Donnie Yen is an American pseudonym, the real name of the Chinese actor is Zhen Zidan. Donny is famous for such films as “Shanghai Knights”, “King of the Apes”, “Yip Man” and other equally popular films. Ian is not only an actor, he tried himself as a producer and stunt director.
Biography
Donny Yen was born in a small Chinese town called Guangzhou, often in Europe this city is called Canton. After Yen turned two years old, his parents decided to move to Hong Kong. The reason for the move was the desire of Donny's mother, Mai Boachan, to open her own martial arts school. Unfortunately, the local mafia intervened in the affairs of the parents of little Donnie, because of which they had to cancel plans. Due to the circumstances, the family of the actor was forced to move again to live in another place. This time they moved to a completely different country. Yen's parents chose the American city of Boston as their place of permanent residence. Only here, her mother’s dreams came true, and she opened her own club called the Institute for the Study of Chinese Wushu. The father of little Yen got a job as an editor in a local Chinese newspaper. Photos of Donnie Yen can be seen in this article.
Martial Arts Training
At the time of moving to Boston, Donny was 11 years old. He decided to go to college with his mother and became one of the best students there. Ian himself and his peers studying at the university, loved to watch films about martial arts. The favorite films for the future actor and his comrades were films with the participation of the legendary master Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, who was very young at that time. This pastime gave Yen a great motivation. The future actor noticed interesting tricks in the films, which he enthusiastically practiced in training. The constant passion for martial arts pushed Ian to participate in fights without rules, which were carried out illegally.
Relocation to China
Constant parties and showdowns between bandit groups delayed Donnie. To protect his son, his mother decided to send him to China, namely to Beijing. It was here that the young Donny spends almost all his time in training, learning new methods of self-defense. Wushu technique is easy for him, and therefore Ian is taken to the famous school, where the famous actor Jet Li studied at that time. However, for Ian this was too little, and he decides to return to the United States.
By coincidence, he did not leave for America, as he got to the casting of one of the films of Chinese directors. By the way, there was no close selection of actors, as soon as Danny demonstrated his fighting skills, he was instantly approved for the role. The first film in his career was a picture called "Drunk Shaolin Master." He was given the main role, with which the artist coped splendidly.
Roles Donnie Ian in the films
The picture “Drunk Shaolin Master” became a real hit among TV viewers in China and other countries. Donnie himself did not plan to connect his life with the cinema. He agreed to shoot only for the experience that he wanted to get from participating in the film. However, he did not realize that his first participation in the cinema would be so successful that he would begin to be invited to shoot other films. Director Yuan Wo-ping offered nineteen-year-old Donnie Yen collaboration on an ongoing basis. It is this director who is the person who opened the way to the world of fame for the famous Jackie Chan. Yuan Wo-ping starred Donnie in the following films: Tiger Cage, Performance, and Strange Couples. The fact that during the entire period of filming the actor managed to develop his own unique style, which he worked out while watching films with his idols, cannot go unnoticed.
Further acting career
With the onset of the 80s, the actor leaves Yuan and goes into free swimming. When the second part of the famous film “Once Upon a Time in China” enters the world, Yen becomes a real Hong Kong celebrity. In the same period, the movie “Iron Monkey” was released, which is the Chinese version of Robin Hood. The role in this movie has become one of the most successful works in the filmography of Donnie Yen. According to the great film critics, this film was the best adaptation of the story of Robin Hood over the past ten years.
After some time, the artist appears in such famous projects as “Kung Fu Master” and “Fist of Fury”. But the true world fame came to Donnie Yen after the release of the film called Yip Man. This is a biographical film about the legendary teacher of a unique technique of self-defense, who later became a mentor for Bruce Lee himself. The picture consists of several parts, each of them tells about the life of the teacher and about the problems that he had to face.
Actor in Hollywood
The actor also starred in Hollywood. Donny first appeared in a science fiction film project called Highlander: The End of the Game. Then the actor played in the famous action movie “Blade 2”, and then decided to try his hand at the comedy “Shanghai Knights”. In addition to these paintings, Ian starred in other films, no less successful and famous around the world. For example, a project called Outcast One. Star Wars: Stories ”turned out to be the most anticipated in 2016, and the actor himself became very popular in the film industry.
Other hobbies of the actor
Ian’s talents and creativity do not end with acting. He is also a director, managed to create more than ten films, among which special attention should be paid to paintings entitled "The Legend of the Wolf", "Big Boss 2" and "Ballistic Kiss". For all these films, he independently developed the script, and in the comedy film "Wing Chun", the actor acted as a composer.
Personal life
When Donnie Yen was young, he was not deprived of the attention of women, but his choice always fell on the Chinese, and this despite the fact that he lived in America. The most memorable for the actor became a relationship with the artist and model Joey Meng. A romantic period lasted between the couple, but Joey and Donnie broke up in the early 2000s.
After three years after breaking up with the model, the wife of the beauty contests - Cecilia Cissi Van became the wife of the actor. The wedding of lovers took place in Toronto. Currently, Donnie Yen’s personal life is fine: he lives with his wife in the north of the USA and is raising two children: son James and daughter Jasmine.
The scandalous character of the actor
An interesting fact is that Donnie Yen has a rather unpleasant and somewhat scandalous character. From a young age, the actor used to express his dissatisfaction and speak negatively about people who are not interested in him. But as for compliments, he rarely speaks them. When Donnie was just a boy, he spoke poorly about Chuck Norris, who tried to be on a par with his favorite actors involved in martial arts.
As soon as films with the participation of Ian became popular and popular, he often began to quarrel with colleagues on the set and directors, speaking negatively in their direction. In any case, as an actor, Donnie has great talent. All films with his participation are quite bright and saturated. I would like to wish the Hollywood actor a native of China further prosperity and success in the film career.