Donnie Yen

At 60 years old, Donnie Yen has this physical status:

Career

Drunken Tai Chi, Yen's first step into filmmaking, was when he landed his first starring role.

After filming Drunken Tai Chi and Tiger Cage (1988), Yen made his breakthrough role as GM Nap-lan (1992), which also included a fight scene between his character and Wong Fei-hung (played by Jet Li). In the 1993 film Iron Monkey, Yen appeared in a starring role. In the 2002 film Hero, Yen and Li appeared together again, where Yen played a spear (or qiang) soldier who battled with Li's character, an unidentified swordsman. At the 2003 Academy Awards, the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.

Chen Zhen appeared in the television series Fist of Fury, which is based on Bruce Lee's appearance in the 1972 film of the same name. In the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: Chen Zhen's Return, Yen reprised his role as Chen Zhen.

In 1997, Yen founded Bullet Films, making his directorial debut in Legend of the Wolf (1997) and Ballistic Kiss (1998), in which he appeared as the lead actor. At the age of 34, Yen nearly went bankrupt. Films produced by his own production company and directed by him were critically acclaimed, but not at the box office. To get by, Yen was compelled to borrow money from loan sharks and his production crew.

Yen later returned to the United States, where he was invited to choreograph fight scenes in Hollywood films such as Highlander: Endgame (2000) and Blade II (2002). The directors were taken aback by his choreography and skills, and they've invited him to appear in both films for cameos.

Jet Li was filming the film Hero in 2002 and told the director (Zhang Yimou) that he wanted Yen to play the role of Sky, his adversary, due to the Yen's martial arts skills. Li personally invited Yen back from Hollywood to appear in the film, marking the second time the two actors appeared together on film since "Once Upon a Time in China II," ten years ago. Yen was one of Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson's opponents against Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in the Shanghai Knights in 2003.

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Jean Reno, both played actors, choreographed the majority of the fight sequence in the 2004 video game Onimusha 3. In the 2000s, Yen continued to be involved in Hong Kong cinema, appearing as Chu Zhaonan in Tsui Hark's wuxia epic film Seven Swords and as Ma Kwun in Wilson Yip's violent crime drama film SPL: Sha Po Lang. Both films were shown at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival. In Wilson Yip's Dragon Tiger Gate, an adaptation of Wong Yuk-long's manhua series Oriental Heroes, Yen co-starred Nicholas Tse and Shawn Yue later this year. Yen also served as an action choreographer in Stormbreaker, which starred Alex Pettyfer. Yen continued to work with Wilson Yip in Flash Point (2007), in which he played the lead character and served as producer and action choreographer for the film. For his role in Flash Point, he was named Best Action Choreography at the Golden Horse Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Awards.

In 2008, Yen appeared in Ip Man, a semi-biographical biography of Bruce Lee's Wing Chun master, Ip Man. Ip Man was in 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 was the biggest box office to date, with Yen in the leading role, grossing HK$25 million in Hong Kong and 100 million yuan in China.

When Yen was on holiday with his family in the United States in August 2011, he allegedly received an invitation from producer Avi Lerner to star in The Expendables 2. According to reports, Yen was considering the offer, had several films on hand, and would wait until determining whether the script appealed to him. Yen admitted to the Hong Kong media later that he had turned down the position.

In 2011, Yen revealed that he was venting into other genres of film and had taken up two comedy roles in a row, and that he and Carina Lau in the former and Sandra Ng in the latter. Both films received a huge critical and box-office success, proving Yen's versatility as an actor.

After the filming of The Monkey King 3D, Yen took a six-month break to spend more time with his family and be with his children as they grew up.

In 2012, Yen returned to film and began filming Special ID, in which he played the main lead and an undercover cop, as well as acting as a stunt choreographer. Donnie Yen would play the lead role in The Iceman Cometh 3D, a sci-fi adventure film about time travel that was shot in 3D, which was released in 2013. In both of the aforementioned films, Yen confirmed that MMA would be used.

The Weinstein Company reported that it had purchased the rights to the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel in February 2013 and had hired Yen to play the male lead. Harvey and Bob Weinstein, a Hong Kong newspaper, published photos of them arriving in Hong Kong in March 2013 to speak with Yen and convince him to accept the invitation. It was revealed that Yen was considering the role, but that "the first thing is that my schedule this year is really packed." The second is that the first film is already a classic. I'm afraid of the heat, that will never be surpassed."

The Weinstein Company revealed in May 2013 that Yen would play Silent Wolf in the Crouching Tiger: Sword of Destiny, as well as leading female action actress Michelle Yeoh, as Yu Shu Lien, and director Yuen Woo-ping, Yen's mentor. To appeal to the international market, it was announced that the film would be shot in both English and Mandarin.

