Jet Li is
one of Hollywood's most accomplished martial arts actors who has showcased his talents in a multitude of demanding and diverse roles.
Li began training at the
Beijing Martial Arts Academy at the age of nine.
Just two years later, he captured the title of
China's
National Martial Arts
Champion. This earned him a slot on the
prestigious Beijing Martial Arts Team that would
go on to tour
America. As part of a world tour in 1974, he had the
honor of performing a two-man fight for President
Nixon on
the White House lawn. By his mid teens, he was already a
national martial arts coach. By eighteen, Li had earned the title of National Martial Arts Champion a
total of
four times (1975, 1977, 1978 and 1979) a
record no
One has broken.
Li retired from competition at twenty and was immediately offered many starring film roles and subsequently began his film career with director Chang Hsin Yen for 'Shaolin Temple' (1979). Upon its release, Li was propelled into instant movie stardom, and he would go on to act on the two sequels that precipitated the kung-fu mania in 1980s China. Jet Li was bitten by the silver screen bug.
In the late 80s, Jet Li moved his career to Hong Kong where he played such martial arts icons as Huang Fei Hung in Tsui Hark's 'Once Upon a Time in China' (1991), Fong Shi Yu in 'The Legend of Fong Sai-Yuk' (1993), Zhang San Feng in 'The Tai Chi Master' (1993), Chen Zhen in 'Shaolin Kung Fu' (1994) and Hung Hei-Kwun in 'The New Legend of Shaolin' (1994). In homage to the great Bruce Lee, he remade Lee's 'Fist Of Fury', as 'Fist Of Legend' (1997). Li then expanded his repertoire to include comedy, drama and romance genres with 'Bodyguard from Beijing' (1994) and 'My Father is a Hero' (1995).
Despite his growing fame in Asia, Jet Li was still largely unknown in North America and Europe. This would all change when he took on the role of Mel Gibson's nemesis in the high octane block buster, 'Lethal Weapon 4'. Li was quickly shaping up to be a global force to be reckoned with. Li built on his initial success taking a starring role in Joel Silver's explosive inter-racial take on Shakespeare, 'Romeo Must Die' (2000). In 2001, Li continued to challenge himself with the 'The One', playing the Jekyll and Hyde police officer, Gabriel Yulaw. His latest success was 'Kiss of the Dragon' (2001), where he played the starring role as well as donning writing and producing hats.
Li's future projects include a Joel Silver produced action-adventure film in the vein of 'Indiana Jones'. He has also teamed up with Mel Gibson's Icon Productions to produce a martial arts television series for TBS entitled 'Invincible'. Jet Li's Kung Fu features have attracted millions of viewers worldwide. He has earned credibility from all sectors of society from teenagers (nominated MTV Awards for Best Villain for 'Lethal Weapon 4' (1998) as well as Best Fight Sequence for 'Romeo Must Die' (2000)) to women (voted one of the Top 25 Sexiest Men in Showbiz by E! Online).
