Donnie Yen - Famous Film Producer

Donnie Yen Net Worth

$40,000,000

Donnie Yen, also known as Yen Ji-dan, is a famous Chinese actor, martial artist, director, and choreographer. With a net worth of $40 million, he is one of the highest-paid actors in Asia and has won several choreography awards for his exceptional work in movies like ‘The Twins Effect’ and ‘Flash Point’.

Key facts:

  • Donnie Yen is a Chinese actor, martial artist, director, and choreographer.
  • He started his martial arts training at a young age and dropped out of school at 14 to focus on wushu.
  • His breakthrough appearance came in the film 'Once Upon a Time in China 11' in 1992.
  • Yen is known for popularizing Wing Chun martial arts, which were showcased in the film 'Ip Man' in 2008.
  • He has won several choreography awards for his work in movies such as 'The Twins Effect', 'Kill Zone', 'Dragon Tiger Gate', and 'Flash Point'.

Basic Information About Donnie Yen

CategoryCelebrities › Directors
ProfessionsFilm Director, Actor, Film Producer, Martial Artist, Screenwriter, Performer, Action Director
Net worth$40,000,000
Date of birth1963-07-27 (61 years old)
Place of birthGuangzhou
NationalityUnited States of America
Curiosities and TrademarksLikes to choreograph realistic, creative and unconventional fight scenes
Known for playing tough and impulsive characters in his films
Likes to execute various kicking techniques - including jumping splits-kick, jumping front-kick, jumping back-kick while running forward and chain-kicks while moving forward
Prefers to work with real martial artists in his films. His collaborations range from well-established practitioners such as Jet Li, Collin Chou, Jing Wu, Xing Yu, and Siu-Wong Fan to experienced fighters like John Salvitti, Michael Woods, Cung Le, and Mike Tyson
Frequently collaborates with Wilson Yip
Started utilizing the "chain punching" technique more often in some of his recent films after the big success of Ip Man (2008), Also likes to execute few other punching techniques in his fight scenes, such as "wind-up"- and "superman" punches
His fight scenes often involve people hitting each other's fists and kicks at the same time, or each other one after another
His characters - whenever he's playing lead or co-lead roles - are often given late introductions in the beginning of his films
Includes parkour in between his fight scenes
Usually makes soft "o-faces" during his fight scenes, similar to Bruce Lee's facial expression doing the famous high-pitched battle scream
Started utilizing MMA in his fight scenes more often after making SPL: Kill Zone (2005). This can be seen in all of his contemporary action films that followed suit
Frequently collaborates with Woo-Ping Yuen
Uses slow-motion for certain takes during his fight scenes to showcase the power of techniques done by actors he works with
Likes to kick away objects either off ground or in the air during his fight scenes
Some of his films shows him sitting on antagonists' bodies after beating them up
GenderMale
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Social Media↗︎ Wikipedia ↗︎ IMDb

Famous Network of Celebrities with Similar Net Worth

What Movie Awards did Donnie Yen win?


Oscar

Golden Globe

Golder Raspberry

BAFTA

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Donnie Yen awards

Award Name State Movie / Series Name Year
Golden Angel Award - Best ActorWinnerYip Man 42020
Jury Award - Best ActorWinnerYip Man2009
Huabiao Film Award - Outstanding Abroad ActorWinnerYip Man2009
Asian Film Award - Best ActorNomineeYip Man 32016
Huading Award - Best Actor in a Motion PictureWinnerYip Man 22011

Donnie Yen roles

Movie / Series Role
Yip Man 4Ip Man
Yip ManIp Man
Yip Man 3Ip Man
Yip Man 2Ip Man
Rogue OneChirrut Îmwe
MulanCommander Tung
xXx: Return of Xander CageXiang
Ying xiongSky
Blade IISnowman
Shanghai KnightsWu Chow
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of DestinySilent Wolf
Highlander: EndgameJin Ke
Nature Is SpeakingSaan Wu Ziu / ... 1 episode, 2014
Made in HollywoodSelf 3 episodes, 2016-2020
The TalkSelf 1 episode, 2016
Access HollywoodSelf 2 episodes, 2016-2017