The Weinstein Company had also won the rights to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, which was revealed during the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II press conference, and was in talks with Yen, George Clooney, and Zhang Ziyi to appear in the film. Due to scheduling conflicts for the filming of Ip Man 3, Donnie Yen turned down the invitation.

Ip Man 3 was announced in late March 2015. Ip Man, Bruce Lee's martial arts master, revived his role as the titular character. Mike Tyson, a former boxer and former heavyweight champion, was confirmed to join the cast. Donnie Yen revealed that he was a huge fan of Mike Tyson, watched many of his professional boxing matches, and was eager to work with him. During a press conference, Mike Tyson said he was a huge fan of Donnie Yen and had watched the first two Ip Man films more than three times each and was honoured to be invited for the final installment of the trilogy.

Principal photography for Ip Man 3 began in March 25, 2015, and the finished film was released in December 2015 in Asia and around the world in early 2016 to generally favorable feedback.

Chirrut Îmwe, the Zatoichi-like blind transient warrior, appeared in the Star Wars anthology film Rogue One in 2016. Jet Li would be replaced by Yen in the role of Xiang in the forthcoming action film XX: Return of Xander Cage, which was released on February 12, 2016.

Return of Xander Cage, Paramount's revival of XXX: Paramount's marketing efforts on Donnie Yen's revival in China and most areas of Asia, placing him at the forefront of the film posters ahead of Vin Diesel, as well as videos and reviews of Yen's film appearance on the popular Chinese social media platform Weibo. In China, In China, Paraphrased With rave reviews praising Donnie Yen's appearance on Chinese social media, XXX was number one in its first weekend, with $22.2 million coming from Valentine's Day alone, attracting moviegoers to the cinema.

Both Rogue One and XXI: Critics and general audiences were extremely raving about Yen's performance in both Rogue One and XXX: Return of Xander Cage. Many media publications, including Variety, Los Angeles Times, Screen Anarchy, and Budomate, praised Yen's role and praised him as the star of the film and stealing every scene he is in, including many on Variety, Los Angeles Times, Screen Anarchy, and Budomate, praised him for his return to Xander Cage. Rogue One's success was also lauded by audiences around the world, other than praises from critics. Chirrut Îmwe was named as the audience's favorite Rogue One character in a official survey on the Star Wars website, where more than 40,000 people registered.

During the filming of XX: Return to Xander Cage in Canada, Yen received several calls from Hollywood studios and directors. Wong Jing, the Hong Kong director, travelled to Canada to invite Yen to appear in his film Chasing the Dragon, a reimagining of the award-winning film To be Number One. Yen eventually accepted the challenge and played a non-traditional role of a villain with limited combat scenes and the possibility of working with Andy Lau.

Chasing the Dragon received rave reviews from critics in September 2017, blaming Yen's versatility as an actor and his superb portrayal of the late Ng Sek Ho, the film's main character. Chasing the Dragon was also a huge success in Asia's most major cities. Chasing the Dragon, one of the top-five Hong Kong films in 2017, is ranked as one of the top 5 Hong Kong films of 2017.

In 2017, Yen received a call from old friend Jet Li and Alibaba CEO Jack Ma about a potential collaboration on a short martial arts film named Gong Shou Dao to promote a new breed of Taiji as an olympic sport. Yen was on holiday with his wife to celebrate their wedding anniversary, but he had cancelled plans to film it. As he said that "friendship is not measured by money" and that he hopes that his participation in the Chinese martial arts will help promote Chinese martial arts to international audiences, Yen denied any compensation for this GSD participation. Jet Li and Jack Ma delighted Yen and his wife Cissy by being on the set to celebrate their wedding anniversary. On November 11, China's Singles' Day, debuting on Youku and Jet Li's official Facebook page, with a total of more than 100 million views worldwide. Netizens in China lauded Yen's speed and technique in the film, with the majority of viewers (over 190,000) voting Yen as the highlight of the short film.

Big Brother, a mixed martial arts film in which Yen portrays a high school teacher with unusual equipment and a dark history, started filming in late 2017.

In 2017, a live-action film adaptation of Sleeping Dogs was announced, with Yen playing the lead role Wei Shen. Yen announced the continued development of the film on social media in February 2018.

Yen resurfaced as Ip Man in Ip Man 4: The Finale in 2019. Protesters against the film largely prompted a boycott, prompting Yen, co-star Danny Chan, and producer Raymond Wong's pro-Beijing positions. However, the film was a box office hit, grossing more than three times over its budget of $52 million and becoming Malaysia's top-grossing Chinese film in all time, as well as the third-highest-grossing Chinese film in five years. When Yen was asked by reporters if he was interested in appearing in a superhero film, he said no, but it was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict. Nuidis Vulko, whose role was eventually transferred to Willem Dafoe, was offered.

Source