Donnie Yen Real fighting experience and prowess When was Yen's first fight? As Yen and Joey left the club, the gang followed and attacked Yen. Yen beat up eight members of the gang who were later hospitalized.
Was Yen charged for this fight?
Was Yen charged for fighting the gang?
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. 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.  One reported occasion confirms Yen as 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 was harassed by a troublesome gang that had taken an interest in her. Yen warned them to leave her alone, but they persisted to cause trouble. As Yen and Joey left the club, the gang followed and attacked Yen. Yen beat up eight members of the gang who were later hospitalized.  Malaysian 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 have also stated 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 the films Bodyguards and Assassins and Ip Man 3, respectively, have both claimed that Donnie Yen is an incredible martial artist and would do well in authentic combat. While filming Ip Man 3, crew members were afraid that Mike Tyson, who had been a professional boxer, would forget the choreography and throw real punches to injure Yen. However, it was ultimately Yen who fractured Tyson's finger while using his elbow to block Tyson's punches. CANNOTANSWER
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Donnie Yen Ji-dan (; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director, producer, action director and choreographer.

Yen is one of Hong Kong's top action stars. Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream Asian cinema by choreographing MMA in many of his films since the early 2000s. The first Chinese UFC champion Zhang Weili states that Yen's films introduced her to MMA. Yen has displayed skill in an array of martial arts, being well-versed in Tai Chi, Boxing, Kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Mixed Martial Arts, Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hung Ga, Sanda, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. One of the most popular film stars in Asia of the early 2000s, Yen is consistently one of the highest-paid actors in Asia. Yen earned HK$220 million (US$28.4 million) from four films and six advertisements in 2013.

Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularisation of Wing Chun in China. He portrays Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the Ip Man film series, which has garnered box office success and led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, with hundreds of new Wing Chun schools being opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia. Ip Chun, the eldest son of Ip Man, even mentioned that he is grateful to Yen for making his family's art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered.  He has also gained international recognition for playing Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Xiang in XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017) and Commander Tung in Mulan (2020).

Early life
Yen was born on 27 July 1963 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. His mother, Bow-sim Mark, is a Fu Style Wudangquan (internal martial arts) and Tai Chi grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen (甄雲龍), was a newspaper editor. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong and then to the United States, settling in Boston when he was 11. 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 the influence of 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 practising wushu seriously at the age 14 after dropping out of school. His parents were concerned that he was spending too much time in Boston's Combat Zone, so they sent him to Beijing on a 4-year training program with the Beijing Wushu Team. When Yen decided to return to the United States, he made a side-trip to Hong Kong, where he met action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. Yen finally started taekwondo at around the 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. From a young age, he was taught by his parents to play musical instruments, including the piano. He also knows hip-hop dancing and breakdancing.

Career

Beginnings to the '90s 
Yen's first step into the film industry was when he landed his first starring 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 Best Foreign Language Film at the 2003 Academy Awards.

In 1995, Yen starred as Chen Zhen 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. At age 34, Yen almost went bankrupt. Films produced by his own production company and directed by him were critically acclaimed but did not do well at the box office. Yen was forced to borrow money from loan sharks and his production crew to get by.

2000s: Breakthrough success 
Yen later went back to the United States, where he was invited to choreograph fight scenes in Hollywood films, such as Highlander: Endgame (2000) and Blade II (2002). His choreography and skills impressed the directors, and they invited him for cameo appearances in both movies.

In 2002, Jet Li was filming the movie Hero and insisted to the director (Zhang Yimou) that he wanted Yen to play the role of Sky, his adversary, due to Yen's martial arts ability. Li personally invited Yen back from Hollywood to star in the movie, marking the second time the two actors appeared onscreen together since Once Upon a Time in China II ten years earlier.
In 2003, Yen played one of the antagonists against Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson 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 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 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 award for 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 Ip 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 featuring Yen in the leading role, grossing HK$25 million in Hong Kong and 100 million yuan in China.

 

Yen as seen in the Ip Man  series

From 2010 to 2015 
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 was considering the offer, had many films at hand, and would wait until deciding whether the script appealed to him. Later on, Yen revealed to the Hong Kong media that he had rejected the role.

In 2011, Yen revealed that he was venturing into other genres of movies and had taken up two comedy roles in a row, in All's Well, Ends Well 2011 and All's Well, Ends Well 2012, and would be working with Carina Lau in the former and Sandra Ng in the latter. Both films obtained huge critical and box-office success and proved Yen's versatility as an actor.

Yen took a six-month break in the second half of 2011 after the filming of The Monkey King 3D, explaining that he wanted to spend more time with his family and be with his children more as they grew up.

In 2012, Yen returned to the movie industry and commenced the filming of Special ID, in which he played the main lead, an undercover cop, and also took on the role of action choreographer. In 2013, it was reported that Donnie Yen would be playing the lead role for The Iceman Cometh 3D, a sci-fi action film dealing with time travel and which was filmed in 3D. Yen confirmed that MMA would be used in both of the abovementioned films.

In February 2013, the Weinstein Company confirmed that it had purchased the rights to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel and contacted Yen to play the male lead. In March 2013, Hong Kong magazines surfaced photos of Harvey and Bob Weinstein traveling to Hong Kong to meet with Yen and persuade him to accept the offer. It was reported that Yen was considering the role and 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."