Donnie Yen's Quotes

  • (On the inspiration of becoming a director) I have always been a rebel, in my whole entire life, since I was just a martial artist. I always have questions in the back of my mind. Why does it have to be this way? Can it be that way? I always try to question and challenge that system and I guess that kind of attitude I brought into the film industry when I was just an actor. I see different films; I see how a director or choreographer would choreograph it. And I say to myself "it can be improved, it can be better and in less time". Or I'd wonder "how come this film is a good film and the other one a bad film, when the budget is not much different?" There are certain techniques, a certain system. When I was an action choreographer, when I used to work for Yuen Woo Ping, I used to grab a whole team of people and just raise questions. To the photographer, or to Yuen Woo Ping: "could it be that way? Could be it, be that? Why not try it this way?" Very soon, I established a kind of trust from Yuen Woo Ping, because I made a lot of his films happen with my suggestions.
  • (On learning from veteran Hong Kong action directors) Of course it's Yuen Wo Ping. He brought me into the circle. Some of his filming techniques and styles bear great influence on me. Actually, I admire the techniques of other martial arts directors too; they have their own unique ways of handling action scenes. I hope to learn from them. This is my pursuit of martial arts all along - mixed martial arts.
  • (On changing generic fight choreography) Nowadays, martial arts directors go along with the advancement in filming techniques. We can use some techniques to coordinate with non-martial artists. In my early days with Yuen Wo Ping, technology was rather backward, whatever we did depended on the raw skills of the actors themselves; but the actors nowadays are exceptionally fortunate. They could rely on editing, doubles, wires, and even special effects to make them look like they could fight well. But I believe, now that the audiences seek authenticity in martial arts, they could be cast aside. That's why we are looking into real combat.
  • (On martial arts training) Music and movement are both expressions of the same basic human energy. They are like paints used to color the screen.
  • When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart.

Donnie Yen's photos

Interesting Facts about Donnie Yen

  1. Grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
  2. Classically trained pianist.
  3. Billed as Michael Ryan in his earlier films, until Ah sau ging gat: Si gou aat sin (1994), released in the Philippines.
  4. Can speak fluent Cantonese, English and Mandarin. Can also speak casual Korean, since he learned it as a requirement for his character during the filming of Qi jian (2005).
  5. Brother of Chris Yen.
  6. Current wife Cissy Wang was the winner of the Miss Chinese Toronto Pageant 2000. She also represented Toronto in 2001 for the Miss Chinese International Pageant.
  7. His current wife Cissy Wang is 18 years his junior.
  8. Has a son from a previous marriage.
  9. He was sent to Beijing, China, to continue his martial arts training and avoid committing crimes with a street gang.
  10. He sustained a heavy injury in his right shoulder while making Ching fung dik sau (1985) which still affects him to this day.
  11. A big fan of Bruce Lee. He was one of the auditionees for the title role in Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993). Jing wu men (1995) and Jing wu feng yun: Chen Zhen (2010) are dedicated to Lee.
  12. Has a huge fanbase in Japan which has given him some opportunities to work behind the camera on not only movies but popular video games as well. He directed the cinematic intro sequence of Onimusha 3 (2004).
  13. Well trained in various martial arts styles, including wushu, tae kwon do, kick-boxing and boxing.
  14. He was supposed to co-star with Brandon Lee in a sequel to Legacy of Rage (1986) but Lee's departure back to the States led to the idea being scrapped.
  15. Michelle Yeoh considers him to be the fastest martial artist she has ever worked with.
  16. He turned down the role of the main villain in both Tai-Chi Master (1993) and The Legend of Drunken Master (1994) eventually played by Siu-Ho Chin and Ken Lo respectively.
  17. A former member of Woo-Ping Yuen's Yuen Clan stunt team.
  18. Daughter (2004) named Jasmine W. Yen.
  19. Newborn son (2007) named James W. Yen.
  20. Can also understand Shanghainese, because his wife's family is Shanghainese.

References & Fact Checks ✅

1/ Filename: donnie-yen-in-seoul-7UB1lui9.jpg
  • Checked: ✅ Yes (2023-07-02 04:30:37)
  • Source URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Donnie_Yen_in_Seoul.jpg
  • Original Source: Own work
  • Author: Kinocine
  • Licence: Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.
  • Date taken: 13 September 2005
2/ Filename: donnie-yen-2012-5vY03s0T.jpg
3/ Filename: donnie-yen-formal-A08s7250.jpg
  • Checked: ✅ Yes (2023-07-02 04:30:39)
  • Source URL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Donnie_Yen_Formal.jpeg
  • Original Source: Donnie Yen and Bullets Film, www.DonnieYen.Asia
  • Author: Cecilia Wang
  • Licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
  • Date taken: February 2018
4/ Filename: dy-training-lr4B5Xd8.jpg

Donnie Yen Famous Network

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