Donnie Yen

Donnie Yen

Actor
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Life Story

Donnie Yen was born in Guangzhou, China. His mother, Bow-sim Mark, was a kung fu master and his father, Kylster Yen, a newspaper editor and amateur musician. When Donnie was just two years old, the family moved to Hong Kong and then, when he was 11, to Boston, Massachusetts.

There, Master Bow-sim Mark became a pioneer for Chinese martial arts in America, and it was only natural that her only son was trained from early childhood in the same skills. At the same time, Donnie was influenced by his parents' love of music and reached a high level of proficiency as a pianist. All these interests would have a manifest influence on Yen's later life.

In his teens, Donnie defined his own persona by rebelling against his parents edicts. Beyond the limitations of his mother's school, Yen began training in various different fighting arts, including Japanese karate, Korean taekwondo and western boxing. Donnie also took up hip-hop and break-dancing. At the same time, he began spending his nights in Boston's notorious Combat Zone. Given that he was by now a serious practitioner of modern Wu Shu, his parents decided to send him to Beijing to train at the Chinese capital's famed Wu Shu academy.

It was when Yen returned to Hong Kong en route back to Boston that he met the famed martial arts movie director Yuen Woo-ping.

Donnie exploded onto the Hong Kong movie scene when he was cast in the lead role of director Yuen Woo-ping's 'Drunken Tai Chi'. His debut film immediately established him as a viable leading man, and Yen has remained a major figure in Chinese action cinema to this day.

Yen skills as a street dancer were to the fore in his second starring role, 'Mismatched Couples', in which he showed off his breakdance moves, as well as his general athleticism. This slapstick romantic comedy was produced by Hong Kong's prestigious Cinema City studio.

Donnie was subsequently signed by the newly formed D&B Films, and cast in the hit cop actioner 'Tiger Cage'. In this movie, and his follow-up features for the company ('In the Line of Duty 4', 'Tiger Cage 2'), Yen showed off his own unique form of contemporary screen combat, a form that included elements of rapid fire kicking, Western boxing and grappling moves.

Having established a worldwide fan base, Yen moved on to star in a string of independent Asian action features before director Tsui Hark tapped him to co-star in 'Once Upon A Time In China 2'. The film's two action highlights saw Donnie's character duel the legendary martial arts master Wong Fei-hung, played by his old friend Jet Li. The film brought Yen his first real attention as a thespian and he was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category at that year's Hong Kong Film Awards.

Family

Cecilia Wang Shi-Shi (2003 - present) ( 2 children)

Trivia

Grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Classically trained pianist
Billed as Michael Ryan in his earlier films, until Asian Cop: High Voltage (1994), released in the Philippines.
Can speak fluent Cantonese, English and Mandarin. Can also speak casual Korean, since he learned it as a requirement for his character during the filming of Seven Swords (2005).
Brother of Chris Yen.
Current wife Cissy Wang was the winner of the Miss Chinese Toronto Pageant 2000. She also represented Toronto in 2001 for the Miss Chinese International Pageant.
His current wife Cissy Wang is 18 years his junior.
Has a son from a previous marriage.
Was sent to Beijing, China, to continue his martial arts training and avoid committing crimes with a street gang.
Sustained a heavy injury in his right shoulder while making Mismatched Couples (1985) which still affects him to this day.
A big fan of Bruce Lee. He was one of the auditionees for the title role in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993). Fist of Fury (1995) and Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen (2010) are dedicated to Lee.
Has a huge fanbase in Japan which has given him some opportunities to work behind the camera on not only movies but popular video games as well. He directed the cinematic intro sequence of Onimusha 3: Demon Siege (2004).
Well trained in various martial arts styles, including wushu, tae kwon do, kick-boxing and boxing.
Was supposed to co-star with Brandon Lee in a sequel to Legacy of Rage (1986) but Lee's departure back to the States led to the idea being scrapped.

 

Personal Quotes 

(On the inspiration of becoming a director) I have always been a rebel, in my whole entire life, since I was just a martial artist. I always have questions in the back of my mind. Why does it have to be this way? Can it be that way? I always try to question and challenge that system and I guess that kind of attitude I brought into the film industry when I was just an actor. I see different films; I see how a director or choreographer would choreograph it. And I say to myself "it can be improved, it can be better and in less time". Or I'd wonder "how come this film is a good film and the other one a bad film, when the budget is not much different?" There are certain techniques, a certain system. When I was an action choreographer, when I used to work for Yuen Woo Ping, I used to grab a whole team of people and just raise questions. To the photographer, or to Yuen Woo Ping: "could it be that way? Could be it, be that? Why not try it this way?" Very soon, I established a kind of trust from Yuen Woo Ping, because I made a lot of his films happen with my suggestions.

Filmography

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