In May 2013, during the annual Cannes Film Festival, the Weinstein Company announced that Yen would play the lead role of Silent Wolf in the Crouching Tiger sequel, titled Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, alongside leading female action star Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien, and with director Yuen Woo-ping, Yen's mentor. It was revealed that the movie would be filmed in both English and Mandarin to appeal to the international market.

It was also revealed during the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II press conference that the Weinstein Company had obtained rights to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, was planning a remake and was negotiating with Yen, George Clooney and Zhang Ziyi to star in the film. Donnie Yen declined the offer due to scheduling conflicts for the filming of Ip Man 3.

In late March 2015, Ip Man 3 was announced. Yen reprised his role as the titular character, Bruce Lee's martial arts master, Ip Man. Retired boxer and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was confirmed to join the cast. Donnie Yen mentioned that he was a big fan of Mike Tyson, watched many of his professional boxing bouts, and was excited to work with him. Mike Tyson stated during a press conference that he was a huge fan of Donnie Yen and has watched the first two Ip Man movies more than three times each and was honored to be invited for the final installment of the trilogy.

Principal photography for Ip Man 3 began on March 25, 2015, and the finished movie was released in December 2015 in parts of Asia and around the world in early 2016 to generally favorable reviews.

From 2016 to 2020 
In 2016, Yen co-starred in the Star Wars anthology film Rogue One as Chirrut Îmwe, the Zatoichi-like blind transient warrior. On February 12, 2016, it was confirmed that Yen would replace Jet Li in the role of Xiang in the upcoming action film XXX: Return of Xander Cage.

For the promotion of XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Paramount focused marketing efforts on Donnie Yen in China and most parts of Asia, placing him at the front of the film posters ahead of Vin Diesel, and shared clips and reviews of Yen's performance in the movie on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo. Paramount's efforts worked very well in China. XXX was number one in its opening weekend with $61.9 million, and crossed the $100 million mark in just six days with $22.2m coming from Valentine's Day alone after rave reviews praising Donnie Yen's performance swept through Chinese social media, driving moviegoers to the cinema.

Yen's performance in both Rogue One and XXX: Return of Xander Cage received extremely positive responses from critics and general audiences. For Return of Xander Cage, many media sites including Variety, Los Angeles Times, Screen Anarchy and Budomate praised Yen's performance and credited him as the highlight of the movie and stealing every scene he is in. In the case of Rogue One, other than praises from critics, Yen's performance was also applauded by audiences worldwide. In an official poll on the Star Wars webpage, in which more 40,000 people voted, Yen's character Chirrut Îmwe was voted as audiences' favorite Rogue One character.

While Yen was filming XXX: Return of Xander Cage in Canada, he received many offers from Hollywood studios and directors. At the same time, Hong Kong director Wong Jing personally flew to Canada to invite Yen to star in his film Chasing the Dragon, a remake of the award-winning film To be Number One. Yen eventually accepted the offer and played a non-traditional role of a villain with limited fighting scenes and the opportunity to work alongside Andy Lau.

In September 2017, Chasing the Dragon was released with extremely positive reviews from critics, citing Yen's versatility as an actor and his incredible portrayal of the late Ng Sek Ho, the main character of the film. Chasing the Dragon was also a huge hit with audiences in most parts of Asia. In Hong Kong, Chasing the Dragon is ranked as one of the top 5 Hong Kong films in 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 known as Gong Shou Dao - to promote a new form of Taiji as an olympic sport in the future. Yen was on holiday with his wife to celebrate their anniversary, but cancelled his plans to take part in the film. Yen declined any salary for this participation for GSD as he stated that "friendship is not measured by money" and that he hopes his participation can help promote Chinese martial arts to worldwide audiences. In return, Jet Li and Jack Ma surprised Yen and his wife Cissy, by helping to celebrate their wedding anniversary on the set. The full GSD 20 minutes short film was released on 11 November - China's Singles' Day, debuting on Youku and Jet Li's official Facebook page, garnering a total of more than 100 million views worldwide. Netizens in China praised Yen's speed and technique in the film, with most audiences (over 190,000) voting Yen as the highlight of the short film.

In late 2017, Yen began filming Big Brother, a mixed martial arts film where Yen plays a high school teacher with unconventional methods and a dark past.

In 2017, a live-action film adaption of the video game Sleeping Dogs was announced, with Yen playing the lead character Wei Shen. In February 2018, Yen confirmed the continued production of the film through social media.

In 2019, Yen reprised his role as Ip Man for the final time in Ip Man 4: The Finale. During the Hong Kong protests of that year, protesters urged a boycott of the film, citing the pro-Beijing stances of Yen, co-star Danny Chan, and producer Raymond Wong. Nonetheless, the film was a box office success, grossing over three times its budget of $52 million and becoming the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time in Malaysia as well as the third-highest-grossing Chinese film in North America in five years.
In March 2020, as part of the press tour for Disney's live-action remake of Mulan, when Yen was asked by reporters whether he was interested in appearing in a superhero movie, Yen revealed that he had been offered a role in Warner Brothers' Justice League and Aquaman films by Zack Snyder, but turned it down due to a scheduling conflict. The role offered was that of Nuidis Vulko, which eventually went to Willem Dafoe.

