David No

David No
Born David William No
29 November 1972
Melbourne, Australia
Occupation Actor, producer, film director, screenwriter and stuntman

David No (born 29 November 1972) is an Australian film and television actor; director; screenwriter; producer and stuntman.

Introduction

He is a half-Korean, half-Australian martial-arts practitioner who has competed in judo and taekwondo. He is also an actor, stuntman, director and producer. As an actor he is most known for his role as Cain on the feature film The Matrix Reloaded (2003). He is also known for his film Forged (2006), which he wrote, directed and produced; it received several awards.

Actor

No first started as an actor while studying at Physiotherapy at university. He was introduced to a film student (Brent Houghton) who planned to make a Hong Kong style martial arts kick flick for his graduating piece at film-school. Although Houghton was threaten by the school with expulsion, "The Huntsman" was made and would become the first film of its kind ever to be made at a film school. The 12min short made it into action movie magazines around the world and attracted the attention of John Woo and Peter Jackson who both contacted Houghton with their praises.

Although No was studying physiotherapy, he started taking acting classes at night. The drama teacher at the time also happened to be producing a Richard Norton martial arts film "Ironfist". His next break came when Jackie Chan came to his hometown of Melbourne to shoot "Mr Nice Guy". The director of the film (Sammo Hung) asked No to travel to America with him for his next project (Once upon a time in China and America, starring Jet Li) however, No decided that he should stay and finish his university degree.

On his graduation day, No received two phone calls. One call was from a respected hospital where he had studied as an undergraduate. They offered him a contract to work at the hospital. The other phone call was from a casting director. She was casting for Moby Dick (starring Patrick Stewart and Gregory Peck). No had already fallen in love with the film industry and decided not to accept the contract at the hospital.

Stuntwork

Obtained his Australian stunt qualifications which cover requirements in: Body Control; Vehicles; Heights; Water; Animals; and Fire. His main speciality is naturally fighting and martial arts choreography – however he is also a skilled precision driver.

Producer

His work as a producer has been various. Firstly, it was through his own production company "Furious Films" where he and his production partner Brent Houghton wrote and produced action and sci-fi screenplays. They also produced a few low budget music videos and corporate videos, but it was when No started working with the Korean industry that he started producing big productions.

In 2002, he was asked to Produce a Korean commercial shooting in Thailand. The commercial starred Jackie Chan and cost around $4mil. After the successful execution of this two-part commercial, No was asked to produce or Line-Produce more Korean commercials and music videos. Another Korean company that specialised in TV dramas and feature films started hiring him as well. Consequently he has shot Korean productions in over twenty different countries. He later moved to Korea and started producing International productions interested in shooting in Korea. His work as an international facilitating producer has also seen him work with k-pop artists on tours in Asia as well as live shows coming to Korea.

Director

Through his knowledge of film and stuntwork, No occasionally took on the role of Action Director or 2nd Unit director. In 2006, he decided to make his own film, "Forged". The film was an old-world sword epic about a swordmaster (Darak) and his son (Juda) who drift apart and become each other's competitors. In an argument, Juda challenges Darak to a death duel. Neither can wish to participate, but neither can back-down either. The film went on to tour the film festival circuits and won over eight international awards including: Best Film; Best Director; Best Music; Best Costume Design.

Martial Artist

Son of Ke-Hyung No and Robin Marchment. In 1965, the Australian Judo Federation contacted the Korean Judo Association looking for an instructor. When Mr No came to Australia he not only taught judo, but also taekwondo. There was no taekwondo in Australia at this time. Robin Marchment was studying at Monash University when they met. She became the first ever female black-belt in taekwondo and together they established taekwondo in Australia, starting the Australian taekwondo association in 1972. They were also instrumental in having taekwondo accepted into the Sydney Olympics as a full medal sport.

No has study primarily judo and taekwondo for most of his life. He started formal classes when he was 4 years old. He contributed with the family business of teaching martial arts. At 12 years old, he was taking phone inquiries. At the age of fifteen, he started teaching beginner and advanced level taekwondo to adults. At the age of nineteen, he opened his own taekwondo branch in Ferntree Gully, Melbourne. By the time he was twenty-one, he was teaching at four of his own clubs as well as the No's taekwondo headquarters in Croydon. Through teaching martial arts, he was able to pay his way through university.

JUDO He has won numerous state judo championships and would fight in three different divisions: Young men's (u/20) U/78 kg; Men's (open age) U/78 kg; and Men's Open weight, often winning three gold medals at the one championships. He was Australian team member for the 1992 Oceania Championships (Wellington, New Zealand) and Junior World Championships (Buenos Aires, Argentina). As his judo was based on Korean teachings, he style of fighting in competition was unique in Australia. His main technique was "uchi-mata", but his main weapon was being able to take a right hand grip, but throw a left side attack or counterattack.

TAEKWONDO As with judo, competition was ever constant, however academic studies was always given more importance than competition. Like judo, he won numerous state taekwondo championships. When the Olympic trials started in preparation for the Sydney Olympics, he joined the Olympic squad in 1995. Attending training camps in Korea and Spain and competing at the 1995 Belgium Open. After returning from Belgium, he retired from competition to focus on film work. His main technique was his well timed "back kick". He currently holds the rank of 6th Dan.

OTHER MARTIAL ARTS Through work in the film industry he has had experience with many other martial arts.

Education

Graduated from Ringwood Secondary College Studied 1st year Bachelor of Science at University of Melbourne before changing courses. Graduated La Trobe University (Bachelor of Physiotherapy) First studied acting at Paul Elliot Currie Drama Studios Was accepted into the Actor's Studio and Screen Actor's master-class at NIDA (National Institute of Dramatic Arts)

External links

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References

External links

David No at the Internet Movie Database