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Jet Li

Jet Li

Actor
Biography:  Li Lianjie , better known by his stage name Jet Li , is a Chinese martial artist, actor, wushu champion, and international film star. After three years of intensive training with Wu Bin, Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team. After retiring from wushu at age 17, he went on to win great acclaim in China as an actor, making his debut with the film Shaolin Temple (1982). He went on to star in many critically acclaimed martial arts epic films, most notably the Once Upon A Time In China series, in which he portrayed folk hero Wong Fei Hung. His first role in a Hollywood film was as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), but his first Hollywood film leading role was in Romeo Must Die (2000). He has gone on to star in many Hollywood action films, starring beside Jackie Chan in The Forbidden Kingdom (2008), and as the titular villain in The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor (2008) opposite Brendan Fraser. Early Life And Martial Arts Career Li was born Li Lianjie in Beijing, People's Republic of China. Li's father died when he was two, leaving the family to struggle on its own, with Li being the youngest of two boys and two girls. When Li was eight, his talent for wushu was noticed at a summer course at school, and he began his practice there. Li participated in the sport of wushu in the non-sparring event. He began his wushu on 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 the Chinese wushu championships. 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. After almost nine years of training, Li has studied some styles of wushu, especially Changquan (Southern Longfist Style). He has also studied other arts including Baguazhang (Eight trigram palm), Taijiquan (Tai chi), Xingyiquan (Shape intent fist), Zuiquan (Drunken fist), and Tang lang quan (Praying mantis fist). He didn't learn Nanquan (Southern fist), because they're focusing only in the Northern Shaolin Styles. He has also studied some of wushu's main weapons, such as San jie gun (Three sectional staff), Gun (Staff), Dao (Broadsword), Jian (Straight sword) and many more. Acting Career Chinese Films 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. Li acquired his screen name in 1982 in the Philippines when a publicity company thought his real name was too hard to pronounce. They likened his career to an aircraft, which likewise "takes-off" as quickly, so they placed the name Jet Li on the movie posters. Soon everybody was calling him by this new name, which was also based on the nickname, "Jet," given to him as a young student, due to his speed and grace when training with the Beijing Wushu team. He made his debut with the 1982 film Shaolin Temple. 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 Master Wong Fei Hung; Fist of Legend (Chinese title: Jing Wu Ying Xiong), a remake of Bruce Lee's Fist Of Fury; and the Fong Sai Yuk films about another Chinese folk hero. Li starred in the 1995 film High Risk, where Jet Li plays a Captain who becomes disillusioned after his wife is murdered by crime lords. 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 and both their Chinese film titles. This movie is notable in that director Wong Jing had such a terrible experience working with Jackie Chan in Jing's previous film City Hunter that he chose to make Cheung's character a biting satire of Chan. Jet Li would later publicly apologize to Chan for taking part in it. American films In 1998, he made his American film debut in Lethal Weapon 4, which also marked the first time he had ever played a villain in a film. He agreed to do Lethal Weapon 4 after the producer Joel Silver promised to give him the leading role in his next film, Romeo Must Die (2000), which was a box office hit. Li turned down Chow Yun-Fat's role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) because he promised his wife that he would not make any films during her pregnancy. He also turned down the role of Seraph in The Matrix trilogy, based on his belief that the role was not one which required his skills and that the films were iconic and stunning enough without adding his name to the cast list. In 2001, he appeared in two more Hollywood films: The One and Kiss Of The Dragon opposite Bridget Fonda which did moderately well at the box office. In July 2001, Li agreed to produce and star in an action film with Jackie Chan which was to be released in 2002 or 2003, but no further news of their collaboration surfaced until 2006. In 2002, the period martial arts epic film Hero was released in the Chinese market. This film was both a commercial and critical success. In 2003, he reunited with producer Joel Silver for the action thriller film Cradle 2 The Grave, where he starred alongside