Martial arts history, style and philosophy
Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist. 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, Yen won gold medals in various wushu competitions.

Yen later went on to discover and seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain black and purple belts from judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, respectively, and went on to study 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. Yen's 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), Flash Point (2007), and Special ID (2013).

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 mentor of film star Bruce Lee, 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. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, his skills as a martial artist, and his ability 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." He believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat.

Yen was a rebel in his youth 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. 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.

One reported occasion confirms Yen as 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, Meng was harassed by a troublesome gang that had taken an interest in her. Yen warned them to leave her alone, but they persisted in causing trouble. As Yen and Meng left the club, the gang followed and attacked Yen. Yen beat up eight members of the gang who were later hospitalized.

Other martial arts stars such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li have also stated 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 the films Bodyguards and Assassins and Ip Man 3, respectively, have both claimed that Yen is an incredible martial artist and would do well in authentic combat. While filming Ip Man 3, crew members were worried that Tyson, who had been a professional boxer, would accidentally injure Yen. However, it was ultimately Yen who fractured Tyson's finger while using his elbow to block Tyson's punches. Tyson insisted on finishing the scene before he was treated in hospital.

Action choreography
Donnie Yen was considered one of the premiere action choreographers in the world, having been 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 has won multiple awards for his action choreography.

Yen's most famous works include films such as Flash Point and SPL: Sha Po Lang. He has mentioned that the main differences in filmmaking in Asia and Hollywood are 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, on the other hand, Yen explains that the action choreographer simply choreographs the actions with the director, who still maintains full control of such settings and camera angles.

Yen's work as a choreographer won him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Award for Best Action Choreography at the 2008 and 2011 Golden Horse 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. Furthermore, he incorporated many MMA elements in the film, coupled with the utilisation 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 was a necessity in the film.

He won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography four times, being one of the most frequent winners of this coveted award. He has won awards for his choreography in films such as The Twins Effect, SPL: Sha Po Lang, Flash Point, and Kung Fu Jungle. 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.

Bodybuilding and transformation for roles

Yen is renowned for his physical fitness, strength, and speed achieved through his use of a strict and disciplined fitness regimen to build up strength and fitness.

However, despite his muscular build, Yen has gained tremendous attention for his dedication to his roles and for the lengths to which he goes to achieve the physical build and appearance of the characters he plays. In 2007, Yen lost over 14 kg (30 pounds) to reach the weight of 54 kg (120 pounds) to better portray the slender Ip Man and the techniques of wing chun, which focuses on techniques and not strength. He did so through a very strict regimen of limiting himself to a plain diet consisting mainly of vegetables.

In 2010, still fresh off Ip Man 2, Yen was cast as Chen Zhen in Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, which was originally portrayed by Bruce Lee. He had to regain his muscular physique for the role and took 6 months through a precise and dedicated diet routine. He maintained this bulk and physique while filming The Lost Bladesman, in which he plays Guan Yu, a Chinese general known for his size and spear-fighting abilities.

In 2015, Yen reduced his muscular physique yet again to reprise the role of Ip Man in Ip Man 3 and for his role as the blind warrior monk Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. For his role as Xiang in XXX: Return of Xander Cage opposite Vin Diesel, Yen rebuilt his physique.

Personal life
Yen met his first wife and Hong Kong advertising executive, Leung Zing-ci (), in 1990. The couple began dating in 1990. After three years of dating, they married secretly in the United States in November 1993. The marriage ended in less than a year. After their divorce was finalized, Leung realized that she was pregnant with their son, Jeff, who was born in 1995.

Yen later married former beauty queen Cissy Wang after three months of dating in 2003. The couple have two children, Jasmine and James.

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.

Philanthropic work
In 2012, Donnie Yen and his wife Cissy Wang co-founded Go.Asia, an online charity platform encouraging people to participate in charity work and serve local communities.

In 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.

In 2015, Yen visited refugee camps in Thailand, bringing donations and gifts for the refugees. Yen is also an ambassador for the international charity Save the Children.

In December 2015, Yen established a charitable fund, Yen's Honour Protection Fund, with the purpose of empowering celebrities to use the law to defend their honor and reputation. Yen said the fund "[seeks] to assist and render help to everyone who needs it, most importantly to heal and repair the hearts and dignities which have been affected." This fund was established after Yen won a lawsuit against Geng Weiguo (AKA Tan Bing), who defamed Yen and hired netizens to threaten Yen's family.

