Jet Li - WikiHQ

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Jet Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963) is a martial artist, actor, and philanthropist. With a career spanning more than forty years, he is regarded as one of the greatest Chinese film stars and one of the greatest martial artists in the history of cinema. His film career in Asia is credited with reviving Hong Kong kungfu films

Li was trained as a wushu athlete at the Beijing Shichahai Sports School and went on to win multiple national championships with the Beijing Wushu Team between 1974 and 1979. a runaway success followed by two sequels in 1984 and 1986. Li established himself as a leading action star with the Once Upon a Time in China series (1991–1993), in which he portrayed Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung, followed by Born to Defence (1988), which is his directorial debut, Swordsman II (1992), Fong Sai-yuk (1993), Fist of Legend (1994), High Risk (1995), Black Mask (1996), and Hitman (1998).

Li made his Hollywood debut as a villain in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), followed by his first Hollywood leading role in Romeo Must Die (2000). He went on to star in international productions such as Luc Besson-produced films Kiss of the Dragon (2001) and Unleashed (2005). He returned to Asia with Hero (2002), followed by Fearless (2006) and The Warlords (2007). In 2008, he starred in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and The Forbidden Kingdom, which marked his first collaboration with fellow kungfu star Jackie Chan. From 2010 to 2014, he appeared in the first three of the action film series The Expendables.

As a philanthropist, Li founded One Foundation in 2007, which was registered in 2011 as the first private charitable fundraising organization in China. He also co-founded Taiji Zen, an online health program providing instruction in meditation and tai chi. Li topped Forbes list of China's richest stars in 2004 and ranked 10th on the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list in 2004, 3rd in 2008, 6th in 2009, 24th in 2010, 8th in 2011, 22nd in 2012, and 41st in 2013. He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in 2010.

Early life and martial arts career

Li was born in Beijing, and was the youngest of two boys and two girls. His ancestral home is in Shenyang, Liaoning. When he was two years old, his father died and his family then lived in poverty.

Li was eight when his talent for wushu was noticed as he practiced at a school summer course at the Beijing Sports and Exercise School (now known as Beijing Sport University). The group performed for American audiences in Hawaii, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C., and additionally in Mexico City and Hong Kong.

In November of the same year, the Beijing Wushu Team was founded and Li became a member.

Li is a master of several styles of wushu, especially changquan and fanziquan. He has also studied other arts including baguazhang, taijiquan, xingyiquan, zuiquan (drunken fist), yingzhaoquan (eagle claw), and tanglangquan (praying mantis fist). He also practiced weapons such as gunshu, daoshu, and jianshu as well as sanjiegun (three section staff). but became an assistant coach of the Beijing Wushu team for a few years. Li's martial arts prowess would eventually contribute to his domestic and international fame.

In 2023, Li was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame.

Acting career

Asia

thumb|Li's hand print and autograph at the [[Avenue of Stars, Hong Kong|Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong]]

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 film debut with the 1982 film Shaolin Temple. The film broke box office records in China, grossing () at the Chinese box office, from an estimated ticket sales.

International career

In 1998, he made his international 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), alongside singer Aaliyah. The film became a box office hit. Though Li spoke very little English at the time of production, his performance as Chinese mafia hitman Wah Sing Ku was praised.

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. Li was also cast as Kato in The Green Hornet when the film was still in development in 2000. In 2001, it was moved to another studio. When the film was moved on again and released in 2011, the role of Kato was portrayed by Jay Chou.

In 2001, he appeared in two more films: The One, which was the first of his films with Jason Statham, 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 and became the highest-grossing motion picture in Chinese film history at the time. 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 was presented the Visionary Award by East West Players, the oldest Asian American theatre in the United States, in 2002 by contemporary John Woo. The award recognizes "artists who have raised the visibility of the Asian Pacific American community through theater, film and television." He delivered his acceptance speech in his native language of Mandarin.

Li took on a more serious role in the 2005 film, Unleashed (a.k.a. Danny the Dog), where he portrayed an adult with the mentality of a child who has been raised like an animal. Although his martial arts skills were used 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 martial arts film. 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 publicised 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 (a.k.a. Fok Yun Gap), as well as Huo Yuanjia himself. Fearless was released on 26 January 2006 in Hong Kong, followed by a 22 September 2006 release in the United States where it reached second place in its first weekend.

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 film's television promotions. However, he plans to continue his film career in other genres. Specifically, he plans to continue acting in epic action and martial arts films dealing more with religious and philosophical issues.

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 at the box office, becoming one of Li's lowest grossers in America; however, it was a hit on video, accumulating nearly 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/Western films have been only modest hits like Kiss of the Dragon, The One, Unleashed, Cradle 2 the Grave, and the worldwide release of Fearless.

Li was appointed by the Chinese Wushu Association as the "Image Ambassador of Wushu" (or IWUF ambassador) at the 2007 World Wushu Championships in Beijing. 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 finally 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 18 April 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 Emperor Han in the fantasy action film The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor with actors Brendan Fraser, Isabella Leong and Michelle Yeoh.

In 2009, he launched his own fitness program, Wuji—which consists of elements of martial arts, yoga and pilates—and Adidas launched a special clothing line for it that bears the initials of "JL". After a one-year hiatus from filmmaking, Li returned to acting in 2010, portraying a mercenary in the film The Expendables, teaming up with action stars Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture. It was the third time he had teamed up with Statham. In 2012, he reprised his role briefly in the sequel The Expendables 2 and returned for the third film The Expendables 3 in 2014. Li was initially stated to be appearing with Vin Diesel in XXX: Return of Xander Cage, but according to a Facebook post by Diesel, Li was replaced by Donnie Yen.

Li plays the Emperor of China for the 2020 live action movie, Mulan. his Beijing Wushu Team fellow member and Kids From Shaolin co-star. They have two daughters, Si and Taimi. He met actress Nina Li Chi during the filming of Dragon Fight (1989) and divorced Huang in 1990. In 1999, Li married Nina at his villa in Arcadia, California, which he owned from 1998 to 2004. The couple have two daughters, Jane (born 2000) and Jada (born 2002).

In 1997, Li obtained US citizenship, which he renounced in April 2009. In July 2009, Amy Zhou Weiyan, then executive chairperson of the One Foundation, confirmed that Li had become a Singaporean citizen.

In 1998, Li converted to Tibetan Buddhism when he was promoting Lethal Weapon 4 in Taiwan. His master is Lho Kunsang.

In 2013, Li revealed that he suffers from hyperthyroidism and had been dealing with the issue for the past three years. In 2016, Li stated that he was accepting fewer film offers due to his charity work rather than his illness, from which he had recovered.

Li likes to play badminton and table tennis, ride his bicycle, read and meditate in his free time. He collects rare Tibetan beads.

Views on life and martial arts

Li, as a Buddhist, believes that the difficulties of everyday life can be overcome with the help of religious philosophies.