You must not give up. Each studio was determined to outdo its rivals for the most elaborate action sequences and flat-out dangerous stunts. Suddenly, shes thrust into a multiverse where she can jump between different versions of her life. Yen also shared during his interview that he was able to pay homage to his idol, Bruce Lee, through Caines new look. The 2000s saw Yen transition to Hollywood with appearances in Blade II as Snowman and Shanghai Knights opposite Jackie Chan. Donnie Yen is making his "John Wick" debut in the upcoming fourth installment as Caine, a blind assassin caught between his ties to the villainous High Table and his friendship with Keanu. The film was shot last year, outside Shanghai, on a relatively slim budget. Now, although these are prop swords, they are still quite pointy. Jackie Chan's 20-Year Quest to Share the Screen With Lifelong Friend Jet Li Finally Came to Fruition After Legal Barriers . Doesnt smile, Yen says. You cannot look like you know what youre doing. Yen recalls getting approached by Disney to appear in the 2016Star Wars prequelRogue One. 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. Yen, broke, would hang around film sets just so he could eat for free. And I think, you know, the last two years, especially with the intensity and the tragedy of the pandemic, how its affected us, its really, really highlighted how much we need this human connection. Yen calmly warned them to leave them alone, but the thugs opted to attack him, which ended up with Donnie thoroughly kicking their asses in the street. And I think it really shows because the scenes that I have with Stephanie, she is looking for her mother in every universe. Five seconds later I said, "Wait!" You fight with, or you dance with, multiple partners. And you cannot be sensible and controlled when you are approaching a character like that because Evelyn Wang, to me, is a real person. Donnie also took up hip-hop and break-dancing. We were all Chinese, but I was outside.. And there are so many of these stories to be told, and to be exchanged, and to be and also, what I love about Everything Everywhere All At Once, its about here. He is not diminished, not yet. And they're quite heavy. In this version, they are reimagined as powerful female warriors, complete with stunning costumes and fierce attitudes. He started hanging out at other gyms around Boston. Some people dont know, he says. She is the way she is. I think that is the superpower thats inherent in all of us. Over the course of his very long career,kung fu star Jackie Chan has brought audiences equal amounts of thrills and laughter with his penchant for comedy-laced action movies packed full of martial arts and death-defying stunts. Thats in part why hes trying to be more selective with his work. Why can't he have a normal name? But its not the only version of her, which is interesting. And shes not trying to be funny. Not to give away, but theyre very tender in your hot dog universe. What Id do is Id use a cotton ball and put it between my back teeth, so they [didnt] knock my teeth out., Today, Yen is one of Chinas biggest actors, the last in a dynasty of martial arts stars that runs from Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan to Jet Li. In the early drafts of the script, Yens character, Chirrut mwe, was just the same generic martial arts warrior. But do you think it was supposed to change things, I remember. Jackie Chan and Donnie Yen are both action movie legends - and here's a look at when the two have done battle in fight scenes with each other. The older I get, the more I kind of look into what Im about, Yen says. I could have been blind. Youll be able to catch up on Sway episodes you may have missed, like my conversation with Andrew Garfield. James Bond is James Bond. It wasnt about her not being rich enough or whatever. It was only a matter of time before this happened. Suddenly, Yen found himself apprenticed to one of the great action directors of what might be the last golden age of kung fu filmmaking. Jet Li Nearly Blinded Donnie Yen While Filming On Two Different Movies. Good fight scenes. It was crazy macho stupidity, Yen says. Every day: pain. You know, whats the value of life? Its produced by Nayeema Raza, Blakely Schick, Daphne Chen, Caitlin OKeefe and Wyatt Orne; with original music by Isaac Jones; mixing by Sonia Herrero and Carole Sabouraud; and fact-checking by Kate Sinclair and Mary Marge Locker. But the joy and love to be found in that kind of situation gives you such a sense of self-worth. If