In February 2020, in light of the coronavirus pandemic in China and the rest of the world, Donnie Yen stepped in to donate HK$1 million to frontline medical workers in Wuhan. He also produced and dedicated a short clip to thank all medical workers in China in their fight against the coronavirus; the clip was uploaded  on Chinese social media site, Weibo, where Yen has over 11 million followers. He also donated a painting done by himself and his two children, to the frontline medical workers.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

 
 
 "An Action Star Moves to the Lead," New York Times article
 Donnie Yen profile page at Hong Kong Cinemagic

 
1963 births
20th-century Hong Kong male actors
21st-century Hong Kong male actors
Action choreographers
Chinese Jeet Kune Do practitioners
Chinese Wing Chun practitioners
Film directors from Guangdong
Hong Kong emigrants to the United States
Hong Kong expatriates in the United States
Hong Kong film directors
Hong Kong film producers
Hong Kong hapkido practitioners
Hong Kong kung fu practitioners
Hong Kong male film actors
Hong Kong male judoka
Hong Kong male karateka
Hong Kong male kickboxers
Hong Kong male taekwondo practitioners
Hong Kong male television actors
Hong Kong martial artists
Hong Kong Muay Thai practitioners
Hong Kong philanthropists
Hong Kong practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Hong Kong stunt performers
Hong Kong wushu practitioners
Living people
Male actors from Guangdong
Male actors from Guangzhou
Sportspeople from Guangdong
Sportspeople from Guangzhou
Wing Chun practitioners from Hong Kong
Cindy Yen (), born as Cindy Wu ( on November 14, 1986 is a Taiwanese-American singer, songwriter, actress, composer and producer. She was the first artist to be signed to JR Yang and Jay Chou's company, JVR Music, in 2009, when the company was already 10 years old. In October 2009 she released her first self-titled album: Cindy Yen 袁詠琳. Her first single, "Sand Painting," a duet sung with Jay Chou and composed by Yen herself, became an instant success. Yen's music covers an array of styles ranging from R&B, soul, pop, and classical, to rock, acoustic folk, dance and hip-hop.

Background and early life 
Cindy Yen was born and raised in Houston, Texas, to a statistics lecturer father and a certified accountant mother. When she was 12 her parents divorced, and since then Yen was brought up solely by her mother in USA as her father returned to his alma mater, National Cheng Kung University, as a Statistics professor. The piano become Yen's "best friend," and she once stated during an interview that "without piano, there is no me. Piano is my other half, what makes me complete. Everything I bury inside my heart I let out when I play." Yen attended Bellaire High School near Houston, TX and in 2004, went on to study and graduated from The University of Texas at Austin where she double-majored in piano performance and broadcast journalism.

In 2015, Yen revealed on Facebook that in 2008, she auditioned for American Idol in Dallas, but was eliminated by Randy Jackson's deciding vote. She then won the title of Miss Chinatown Houston 2008 and continued to win the national title of Miss Chinatown USA 2009. In the fall of 2008, Yen moved to Taiwan with her self-made demo, aiming to become a recording artist.

During the first few days, Yen met many record companies but was repeatedly rejected by all. They told her that her music was too "Western" and not suitable for the Asian market. They also said her style of singing wasn't suitable for the Chinese language, because it was too R&B and soul. Finally, she became the first artist ever to sign to JR Yang and the Taiwanese pop star Jay Chou's company, JVR Music in February 2009.

Music career

2009–2010 "Sand Painting" 
Within eight months of signing, Yen released her debut single, "Sand Painting," a duet sung with Jay Chou and composed/produced by Yen. It was the first time Chou had ever sung a song not written by himself. "Sand Painting" became the number one downloaded ringtone in Taiwan. It reached the top on many Asian billboards and at KTV. Yen's debut album was listed under Top 10 on the G-Music charts and Rose Records for 5 consecutive weeks, and was the number one listened to album on Taiwan's KKBox Charts for 4 consecutive weeks. "Sand Painting" went on to place as one of China's most popular top ten hit songs of 2010, as ranked in China's 2010 Mandarin Web Original Composition Pop Music Charts. She later re-wrote the lyrics for its English version – "Another One Like You"

Yen became the featured girl in commercials for the Taiwan cell phone company, FarEasTone. Yen composed and sang the theme song "Do you see me" for FarEasTone advertisements, after Joanna Wang & Alisa Gao.

On October 30, 2009, Yen released her self-titled album "Cindy Yen".

Her debut album is mainly built upon R&B, with popular elements such as rock, hip-hop, and folk. Yen composed and produced her album, with some help with the lyrics from Vincent Fang & Nan Quan Mama’s Lara Veronin. The album also includes genres such as pop rock, hard metal and Latin hip-hop dance beats. Songs included "Stupid Fish," "Very Traveling Love," "Singing a Song Because of Longing," and "Dancing With Threat", as well as piano ballads like "I'm Sorry" and "That Year We Made a Wish Together".

Since her debut, Yen has opened her own mini-concert in Hong Kong and was on tour with Jay Chou's 2010 "The Era" Concert Tour as a regular guest performer.

2011–2012 "2 Be Different" 

Yen released her second album, '2 Be Different', on September 29, 2011. Like the first album, Yen wrote and produced all ten songs on her album, which included a new electronic dance single "陷阱" ("Trap") instead. The music video prompted a blogger on CPopAccess to compare her with Jolin Tsai.

Yen said in an interview with Singapore's Razor TV that her new album aimed to empower women. Following the release of "2 Be Different", Yen received Best Stylistic New Artist at the Beijing MTV Super Awards 2011. Yen also received Best Single of the Year for "Trap" and Best Stylistic Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the Beijing Music Awards 2012.

2015–2016 "Fight For Love" 
Yen released her third album 'Fight For Love' in 2015. In this album, she self-produced two of the music videos – "Come To Mami" & "Bad Boy".