rapper DMX and fellow martial artist Mark Dacascos. In 2004, Li lent his likeness, voice and provided motion capture work for the video game Jet Li: Rise to Honor. Li departed from his usual martial arts action films with the 2005 dramatic film, 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 were utilized extensively, it was 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. In 2006, the martial arts film epic Fearless, was released worldwide. Although he will continue to make martial arts films, Fearless is his last wushu epic. In Fearless, he played 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 Jun, the student and avenger of Huo Yuanjia (aka Fok Yun Gap), as well as Huo Yuanjia himself. Fearless was released on January 26, 2006 in Hong Kong, followed by a September 22, 2006, release in the United States where it reached second place in its first weekend. Li's 2007 Hollywood film, War, was released in August of that year, and re-teamed him with actor Jason Statham, who previously starred with him in The One, and action choreographer Corey Yuen. War raked in a disappointing $23 million at the box office, becoming one of Li's lowest grossers in America; however, it was a hit on video, accumulating nearly $52 million in rental revenue, more than doubling its box office take. With the exception of Romeo Must Die and the worldwide release of Hero, most of Li's American films have been only modest hits like Kiss Of The Dragon, The One, Unleashed, Cradle 2 the Grave, and the worldwide release of Fearless. In late 2007, Li returned again to China to participate in the China/Hong Kong co-production of the period war film The Warlords with Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro. This film with its focus on dramatics rather than martial arts netted Li the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. Li and fellow martial arts veteran Jackie Chan appeared together onscreen for the first time in The Forbidden Kingdom, which began filming in May 2007 and was released to critical and commercial success on April 18, 2008. The film was based on the legend of the Monkey King from the Chinese folk novel Journey to the West.Li also starred as the lead villain in the fantasy action film The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor with actors Brendan Fraser, Isabella Leong and Michelle Yeoh. After an one-year hiatus from filmmaking, Jet Li returned to acting in 2009, portraying a mercenary in the film The Expendables, teaming up with action stars Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Mickey Rourke. Personal Life Li is a practitioner of Tibetan Buddhism. His master is Lho Kunsang of the Drikung Kagyu lineage of the Kagyu school. In 1987, Li married Beijing Wushu Team member and Shaolin Temple series co-star Huang Qiuyan, with whom he had two daughters. 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 daughters with her as well, Jane (born 2000) and Jada (born 2002). 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, he only suffered a minor foot injury, caused by a piece of floating furniture, while he was guiding his 4-year-old daughter Jane to safety. The two were by the pool and slightly above the beach when the wave came ashore. Philanthropy Li has been a "philanthropic ambassador" of the Red Cross Society of China since January 2006. He contributed 500,000 yuan (US$62,500) of box office revenues from his film Fearless to the Red Cross' psychological sunshine project, which promotes mental health. In April 2007, touched by his near-death experience in the Maldives during the 2004 tsunami, Li formed his own non-profit foundation called The One Foundation. The One Foundation supports international disaster relief efforts in conjunction with the Red Cross as well as other efforts, including mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Since the starting of the foundation, Li has been involved with seven disasters, including the Sichuan earthquake.
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Jet Li Movies

Movies Director Release Date
Hollywood
as Actor
Niki Caro 04 Sep 2020
Hollywood
as Actor
Patrick Hughes 22 Aug 2014
Hollywood
as Actor
Simon West 17 Aug 2012
Hollywood
as Actor
Sylvester Stallone 24 Aug 2012

Jet Li: Age, Net Worth, Movies, Family, and Personal Details

About Jet Li

Name Jet Li
Profession(s) Main Profession


Other Profession
Date Of Birth 26 Apr 1963
Age 61
Birth Place Hebei,Beijing
Current Residence
Religion
Nationality
Height
Zodiac Sign
Hobbies

Jet Li Net Worth

Net Worth

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Jet Li

  • The age of Jet Li in the 2024 was 61.

  • The Jet Li's was born in Hebei,Beijing.

  • The DOB for Jet Li was 26 Apr 1963.

  • The most recent movies for Jet Li is Mulan.

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