Jet Li
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| Jet Li | |
 Jet Li in the film Hero |
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| Birth name | Traditional: 李連杰 Simplified: 李连杰 Hanyu Pinyin: Lǐ Liánjié Wade-Giles: Li Lien-chieh Cantonese: Ley5 Lin4 Git6 |
| Born | April 26, 1963 Beijing, China |
| Spouse(s) | Huang Qiuyan (1) Nina Li Chi (2) |
| Official site | jetli.com |
Jet Li (born Li Lianjie on April 26, 1963 in Beijing, China) is a Chinese martial artist, actor and action star. He is one of the most recognized and famous actors and martial artists in Asia and one of the few actors from China who has gained wider fame outside of Asia.
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[edit] Biography
Li's father died when he was two. His mother [1] sent him to the Beijing Amateur Sports School at the age of eight. After three years of intensive training, Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. After retiring at age 17, he went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor. His first role in an English-speaking movie was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4, but his first Hollywood film of high acclaim was Romeo Must Die. He has since released his final martial arts motion picture epic, Fearless.
[edit] As an athlete
Jet Li participated in the sport of wushu in the non-sparring event. He began his wushu career as a member of the Beijing Wushu team, an athletic group organized to perform martial arts forms during the All China Games. As a member of the team, he received wushu training and went on to win fifteen gold medals and one silver medal in Chinese wushu championships:
- 1974 — Youth National Athletic Competition: broadsword form gold medal, optional empty-hand form gold medal, all-round gold medal;
- 1975 — Third Chinese Wushu Championships: long fist form gold medal, spear form silver medal;
- 1977 — National Wushu Competition: long-fist form gold medal, broadsword form gold medal;
- 1978 — National Wushu Competition: long-fist form gold medal, optional empty-hand form gold medal, broadsword form gold medal, all-round gold medal;
- 1979 — Fourth Chinese Wushu Championships: long-fist form gold medal, optional empty-hand form gold medal, broadsword form gold medal, sparring form gold medal, all-round gold medal.
All his optional empty-hand form medals were won with a form called fanzi yingzhaoquan (翻子鷹爪拳, Fanzi eagle claw). His success led to the PRC declaring Jet Li to be a "National Treasure".
[edit] As an actor
The fame gained by his sports winnings led to a career as a martial arts film star, beginning in mainland China and then continuing into Hong Kong. After his success in Hong Kong, and establishing a cult following in the U.S., Jet Li established a presence in American films, beginning with role as the lead villain in Lethal Weapon 4, which also marked the first time he had ever played a villain in a movie. His first leading role in a Hollywood movie was in Romeo Must Die.
Some of his more famous Chinese films include:
- The Shaolin Temple series (1, 2 and 3), which are considered to be the films which sparked the rebirth of the real Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, China;
- The Once Upon a Time in China series (Chinese title: Wong Fei Hung), about the legendary Chinese folk hero;
- Fist of Legend (Chinese title: Jing Wu Ying Xiong), a remake of Bruce Lee's Fist of Fury (Jing Wu Men in Chinese, named after the martial arts school);
- The Fong Sai-Yuk films, about another Chinese folk hero. As one might expect from a martial artist of his caliber, he performs most of his own stunts.
Jet Li starred in the 1995 movie, Shu dan long wei, known in English as "Courage of a Mouse and Power of a Dragon". The movie, known in the US as either High Risk or Meltdown, portrays Jet Li as a cop who becomes disillusioned after his wife is murdered by crimelords. Along the way, he pairs up with a wacky sell-out actor, Frankie (played by Jacky Cheung), and proceeds to engage in a series of violent battles in a high-rise building. The setting is similar to that of Die Hard (which interestingly, is known in China as Fo Dan Wei Long, or "Courage of a tiger and power of a dragon").
In July 2001, Jet Li and Jackie Chan agreed to produce and star in an action movie which was to be released in 2002 or 2003, but no further news of their collaboration surfaced until 2006. In 2002, the film Hero was released in the Chinese market. This film was both a commercial and critical success.
Li departed from his usual martial arts actions films with the 2005 drama, Unleashed (a.k.a. Danny the Dog) where he portrays an adult with the mentality of a child who has been raised like an animal. Although his martial arts skills are indeed utilized, it is a somber film with more depth than had been previously seen in Li's films, and co-starred dramatic actors, Bob Hoskins and Morgan Freeman.
His latest martial arts film epic is Fearless. Although he will continue to make movies, Fearless is his last martial arts epic. In Fearless, he is known as Huo Yuanjia, the real-life founder of Chin Woo Athletic Association, who reportedly defeated foreign boxers and Japanese martial artists in publicized events at a time when China's power was seen as eroding. Together with the film Fist of Legend, Li has portrayed both Chen Zhen, the student and avenger of Huo Yuanjia, as well as Huo Yuanjia himself. Fearless was released on September 22, 2006 in the United States where it reached second place in its first weekend.
| “ | I stepped into the martial arts movie market when I was only 16. I think I have proved my ability in this field and it won't make sense for me to continue for another five or 10 years. Huo Yuanjia is a conclusion to my life as a martial arts star. | ” |
Jet Li has stated in an interview with the Shenzhen Daily newspaper that this will be his last martial arts epic, which is also stated in the movie's television promotions. However, he plans to continue his film career in other genres. Specifically, he plans to continue acting in action and martial arts films; epic films deal more with religious and philosophical issues.
Li's latest film, War, began principal photography in the spring of 2006, re-teaming Jet Li with actor Jason Statham and action choreographer Corey Yuen.