2018 "This Moment EP"

2020 Collaboration with Della Ding 
She collaborate with Della Ding, Taiwanese singer from B'in Music for the first time and released a song named "I Want Me" (我要我).

Television and film 

Yen first made a special guest appearance in Jay Chou's television drama series Pandamen (熊貓人) in 2010 where she played herself as an international concert pianist champion. 
 
On July 5, 2011, Yen debut as a supporting actress in her first TV drama series in the network series 瑰寶1949 (Invaluable Treasure 1949) along with her good friend 賴雅妍 (Megan Lai) and 林佑威 (Yowei Lin). The TV series was nominated for 5 Golden Bell Awards including Best Male Actor, Best Female Actress, and Best Drama of the Year. Invaluable Treasure 1949 ended up winning Best Artistic Design and Best Sound Effects.

In January 2012, Yen finished filming her first full-length feature film called First Time (第一次) alongside actor Mark Chao (趙又廷) and Hong Kong model Angelababy. Yen also wrote two theme songs for the film, which can be found on the original soundtrack.  The First Time premiered in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong on June 8, 2012, and received top box office charts in China.

In the Summer of 2020, Yen participated in a Chinese reality show called Sisters Who Make Waves (乘风破浪的姐姐). At first, she didn't feel confident about her ability to compete against the other contestants who she deemed were "more famous than her". However, she ended up receiving a lot of attention for her performances on the show. She played piano in the initial scoring stage, rapped for the first time in Chinese during the first performance, and playing the violin during the duet with New Pants before being eliminated after the fourth performance.

Philanthropy, voluntary work and community service 
In January 2010, Yen became TVBS' spokesperson for their "Lotus" charity event aimed at raising money for children. She said she hopes to open a music school or a music camp of some sort that can provide "financial-free" education for children and give them a chance to creatively express themselves through music.

In November 2010, Yen performed alongside Jay Chou and Will Pan at Soong Ching-ling's (also known as Madame Sun yat-sen) Charity Foundation event as part of the 2010 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters season Shanghai Street Circuit in Pudong.  Together, the three artists donated ¥1,500,000 (US$250,000) for families residing in the eastern part of China.

In March 2011, Yen was a member of the "Fight and Smile" campaign dedicated to help fundraise money for Japan's tsunami crisis. Along with other Taiwanese artists, Yen sang in the song "Believe" (相信愛） and also performed "Hero" during the "Fight and Smile" fundraising program.

Starting in March 2012, Yen has been involved in Taiwans's 336 Charity, an organization aiming to provide education and awareness for autistic children and their families.

Discography 
Solo Albums:
 Cindy Yen 袁詠琳 (2009)
 First self-title album【Cindy】, 10 self-composed tracks
 2 be different (2011)
 Fight For Love (2015)
 The Moment EP (2018)

Other Released Singles:

 2020 TV Drama【The Little Nyonya】, Ending Theme "Impenetrable"
 2019 TV Drama【Yong-jiu Grocery Store】, Interlude song "I Believe"
 2019 COTTON USA Theme Song, Digital Single "Brave"
 2017 COTTON USA Theme Song, Digital Single "Fighting For Love"
 2016 COTTON USA Theme Song, Digital Single "I Love Myself"
 2016 TV Drama【Ice Fantasy】, Ending theme song "Heart"
 2016 TV Drama【Ice Fantasy】, Interlude song "Li Luo"
 2015 Third album【Fight For Love】, 8 self-composed tracks
 2014 Taichung Teddy Carnival, Theme Song "Fly Tonight"
 2014 PTS TV Life Story【Smile in the Dark】, Interlude Song "Love is Black & White"
 2014 TTV Drama【CHOCOLAT】, Interlude song "Is This Love?"
 2013 Master Kong (Tingyi) 3+2 Cookie Series TV Commercial, Theme Song
 2012 Fubon Culture & Educational Foundation Young Voice, Theme song
 2012 TTV Drama【In Between】, Theme song "In Between"
 2012 Movie【First Time】, Theme Song "Cry Like a Baby"
 2012 Movie【First Time】, Interlude song "Arrangement"
 2011 Second album【2 BE DIFFERENT】, 10 self-composed tracks
 2011 Taichung Municipal Da-Dun Junior High School, Theme song "Forest of Hopes"
 2011 PTS Drama【The Invaluable Treasure, 1949】, End title song "Dust"
 2011 PTS Drama【The Invaluable Treasure, 1949】, Interlude song "After Pain"
 2011 PTS Drama【The Invaluable Treasure, 1949】, Theme song "Invaluable Treasure"

Songs written & produced for other artists:
痛了才懂 (Understanding After Pain), performed by 浪花兄弟 (The Drifters)
哭得像小孩 (Cry Like A Child), performed by 趙又庭 (Mark Chao)

Awards and nominations

TV and film

References

External links

 Cindy’s Official China Blog 袁詠琳新浪微博

American musicians of Taiwanese descent
American women musicians of Chinese descent
Sony BMG artists
Living people
1986 births
Musicians from Houston
University of Texas at Austin College of Fine Arts alumni
21st-century Taiwanese women  singers
Moody College of Communication alumni
21st-century American women singers
21st-century American singers Donnie Yen Ji-dan (; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director, producer, action director and choreographer.

