Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularization of the traditional martial arts style known as Wing Chun. He played Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the 2008 film Ip Man, which was a box office success. This has led to an increase in the number of people taking up Wing Chun, leading to hundreds of new Wing Chun schools to be 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 art popular and allowing his father's legacy to be remembered.
Yen is considered to be Hong Kong's top action star; director Peter Chan mentioned that he "is the 'it' action person right now" and "has built himself into a bona fide leading man, who happens to be an action star." Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream of Chinese culture, by choreographing MMA in many of his recent films. Yen has displayed notable skills in MMA, being well-versed in boxing, kickboxing, taekwondo, Muay Thai, wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Judo, Wing Chun, and Wushu. Seen as one of the most popular film stars in Asia in recent years, Yen is currently one of the highest paid actors in Asia.
Early life
Yen's mother, Bow-sim Mark), is a Fu Style Wudangquan (internal martial arts) grandmaster, while his father, Klyster Yen, is a newspaper editor. Yen was born in Taishan, Guangdong, China. When he was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong, and then to Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 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 influence from 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 focused on practicing wushu after dropping out of school. His parents were concerned that he was spending too much time in the Boston Combat Zone, so they sent him to Beijing on a two-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 and met action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping there.
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
Yen was a stuntman in his earliest films, Shaolin Drunkard (1983) and Taoism Drunkard (1984). At the age of 20, he got his first acting 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 the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the 2003 Academy Awards.
In 1995, Yen starred as Chen Zhen (Cantonese: Chan Zan) 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. Yen went on to choreograph fight scenes and appeared in minor roles in some Hollywood films, such as Highlander: Endgame (2000) and Blade II (2002). In 2003, Yen played the antagonist against Jackie Chan 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 the 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's 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 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 Yip 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 which featured Yen in the leading role, grossing HK$25 million in Hong Kong and 100 million yuan in China.
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 is considering the offer, and has many films at hand, and will not decide until he sees if the script appeals to him or not. Later on, Yen revealed to the Hong Kong media that he has rejected the role. In 2011, Yen revealed that he is venturing into other genres of movies, and has taken up two comedy roles in a row, All's Well, Ends Well 2011 and All's Well, Ends Well 2012 and will be working with Carina Lau in the former and Sandra Ng in the latter. Both films obtained huge critical and box-office successes and proved that Yen is a versatile actor.
Yen took a 6 months break in the 2nd half of 2011 after the filming of Monkey King 3D, citing the reason that he wants to spend more time with his family and be with his children more often during their growing up process.
In 2012, Yen returned to the movie industry and commence the filming of Special Identity where he plays the main lead, an undercover cop and also takes on the role of action choreographer. In 2013, it is reported that Donnie Yen will be playing the lead role for The Iceman Cometh 3D, a sci-fi action film which deals with time-travelling, the whole movie is filmed in 3D. Yen has confirmed that MMA will be used in both of the above films.
In February 2013, the Weinstein Company has confirmed to have purchased the rights of a Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon sequel and is contacting Yen to play the male lead. In March 2013, Hong Kong magazines surfaced photos of Harvey Weinstein and Bob Weinstein travelling to Hong Kong specially to meet up with Donnie Yen to persuade him to accept the offer. It was reported that Yen is considering the role and is 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 Donnie Yen will play the lead role in the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon Sequel, titled Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon II – The Green Destiny, with leading female action star Michelle Yeoh reprising her role as Yu Shu Lien. It will be directed by Donnie Yen's mentor, Yuen Woo-ping. It is revealed that the movie will be filmed in both English and Mandarin to appeal to the international market. It is revealed during the Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon II press conference that the Weinstein Company has obtained rights to Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and is planning a re-make and hence is negotiating with Yen, George Clooney and Zhang Ziyi to star in the upcoming film.
Action choreography
Yen also works as an action choreographer, having done the choreography for films such as Flash Point and SPL: Sha Po Lang. In recent years, Yen's work as a choreographer won him "Best Action Choreography" awards at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards and the 2008 and 2011 Golden Horse Film 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 utilization 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 is a necessity in this film. Yen was invited to choreograph upcoming films such as The Lost Bladesman, Wu Xia and The Monkey King.
Martial arts history, style and philosophy
Yen describes himself as a mixed martial artist. He learned wushu 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. When he was a teenager, he obtained a medal in a wushu competition held in the United States, known as Boston Combat Zone. 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.
Yen later went on to discover and to seek knowledge on other martial arts styles, he would later obtain belts from judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and went on to study the art of parkour, wrestling, Muay Thai, kickboxing and boxing under various trainers. His exposure of 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. The progress was evident when he returned back to Asia, where he implemented his newfound knowledge of MMA showcased in films such as SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005) and Flash Point (2007).
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 Bruce Lee's mentor, 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, and complimented that Yen is a great martial artist and a fast learner, and has managed to grasp the full concept of Wing Chun much faster than anyone he has taught.
Yen believes in practical combat, and in his opinion, MMA is the most authentic type of practical combat. He has particular interest in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and has obtained a purple belt. He has mentioned that he would have entered the Octagon, joining the Ultimate Fighting Championship if he did not have a recurring shoulder injury. 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."
Personal life
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 1993, Yen married Zing-Ci Leung. Their son, Jeff, was born in 1995. From 1995 to 2000, Yen was involved in a relationship with actress Joey Meng. Yen married former model Cecilia Wang in Toronto in 2003. They have a daughter, Jasmine, born in 2004, and a son, James, born in 2007.