In May 2006, there was an official announcement that Jackie Chan and Jet Li would be making a movie together and are both working on a script at the moment. The film is rumored to be based on characters and storylines from the Chinese folk novel Journey to the West. The film is scheduled to start filming in early 2007, after Chan completes filming on Rush Hour 3.
[edit] Personal life
In 1987 Jet Li married Beijing Wushu Team member and Shaolin Temple series co-star Huang Quiyan [2] , with whom he had two children. They divorced in 1990. Since 1999, he has been married to Nina Li Chi (born Li Zhi), a Shanghai-born, Hong Kong-based actress. He has two children with her as well, Jane (born 2000) and Jada (born 2002).
Jet Li was in the Maldives when the tsunami hit during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Although it was widely reported at the time that he had died during the disaster,[citation needed] he only suffered a minor foot injury, caused by a piece of floating furniture, while he was guiding his daughter to safety.[3]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
| 1982 | Shaolin Temple | Chieh Yuan | |
| 1983 | Shaolin Temple 2: Kids from Shaolin | San Lung | |
| 1986 | Born to Defense | Jet | |
| Shaolin Temple 3: Martial Arts of Shaolin | Zhi Ming | ||
| 1988 | Dragon Fight (龍在天涯 Long zai tian ya) |
Jimmy Lee | |
| 1989 | The Master | Jet | |
| 1991 | Once Upon a Time in China | Wong Fei Hung | |
| Swordsman II | Ling Wu Chung | ||
| 1992 | Once Upon a Time in China II | Wong Fei Hung | |
| 1993 | Fong Sai-Yuk II | Fong Sai-Yuk | aka The Legend 2 |
| Fong Sai-Yuk | Fong Sai-Yuk | aka The Legend | |
| The Kung Fu Cult Master (倚天屠龍記之魔教教主 Yi tian tu long ji zhi mo jiao jiao zhu) |
Chang Mo Kei | aka The Evil Cult aka Kung Fu Master aka Lord of the Wu Tang |
|
| Last Hero in China (黃飛鴻之鐵雞斗蜈蚣 Wong Fei-hung chi tit gai dau neung gung) |
Wong Fei Hung | aka Claws of Steel aka Deadly China Hero |
|
| Tai Chi Master | Junbao | aka Twin Warriors | |
| Once Upon a Time in China III | Wong Fei Hung | ||
| 1994 | The Bodyguard from Beijing (中南海保鑣 Zhong Nan Hai bao biao) |
Allan Hui Ching-yeung/John Chang | aka The Defender |
| Fist of Legend | Chen Zhen | ||
| Legend of the Red Dragon | Hung Hei-Kwun | ||
| 1995 | Meltdown | Kit Li | aka High Risk |
| My Father is a Hero | Kung Wei | aka The Enforcer aka Letter to Daddy |
|
| 1996 | Black Mask | Michael/Simon/Tsui Chik/Black Mask | |
| Dr. Wai and the Scripture Without Words (冒險王 Mo him wong) |
Chow Si-Kit | aka Adventure King aka The Scripture with No Words |
|
| 1997 | Once Upon a Time in China VI | Wong Fei-Hung | |
| 1998 | Lethal Weapon 4 | Wah Sing Ku | |
| Hitman | Fu | aka The Hitman aka The Contract Killer |
|
| 2000 | Romeo Must Die | Han Sing | |
| 2001 | The One | Gabe Law/Gabriel Yulaw/Lawless | |
| Kiss of the Dragon | Liu Jian | ||
| 2002 | Hero | Nameless | released 2004 in US |
| 2003 | Cradle 2 the Grave | Su | |
| 2005 | Unleashed | Danny | aka Danny the Dog |
| 2006 | Fearless | Huo Yuanjia | aka Legend of a Fighter |
| 2007 | The J&J Project | Monkey King/Silent Monk | |
| Ci Ma | Ma Xingyi | ||
| War | Rogue | ||
| 2008 | Mummy 3 |
[edit] Trivia
- Believes in Buddhism.
- According to Li, once, as a child, when the Chinese National Wushu Team went to perform for President Richard Nixon in the United States, he was asked by Nixon to be his personal bodyguard. Li replied, "I don't want to protect any individual. When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese countrymen!" which earned him much respect in his homeland.[4]
- He turned down Chow Yun-Fat's role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon because he promised his wife that he would not make any movies during her pregnancy.[5] He also turned down the role of Seraph in The Matrix trilogy.
- Over his long career, he has broken a total of 17 bones.[citation needed]
- He agreed to do Lethal Weapon 4 after the producer promised to give him leading role in his next movie..which was 'Romeo Must Die'
- Jet Li has his own Playstation 2 video game based on him called Jet Li: Rise to Honor.
- Jet Li's movements are so fast sometimes that the cameras actually have to slow down for people to see his movements.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Jet Li Biography." The Official Jet Li Website. 13 Feb 2007 [1]
- ^ "Huang Qiu Yan." Hong Kong Cinemagic. 13 Feb 2007. [2]
- ^ "Reports: Jet Li escapes Maldives flooding." USA Today. 28 Dec 2004. Gannet Co. Inc. 13 Feb 2007 [3]
- ^ "Jet Li Essays." The Official Jet Li Website. 13 Feb 2007 [4]
- ^ Burr, Martha. "Kiss of the Dragon." Kung Fu Magazine June 2001 13 Feb 2007 [5].
[edit] External links
- Jet Li at the Internet Movie Database
- The Official Jet Li Website
- Jet Li - large fanpage dedicated to Jet Li and his movies