Yen is one of Hong Kong's top action stars. Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream Asian cinema by choreographing MMA in many of his films since the early 2000s. The first Chinese UFC champion Zhang Weili states that Yen's films introduced her to MMA. Yen has displayed skill in an array of martial arts, being well-versed in Tai Chi, Boxing, Kickboxing, Jeet Kune Do, Hapkido, Mixed Martial Arts, Taekwondo, Karate, Muay Thai, Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hung Ga, Sanda, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. One of the most popular film stars in Asia of the early 2000s, Yen is consistently one of the highest-paid actors in Asia. Yen earned HK$220 million (US$28.4 million) from four films and six advertisements in 2013.

Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularisation of Wing Chun in China. He portrays Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the Ip Man film series, which has garnered box office success and led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, with hundreds of new Wing Chun schools being opened up in mainland China and other parts of Asia. Ip Chun, the eldest son of Ip Man, even mentioned that he is grateful to Yen for making his family's art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered.  He has also gained international recognition for playing Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Xiang in XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017) and Commander Tung in Mulan (2020).

Early life
Yen was born on 27 July 1963 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. His mother, Bow-sim Mark, is a Fu Style Wudangquan (internal martial arts) and Tai Chi grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen (甄雲龍), was a newspaper editor. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong and then to the United States, settling in Boston when he was 11. 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 the influence of 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 practising wushu seriously at the age 14 after dropping out of school. His parents were concerned that he was spending too much time in Boston's Combat Zone, so they sent him to Beijing on a 4-year training program with the Beijing Wushu Team. When Yen decided to return to the United States, he made a side-trip to Hong Kong, where he met action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping. Yen finally started taekwondo at around the 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. From a young age, he was taught by his parents to play musical instruments, including the piano. He also knows hip-hop dancing and breakdancing.

Career

Beginnings to the '90s 
Yen's first step into the film industry was when he landed his first starring 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 Best Foreign Language Film at the 2003 Academy Awards.

In 1995, Yen starred as Chen Zhen 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. At age 34, Yen almost went bankrupt. Films produced by his own production company and directed by him were critically acclaimed but did not do well at the box office. Yen was forced to borrow money from loan sharks and his production crew to get by.

2000s: Breakthrough success 
Yen later went back to the United States, where he was invited to choreograph fight scenes in Hollywood films, such as Highlander: Endgame (2000) and Blade II (2002). His choreography and skills impressed the directors, and they invited him for cameo appearances in both movies.

In 2002, Jet Li was filming the movie Hero and insisted to the director (Zhang Yimou) that he wanted Yen to play the role of Sky, his adversary, due to Yen's martial arts ability. Li personally invited Yen back from Hollywood to star in the movie, marking the second time the two actors appeared onscreen together since Once Upon a Time in China II ten years earlier.
In 2003, Yen played one of the antagonists against Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson 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 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 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 award for 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 Ip 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 featuring Yen in the leading role, grossing HK$25 million in Hong Kong and 100 million yuan in China.

 

Yen as seen in the Ip Man  series

From 2010 to 2015 
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 was considering the offer, had many films at hand, and would wait until deciding whether the script appealed to him. Later on, Yen revealed to the Hong Kong media that he had rejected the role.

In 2011, Yen revealed that he was venturing into other genres of movies and had taken up two comedy roles in a row, in All's Well, Ends Well 2011 and All's Well, Ends Well 2012, and would be working with Carina Lau in the former and Sandra Ng in the latter. Both films obtained huge critical and box-office success and proved Yen's versatility as an actor.

Yen took a six-month break in the second half of 2011 after the filming of The Monkey King 3D, explaining that he wanted to spend more time with his family and be with his children more as they grew up.

In 2012, Yen returned to the movie industry and commenced the filming of Special ID, in which he played the main lead, an undercover cop, and also took on the role of action choreographer. In 2013, it was reported that Donnie Yen would be playing the lead role for The Iceman Cometh 3D, a sci-fi action film dealing with time travel and which was filmed in 3D. Yen confirmed that MMA would be used in both of the abovementioned films.

In February 2013, the Weinstein Company confirmed that it had purchased the rights to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel and contacted Yen to play the male lead. In March 2013, Hong Kong magazines surfaced photos of Harvey and Bob Weinstein traveling to Hong Kong to meet with Yen and persuade him to accept the offer. It was reported that Yen was considering the role and 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."

In May 2013, during the annual Cannes Film Festival, the Weinstein Company announced that Yen would play the lead role of Silent Wolf in the Crouching Tiger sequel, titled Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny, alongside leading female action star Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien, and with director Yuen Woo-ping, Yen's mentor. It was revealed that the movie would be filmed in both English and Mandarin to appeal to the international market.

It was also revealed during the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II press conference that the Weinstein Company had obtained rights to Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai, was planning a remake and was negotiating with Yen, George Clooney and Zhang Ziyi to star in the film. Donnie Yen declined the offer due to scheduling conflicts for the filming of Ip Man 3.

In late March 2015, Ip Man 3 was announced. Yen reprised his role as the titular character, Bruce Lee's martial arts master, Ip Man. Retired boxer and former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson was confirmed to join the cast. Donnie Yen mentioned that he was a big fan of Mike Tyson, watched many of his professional boxing bouts, and was excited to work with him. Mike Tyson stated during a press conference that he was a huge fan of Donnie Yen and has watched the first two Ip Man movies more than three times each and was honored to be invited for the final installment of the trilogy.

