Donnie Yen

Donnie Yen Chi-tan (; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and action director. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Golden Horse Awards and five Hong Kong Film Awards. He is best known for portraying Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the ''Ip Man'' film series, loosely based on the life events of the Wing Chun master of the same name. For that series, he starred in ''Ip Man'' (2008), ''Ip Man 2'' (2010), ''Ip Man 3'' (2015), and ''Ip Man 4: The Finale'' (2019). He also served as co-producer for the spin-off ''Master Z: Ip Man Legacy'' (2018).

Born in Guangdong, Yen developed an interest in martial arts at a young age, and began experimenting with various styles, including tai chi and other traditional Chinese martial arts. At age 18, he auditioned for action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping in Hong Kong. He landed his first starring role in the 1984 Hong Kong martial arts action film ''Drunken Tai Chi''. He made his breakthrough role as the antagonist General Nap-lan in ''Once Upon a Time in China II'' (1992), opposite Jet Li. He went on to appear in several other notable Hong Kong kung fu films, including ''Iron Monkey'' (1993) and ''Wing Chun'' (1994). In 1997, he starred in his directorial debut film ''Legend of the Wolf''.

Yen made his American debut in ''Highlander: Endgame'' (2000), followed by a cameo in ''Blade II'' (2002). He continued to be active in Hong Kong cinema in the 2000s, appearing in the critically acclaimed wuxia film as the antagonist Long Sky in ''Hero'' (2002), opposite Li once again. In 2003, he played the antagonist Wu Chow in the American action comedy film ''Shanghai Knights'', opposite Jackie Chan. He later appeared in the American films ''Rogue One'' (2016), ''XXX: Return of Xander Cage'' (2017), ''Mulan'' (2020), and ''John Wick: Chapter 4'' (2023).

In television, Yen starred as Chen Zhen in the television series ''Fist of Fury'' (1995). He later reprised his role as Chen Zhen in the 2010 film ''Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen''. For portraying Ip Man in the ''Ip Man'' film series (2008-2019), Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularisation of Wing Chun in China. In 2019, he was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame. Provided by Wikipedia