Jet Li

Biography

Li's mother 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.

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:

All his optional empty-hand form medals were won with a form called fanzi yingzhaoquan (翻�鷹爪拳, Fanzi eagle claw). His success led to the PRC declaring Jet Li to be a "National Treasure".

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:

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.

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, Rogue, 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.

Personal life

In 1987 Jet Li married Beijing Wushu Team member and Shaolin Temple series co-star Huang Quiyan , 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 circa 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, he only suffered a minor foot injury, caused by a piece of floating furniture, while he was guiding his daughter to safety.

Filmography

Trivia