Principal photography for Ip Man 3 began on March 25, 2015, and the finished movie was released in December 2015 in parts of Asia and around the world in early 2016 to generally favorable reviews.

From 2016 to 2020 
In 2016, Yen co-starred in the Star Wars anthology film Rogue One as Chirrut Îmwe, the Zatoichi-like blind transient warrior. On February 12, 2016, it was confirmed that Yen would replace Jet Li in the role of Xiang in the upcoming action film XXX: Return of Xander Cage.

For the promotion of XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Paramount focused marketing efforts on Donnie Yen in China and most parts of Asia, placing him at the front of the film posters ahead of Vin Diesel, and shared clips and reviews of Yen's performance in the movie on the popular Chinese social media site Weibo. Paramount's efforts worked very well in China. XXX was number one in its opening weekend with $61.9 million, and crossed the $100 million mark in just six days with $22.2m coming from Valentine's Day alone after rave reviews praising Donnie Yen's performance swept through Chinese social media, driving moviegoers to the cinema.

Yen's performance in both Rogue One and XXX: Return of Xander Cage received extremely positive responses from critics and general audiences. For Return of Xander Cage, many media sites including Variety, Los Angeles Times, Screen Anarchy and Budomate praised Yen's performance and credited him as the highlight of the movie and stealing every scene he is in. In the case of Rogue One, other than praises from critics, Yen's performance was also applauded by audiences worldwide. In an official poll on the Star Wars webpage, in which more 40,000 people voted, Yen's character Chirrut Îmwe was voted as audiences' favorite Rogue One character.

While Yen was filming XXX: Return of Xander Cage in Canada, he received many offers from Hollywood studios and directors. At the same time, Hong Kong director Wong Jing personally flew to Canada to invite Yen to star in his film Chasing the Dragon, a remake of the award-winning film To be Number One. Yen eventually accepted the offer and played a non-traditional role of a villain with limited fighting scenes and the opportunity to work alongside Andy Lau.

In September 2017, Chasing the Dragon was released with extremely positive reviews from critics, citing Yen's versatility as an actor and his incredible portrayal of the late Ng Sek Ho, the main character of the film. Chasing the Dragon was also a huge hit with audiences in most parts of Asia. In Hong Kong, Chasing the Dragon is ranked as one of the top 5 Hong Kong films in 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 known as Gong Shou Dao - to promote a new form of Taiji as an olympic sport in the future. Yen was on holiday with his wife to celebrate their anniversary, but cancelled his plans to take part in the film. Yen declined any salary for this participation for GSD as he stated that "friendship is not measured by money" and that he hopes his participation can help promote Chinese martial arts to worldwide audiences. In return, Jet Li and Jack Ma surprised Yen and his wife Cissy, by helping to celebrate their wedding anniversary on the set. The full GSD 20 minutes short film was released on 11 November - China's Singles' Day, debuting on Youku and Jet Li's official Facebook page, garnering a total of more than 100 million views worldwide. Netizens in China praised Yen's speed and technique in the film, with most audiences (over 190,000) voting Yen as the highlight of the short film.

In late 2017, Yen began filming Big Brother, a mixed martial arts film where Yen plays a high school teacher with unconventional methods and a dark past.

In 2017, a live-action film adaption of the video game Sleeping Dogs was announced, with Yen playing the lead character Wei Shen. In February 2018, Yen confirmed the continued production of the film through social media.

In 2019, Yen reprised his role as Ip Man for the final time in Ip Man 4: The Finale. During the Hong Kong protests of that year, protesters urged a boycott of the film, citing the pro-Beijing stances of Yen, co-star Danny Chan, and producer Raymond Wong. Nonetheless, the film was a box office success, grossing over three times its budget of $52 million and becoming the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time in Malaysia as well as the third-highest-grossing Chinese film in North America in five years.
In March 2020, as part of the press tour for Disney's live-action remake of Mulan, when Yen was asked by reporters whether he was interested in appearing in a superhero movie, Yen revealed that he had been offered a role in Warner Brothers' Justice League and Aquaman films by Zack Snyder, but turned it down due to a scheduling conflict. The role offered was that of Nuidis Vulko, which eventually went to Willem Dafoe.

Martial arts history, style and philosophy
Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist. 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, Yen won gold medals in various wushu competitions.

Yen later went on to discover and seek knowledge on other martial arts styles; he would later obtain black and purple belts from judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, respectively, and went on to study 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. Yen's 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), Flash Point (2007), and Special ID (2013).

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 mentor of film star Bruce Lee, 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. Ip Chun has since praised Yen for his effort, his skills as a martial artist, and his ability 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." He believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat.

Yen was a rebel in his youth 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. 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.

One reported occasion confirms Yen as 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, Meng was harassed by a troublesome gang that had taken an interest in her. Yen warned them to leave her alone, but they persisted in causing trouble. As Yen and Meng left the club, the gang followed and attacked Yen. Yen beat up eight members of the gang who were later hospitalized.

