Donnie Yen

The Cardinal celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!

Donnie+Yen

Kayla Onn, Staff Writer

Donnie Yen was born on July 27, 1963 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. Yen is a famous Chinese actor, martial artist, film director, producer, action director, and choreographer. He is also the star of such films as Shanghai Knights, The Monkey King, Ip Man, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

His father, Kylster Yen, was a newspaper editor and amateur musician, while his mother, Bow-SiMark, was a kung fu master. When Yen was two years old, his family moved to Hong Kong and then to Boston when he was 11. At a young age, he grew an interest in martial arts. Yen started experimenting with different traditional Chinese martial arts. After that, he began Karate when he was nine. Yen concentrated on practicing wushu ‘kung-fu’ seriously at 14 after dropping out of school. His parents sent Yen to Beijing on a 4-year training program with the Beijing Wushu Team because he was spending too much time in Boston’s Combat Zone.

Yen is well-skilled in several martial arts, including Tai Chi, Boxing, Wing Chun, Wushu, and many more. He has always been one of Asia’s highest-paid performers, and possesses innate leadership qualities.  Even when others are unable to see what he sees, he has the capacity to inspire others to follow him in his quest.