Donnie Yen

Name: Donnie Yen
Full Name: Zhen Zi Dan
Chinese Name: 甄子丹
Profession: Martial Artist, Film Actor
Country: Guangdong, China
Height: 173cm

Donnie Yen (甄子丹, pinyin: Zhēn Zi dān, born July 27, 1963), is a martial artist and a film actor. The son of martial arts master Bow Sim Mark, Yen was born in Guangdong (Canton) and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. 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. Donnie’s younger sister Chris (Chi-Ching) is also an accomplished martial artist and rising actress, recently appearing in the small film “The Adventures of Johnny Dao.”

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 inappropriate. 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.

In 2000 Donnie made his American film debut as the immortal Jin Ke in Highlander: Endgame (2000). He has also appeared in Blade II (2002) and will be seen next in Jackie Chan’s Shanghai Knights (2003) and Ying xiong (2002) with Jet Li.

Donnie is currently working on Stormbreaker, starring Alicia Silverstone, as the action choreographer 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) aka Dragon Inn
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)
SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005)
Love on the Rocks (2004)
Seven Swords (2005)
StormBreaker (2006)
Dragon Tiger Gate (2006)

Extra:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And I - I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
- Robert Frost, ‘The Road Not Taken’

Poet Robert Frost wrote it, but Donnie Yen could have said it. A rebel at heart, he’s made his own way. The road ahead hasn’t always run smooth. Direct and honest in his opinions, he’s probably made it harder on himself. The journey has shaped not only who he is today but the vision of the films he has directed. For Yen, these films are personal.

‘When you watch my films, you’re feeling my heart,’ he relates.

Born in the Chinese province of Canton, Yen came to Hong Kong at age two. He lived there until he was eleven, then moved to Boston, MA. He spent his early teenage years there, where his mother, Bow Sim-Mark, a world famous Wushu and Tai Chi master, ran the internationally known Chinese Wushu Research Institute, and martial arts became a major influence in his life. His footsteps would soon lead him down the less traveled path, his destiny perhaps. But first he would study classical piano, favoring Chopin, music being the other inspiration in his life. His father, Klysler Yen, the Boston editor of Sing Tao, an international Chinese daily paper, plays the violin and a similar-sounding stringed instrument, the Chinese erh-wu while his mother sings soprano. The younger Yen’s sensitivity to rhythm would eventually make its way into the films he directed, adding texture and depth.

‘Music and movement are both expressions of the same basic human energy. They are like paints used to color the screen.’

Recent Recognitions:
• The SPL is nominated and wins the Best Action Choreography of the 25rd Hong Kong Film Awards,Hong Kong 2006.
• Remy X.O Excellence Award by Remy Martin, New York, 22, Nov. 2004
• The “Coolest Action Actor of 2004″ award by MTV Channel, Shanghai, 21st Nov,2004.
• The Twins Effect is nominated and wins the Best Action Choreography of the 23rd Hong Kong Film Awards,Hong Kong 2004.
• The Twins Effect is nominated and wins the Best Action Choreography of the 40th Golden Horse Awards,Taiwan 2003.

Photo Gallery:

More Info:
Donnie Yen Official Website
Donnie Yen’s Biography
IMDB
Donnie Yen at HKcinema.net
Donnie Yen’s Chinese Fan Club, DYN Chinese Branch
DYN, Taiwan Branch
The Official Donnie Yen UK Fan Club
Donnie Yen at Sina

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