Other martial arts stars such as Jackie Chan and Jet Li have also stated 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 the films Bodyguards and Assassins and Ip Man 3, respectively, have both claimed that Yen is an incredible martial artist and would do well in authentic combat. While filming Ip Man 3, crew members were worried that Tyson, who had been a professional boxer, would accidentally injure Yen. However, it was ultimately Yen who fractured Tyson's finger while using his elbow to block Tyson's punches. Tyson insisted on finishing the scene before he was treated in hospital.

Action choreography
Donnie Yen was considered one of the premiere action choreographers in the world, having been 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 has won multiple awards for his action choreography.

Yen's most famous works include films such as Flash Point and SPL: Sha Po Lang. He has mentioned that the main differences in filmmaking in Asia and Hollywood are 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, on the other hand, Yen explains that the action choreographer simply choreographs the actions with the director, who still maintains full control of such settings and camera angles.

Yen's work as a choreographer won him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Award for Best Action Choreography at the 2008 and 2011 Golden Horse 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. Furthermore, he incorporated many MMA elements in the film, coupled with the utilisation 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 was a necessity in the film.

He won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography four times, being one of the most frequent winners of this coveted award. He has won awards for his choreography in films such as The Twins Effect, SPL: Sha Po Lang, Flash Point, and Kung Fu Jungle. 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.

Bodybuilding and transformation for roles

Yen is renowned for his physical fitness, strength, and speed achieved through his use of a strict and disciplined fitness regimen to build up strength and fitness.

However, despite his muscular build, Yen has gained tremendous attention for his dedication to his roles and for the lengths to which he goes to achieve the physical build and appearance of the characters he plays. In 2007, Yen lost over 14 kg (30 pounds) to reach the weight of 54 kg (120 pounds) to better portray the slender Ip Man and the techniques of wing chun, which focuses on techniques and not strength. He did so through a very strict regimen of limiting himself to a plain diet consisting mainly of vegetables.

In 2010, still fresh off Ip Man 2, Yen was cast as Chen Zhen in Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen, which was originally portrayed by Bruce Lee. He had to regain his muscular physique for the role and took 6 months through a precise and dedicated diet routine. He maintained this bulk and physique while filming The Lost Bladesman, in which he plays Guan Yu, a Chinese general known for his size and spear-fighting abilities.

In 2015, Yen reduced his muscular physique yet again to reprise the role of Ip Man in Ip Man 3 and for his role as the blind warrior monk Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. For his role as Xiang in XXX: Return of Xander Cage opposite Vin Diesel, Yen rebuilt his physique.

Personal life
Yen met his first wife and Hong Kong advertising executive, Leung Zing-ci (), in 1990. The couple began dating in 1990. After three years of dating, they married secretly in the United States in November 1993. The marriage ended in less than a year. After their divorce was finalized, Leung realized that she was pregnant with their son, Jeff, who was born in 1995.

Yen later married former beauty queen Cissy Wang after three months of dating in 2003. The couple have two children, Jasmine and James.

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.

Philanthropic work
In 2012, Donnie Yen and his wife Cissy Wang co-founded Go.Asia, an online charity platform encouraging people to participate in charity work and serve local communities.

In 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.

In 2015, Yen visited refugee camps in Thailand, bringing donations and gifts for the refugees. Yen is also an ambassador for the international charity Save the Children.

In December 2015, Yen established a charitable fund, Yen's Honour Protection Fund, with the purpose of empowering celebrities to use the law to defend their honor and reputation. Yen said the fund "[seeks] to assist and render help to everyone who needs it, most importantly to heal and repair the hearts and dignities which have been affected." This fund was established after Yen won a lawsuit against Geng Weiguo (AKA Tan Bing), who defamed Yen and hired netizens to threaten Yen's family.

In February 2020, in light of the coronavirus pandemic in China and the rest of the world, Donnie Yen stepped in to donate HK$1 million to frontline medical workers in Wuhan. He also produced and dedicated a short clip to thank all medical workers in China in their fight against the coronavirus; the clip was uploaded  on Chinese social media site, Weibo, where Yen has over 11 million followers. He also donated a painting done by himself and his two children, to the frontline medical workers.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

 
 
 "An Action Star Moves to the Lead," New York Times article
 Donnie Yen profile page at Hong Kong Cinemagic

 
1963 births
20th-century Hong Kong male actors
21st-century Hong Kong male actors
Action choreographers
Chinese Jeet Kune Do practitioners
Chinese Wing Chun practitioners
Film directors from Guangdong
Hong Kong emigrants to the United States
Hong Kong expatriates in the United States
Hong Kong film directors
Hong Kong film producers
Hong Kong hapkido practitioners
Hong Kong kung fu practitioners
Hong Kong male film actors
Hong Kong male judoka
Hong Kong male karateka
Hong Kong male kickboxers
Hong Kong male taekwondo practitioners
Hong Kong male television actors
Hong Kong martial artists
Hong Kong Muay Thai practitioners
Hong Kong philanthropists
Hong Kong practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Hong Kong stunt performers
Hong Kong wushu practitioners
Living people
Male actors from Guangdong
Male actors from Guangzhou
Sportspeople from Guangdong
Sportspeople from Guangzhou
Wing Chun practitioners from Hong Kong