballistic Kiss (1998)
• Shanghai Affairs (1998)
• Highlander: Endgame (2000)
• Fist of Fury: The Sequel (2001)
• Shurayuki Hime (2001)
• Blade II (2002)
• Shanghai Knights (2003)
• Hero (2003)
• The Twins Effect (2003)
• Protege de la Rose Noire (2004)
• The Huadu Chronicles: Blade of the Rose (2004)
• Sha Po Lang (2004)
• Love on the Rocks (2004)

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Donnie Yen