you like this interview and want to hear others, follow us on your favorite podcast app. People who continue to keep thinking and to go forward no matter what the negativity or setback., Yen was upbeat. Yen co-starred in action films with Jet Li and Jackie Chan and continued to play the leading role in many martial arts and action films including Tsui Hark's "Seven Swords" (2005) and crime . Overall, I enjoyed making the film, he says. When Donnie was just two years old, the family moved to Hong Kong and then, when he was 11, to Boston . At the time, the demand for martial arts movies was waning, and Yen was determined to innovate within a genre starting to grow stale. Not only is he the director and executive producer, he also plays the lead and, in flashbacks, his characters father. Then, what I was watching the fight sequences, and I thought, this looks exactly like a choreographed dance piece. Donnie Yen is a martial-arts master and one of the top leading men in the new style of Hong Kong action cinema. I would suspect she was, Im guessing. Donnie also received a Best Actor nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards. You are getting fat. Our latest episode of Vs. might be our most epic yet as we pit the four biggest martial artists/movie stars of all time against each other in one stats-heavy battle royale: Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Donnie Yen. Although, if theres a villain in the movie, the real evil here is nihilism. I had a very respectful experience working on John Wick. Overall, I enjoyed making the film, he said. Yeoh plays Evelyn Wang, the hardworking owner of a failing laundromat whos too busy to tend to the little but important things in life. I think action movies, he says, are a genre that everybody in the world can appreciate.. There was the Yuen clan, the Jackie Chan clan, and the Sammo Hung clan, Yen says. Shes one hell of a determined woman, even though she fails at so many things. His mother, Bow-sim Mark, was a kung fu master and his father, Kylster Yen, a newspaper editor and amateur musician. The emotion, the commitment, its real. Because I was running from Singapore, and then take the flight literally ran out of the set. I cant take it with me, Yen says. When it first came, I was like, no, no, no, no, no. Is that correct? Are they respectful of Chinese culture? This film was co-directed by Huang Jianxin and Han Sanping, and includes many famous actors such as Andy Lau, Ge You . (I told you: ageless.). 'Chinese people are the worst': 'Genshin Impact' streamer under fire after racist tirade during stream, Ralph Macchio defends Karate Kid from very white criticism, Curtis Waters is more than a TikTok gimmick: 'There's so much amazing sh*t that I have yet to do', BLACKPINK announce title track Shut Down and ticket sale info. Donnie Yen has been punched, in the name of moviemaking, more times than he can count. But the Daniels have so cleverly manipulated the situations that, you know, theres always that miscommunication, which creates misunderstandings, which become like, oh my god, oh my god, this is just the train wreck waiting to happen. She calls herself a loser. It was very difficult for my mom, because she couldnt accept that, like, Why couldnt you learn from me? But I guess I was born having that personality, always curious of what was out there.. And one of the great things about cinema, he says, is how unifying it can betranscending barriers of both language and culture. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Chan's physicallevel of dedication is also second to none, with Chan incurring one painful injury and broken bone after another, many of them captured for the world to see in the outtakes frequently included at the end of many Jackie Chan movies. Walking stick, $295, by Scully & Scully. One thing I pointed out is he was a stereotype. The film has been a daunting task. I cant believe you jump from trucks and youre scared of the stage. Here in America, you are taught you have to be self-sufficient. I received a text message from Jackie because I was not well. (Yens mom had taught Yuens sister.) Do I know this director, Ang Lee? He went, "Boop!" Right, right. Typical master. It wasnt a protest, okay, it was a riot, Yen says. We have this mating dance. As appetite for Asian cinema has ebbed and flowed among non-Asian audiencesthrough the 90s Chan boom, the postCrouching Tiger wuxia craze, the more recent but short-lived breakouts helmed by the likes of Tony Jaa and Iko Uwaiseven huge stars like Yen have found their opportunities limited. But in general, its always an older man. Stephanie Hsu plays this role. Hes totally cool, and he loves martial arts movies, Yen says. Typical master. Yeah, its a good idea. My mom and I were separated for eight years, Yen says. At the same time, he began spending his nights in Boston's notorious Combat Zone. But he always kept at it. When It Comes to Gun Control, Will Baby Steps Fix Anything? Actors including Jackie Chan, Rogue One's Donnie Yen and Transformers star Li . And I back up, Jet said, "Donnie, there's blood spilling out of your face." Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen recently recalled two different occasions when legendary martial arts actor Jet Li nearly blinded him. But she did not say, OK, lets just wrap it up and call it a day. Its okayIm going to shoot you from one side. Yen laughs. Because in 2020, Chinas film market became the worlds biggest box office. The name was Shang or Chang, the Ip Man star said. She would drag me out of bed, whack me with a wooden stick. Yen also didn't establish himself in the West to the extent that Chan had until much later on, but he's every bit as recognizable now, and today, Yen has grown into one of the biggest and most revered martial arts stars in the world. The actor subsequently scored big hits including Butterfly and Sword and Wing Chun, with Everything Everywhere All at Once star Michelle Yeoh. Thrown from horses. If the Daniels, if you look at them, you go, OK, anything goes. Its just like youre on LSD the whole time. Why do you have to be so generic? So it would have been in that original thing, initially, it was like, I would have played the wife of Jackie Chan. In addition to Ip Man and Rogue One, Yen rose to fame by appearing in films such as Hero," Iron Monkey," Raging Fire, Once Upon a Time in China," Blade II," Chasing the Dragon opposite Andy Lau, "Shanghai Knights opposite Jackie Chan, and Mulan opposite Liu Yifei. Gloves, $140, by Ernest W. Baker. Our stories do matter. I had a very respectful experience working on John Wick. Overall, I enjoyed making the film, he said. 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'. Were comparing these legends of global cinema across four categories Box Office, Tomatometer and Audience Scores, Iconic Moments, and a special Wild Card Round to see who is the one man left standing when all the dust has settled/limbs have been snapped/henchmen have been felled. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories. And youll get new ones delivered directly to you. Now, if they hit you in the head, they'll knock you out. Why would you want me to do that? Chinese kung fu star, Donnie Yen, is listed as a member of National Committee of CPPCC. And as an audience, I think thats what he does for you, is he puts you in so many places, and then he pulls the rug from under you. Born in China, Yen moved with his family to Boston, where his mother, a tai-chi . Donnie Yen was a martial artist who became a performer. Would You Upload Your Consciousness to the Cloud? You picked up a lot of your stunt training early in your career in Hong Kong. She cant accept that. Who is the ultimate fighter? Im curious for your perspective on the global industry, though, because youre such an international star and actor. So, its interesting because its a posture of disappointment, in a lot of ways. So, the movie borrows from, obviously, martial arts movies in a very cheeky way. At first, youre looking at the fingers. Right now hes editing the final cut of his new film akra, a lush adaptation of the novelDemi-Gods and Semi-Devils,by the bestselling wuxia author Jin Yong. This is my schedule, Yen says, showing me the calendar app on his phone, a grid of colored squares so stuffed that it looks like a Tetris endgame. From award-winning writing and photography to binge-ready videos to electric live events, GQ meets millions of modern men where they live, creating the moments that create conversations. It was old-school military, Yen says. . More recently, he passed on a role in DCsAquaman in order to spend time with his family. I went on to do like Memoirs of a Geisha.. But he also knows that he cant go on forever being this Donnie Yen. Weitere Informationen ber die Verwendung Ihrer personenbezogenen Daten finden Sie in unserer Datenschutzerklrung und unserer Cookie-Richtlinie. On his phone, he has about a dozen group chats going, connecting him to the various departments, so that when he inevitably wakes up at 4 a.m. with ideas, he can make changes from afar.