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The son of martial arts master Bow Sim Mark, Yen was born in Guangdong (Canton) and raised in Boston, United States. He is a well known film and television actor in Hong Kong and, more recently, in the West, having been featured in many movies with prominent, internationally known actors such as Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh.
From a young age, Yen was interested in martial arts of all kind, experimenting with various style1, from Taekwondo to Wushu. Yen decided to stick with Wushu, and moved to Beijing to further train. During his training in China, his instructor Mr. Lee demanded Donnie cut his hippie-style mullet as it was inappropriate. It was there that he met Yuen Woo-ping, an up and coming fight choreographer. Yen's first film role was at age 19 in 1984 in the film Xiao Tai Ji. The film revolved around drunken Tai Chi, and although not a critical success, the film helped Yen to achieve further notability. Over the years, Donnie would send martial arts magazines and books from North America back to Mr. Lee in China.
However, Yen gained his breakthrough role in 1992 as General Lan in Once Upon a Time in China II. His finale fight against Wong Fei-Hung (Jet Li) remains one of the most celebrated fights in martial arts films to this day. This fight scene could be considered one of the very best in martial arts films, and has been revisited to an extent in 2002's Hero, where Yen and Li face off again.
In 1997, Yen started a production company known as Bullet Films, and made his directorial debut. Two of his films, Legend of the Wolf and Ballistic Kiss, in which he also starred, are widely considered to be groundbreaking in their style1and tone.
Donnie was married in 2003 in Toronto. He has a daughter, Jasmine. Donnie has a son from a previous relationship. His name is Man Cheuk Yen.
Donnie Yen choreographed most of the fighting animation in the 2004 videogame Onimusha 3 (Also starring Kaneshiro Takeshi and Jean Reno).
Most recently, Donnie can be seen as Chu in Tsui Hark's wuxia epic Seven Swords, and opposite Sammo Hung and Simon Yam in the brutal crime drama Sha Po Lang. Both films were featured this year at the Toronto Film Festival.
Donnie is currently working on Stormbreaker, starring Alicia Silverstone, as the action choreographer and action director. He is also set to star as Wang Xiao Long in Dragon Tiger Gate, an adaptation of a popular Chinese comic novel, opposite Nicholas Tse.
Dragon Tiger Gate (2006) (filming)
SPL: Sha po lang (2005) .... Ma
Qi jian (2005) .... Chu Zhao Nan
... aka Seven Swords (International: English title)
Fa dou daai jin (2004) .... Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
... aka Chin gei bin 2: Fa dou daai jin (Hong Kong: Cantonese title)
... aka The Huadu Chronicles: Blade of the Rose (International: English title)
Luen ching go gup (2004) .... Victor
... aka Love on the Rocks (Hong Kong: English title)
Shanghai Knights (2003) .... Wu Chow
Ying xiong (2002) .... Sky
... aka Hero (USA)
... aka Jet Li's Hero (USA)
Blade II (2002) .... Snowman
... aka Blade II (Germany)
Fist of Fury: The Sequel (2001) .... Chen Jen
Highlander: Endgame (2000) .... Jin Ke
Hei se cheng shi (1999)
... aka City of Darkness (Hong Kong: English title)
Gao ya xian (1998) .... Chiang Ho-Wa
... aka Asian Cops - High Voltage
... aka High Tension
... aka Kapwa kumakasa (Philippines: Tagalog title)
Sha sha ren, tiao tiao miu (1998) .... Cat Lee
... aka Ballistic Kiss
Xin tang shan da xiong (1998)
... aka Shanghai Affairs (USA)
Zhan lang chuan shuo (1997) .... Fung Man-hin
... aka Legend of the Wolf
... aka New Big Boss (UK: video title)
Hei mei gui yi jie jin lan (1997) .... Boxing School Owner
... aka Black Rose II
666 mo gui fu huo (1996) .... Mo Ti Nam
... aka 666 Devil Reincarnates (Hong Kong: English title: literal title)
... aka Satan Returns
Jie tou sha shou (1996) .... Iron Monkey
... aka Iron Monkey 2
Du sheng 2 jie tou du sheng (1995) .... Lone Seven
... aka The Saint of Gamblers
Fist of Fury (1995) (TV) .... Chen Jun
"Jing wu men" (1995) TV Series .... Chen Zhen
... aka Fist of Fury (Hong Kong: English title)
Ma xi xiao zi (1994) .... Danton Lee
... aka Circus Kid (UK)
... aka Circus Kids
Yong Chun (1994) (as Yen Chi Tan) .... Leung Pok To
... aka Wing Chun (USA)
Siunin Wong Fei-hung tsi titmalau (1993) .... Wong Kei-Ying
... aka Iron Monkey (USA)
... aka Iron Monkey: The Young Wong Fei Hong
... aka Shao nian Huang Fei-Hong zhi tie ma liu (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
... aka Wong Fai Hong: The Informative Years (Hong Kong: English title: literal title)
Lie bao xing dong (1993) .... Ronnie
... aka Cheetah on Fire
Su qi er (1993) .... So Chan
... aka Fist of the Red Dragon (USA: video title)
... aka Heroes Among Heroes
Xin liu xing hu die jian (1993) .... Yip Cheung
... aka Butterfly Sword
... aka Butterfly and Sword
... aka Comet, Butterfly and Sword
Wong Fei-hung ji yi: Naam yi dong ji keung (1992) .... Lan
... aka Huang Fei-hong zhi er nan er dang zi qiang (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
... aka Once Upon a Time in China II
Xin long men ke zhan (1992) .... Tsao Siu Yan
... aka Dragon Inn
... aka New Dragon Gate Inn (UK: DVD title)
... aka New Dragon Inn
Mo chun jie (1991) .... Shiang Chin-Fei
... aka Holy Virgin vs. the Evil Dead
Nu huo wei long (1991) .... Chi Liang/Bret
... aka China Heat
... aka Crystal Hunt
Xi hei qian (1990) .... Alan Yau
... aka Tiger Cage (UK)
... aka Tiger Cage 2
... aka Washing Dirty Money
Huang jia shi jie zhi IV: Zhi ji zheng ren (1989) .... Donny
... aka In the Line of Duty (UK: video title)
... aka In the Line of Duty 4: Witness
... aka In the Line of Duty IV
... aka Key Witness (International: English title: video title)
... aka Survival (International: English title: video title)
... aka Witness
... aka Yes, Madam 4
"Mo min kap sin fung" (1988) TV Series
Te jing tu long (1988) .... Terry
... aka Sure Fire (UK: video title)
... aka Tiger Cage
Ying ging boon sik (1988)
Qing feng di shou (1985) .... Eddie
... aka Love Meets the Match
... aka Mismatched Couples
Xiao tai ji (1984) .... Cheng Do
... aka Drunken Tai-Chi (Hong Kong: English title)
... aka Laughing Tai Chi
