Jet Li

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 widely regarded as one of the greatest Chinese film stars and most influential martial artists in cinema history. His early work in Asia is credited with introducing the Shaolin Temple to a global audience during the 1980s. During the 1990s, his collaborations with director Tsui Hark spearheaded wushu representation in Hong Kong action cinema, establishing him as its most famous practitioner. During this same decade, he also popularised the wuxia genre. Subsequently, his crossover into Hollywood action films during the late 1990s and 2000s brought him widespread international recognition, establishing him alongside Jackie Chan as one of the two biggest names in the contemporary martial arts genre.

Li began his career as a competitive martial artist. Trained as a wushu athlete at the Beijing Shichahai Sports School, he won multiple national championships with the Beijing Wushu Team from 1974 to 1979 under the guidance of coach Wu Bin. After retiring from competitive wushu in 1979, he made his feature film debut in Shaolin Temple (1982), a runaway success followed by two sequels (1984 and 1986). Li established himself as a leading Asian action star by portraying legendary folk hero Wong Fei-hung in director Tsui Hark's critically acclaimed Once Upon a Time in China series (1991–1993). Following his directorial debut with Born to Defence (1988), he anchored a string of other highly successful 1990s projects; these included the wuxia epics Swordsman II (1992) and Fong Sai-yuk (1993), followed by the martial arts films Tai Chi Master (1993) and Fist of Legend (1994). He then successfully reinvented his screen image with a series of popular gun fu action films, including High Risk (1995), Black Mask (1996), and Hitman (1998).

Li made his Hollywood transition as the antagonist in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998), leading to a prolific international career featuring starring roles in Romeo Must Die (2000) and the Luc Besson-produced films Kiss of the Dragon (2001) and Unleashed (2005). He returned to Asian cinema for Zhang Yimou's Academy Award-nominated Hero (2002) and Fearless (2006), followed by The Warlords (2007), which earned him the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. In 2008, he starred in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and joined fellow martial arts star Jackie Chan in The Forbidden Kingdom, which marked their landmark first on-screen collaboration. He teamed up with Jason Statham in five films: The One (2001), War (2007), and the first three installments of

The Expendables (2010–2014). He then made a high-profile return to the screen in Yuen Woo-ping's 2026 epic Blades of the Guardians, which became the highest-grossing wuxia film of all time worldwide.

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's list of China's richest stars in 2004. He was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in 2010.

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). Renowned coaches Li Junfeng and Wu Bin made extra efforts to help the talented boy develop. Wu Bin even bought food for Li's family in order to boost Li's protein intake.

At the age of eleven, Li became a member of the 1974 China national wushu team which traveled to the United States during the time of the Ping-pong diplomacy. The group performed for American audiences in Hawaii, San Francisco, New York, and Washington, D.C., and additionally in Mexico City and Hong Kong. When the Chinese National Wushu Team went to perform for President Richard Nixon in the United States, he was asked by Nixon to be his personal bodyguard. Li replied, "I don't want to protect any individual. When I grow up, I want to defend my one billion Chinese countrymen!"

In November of the same year, the Beijing Wushu Team was founded and Li became a member. He became the national all-around champion four times from 1975 to 1979.

My winning first place caused quite a sensation because I was so young. I was 12 years old, and the other two medalists were in their mid- to late twenties. During the awards ceremony, as I stood on the top step of the podium, I was still shorter than the 2nd and 3rd place medalists. It must have been quite a sight.

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 CN¥161,578,014 (US$85,376,199) at the Chinese box office, from an estimated 500 million ticket sales. The sequel Kids From Shaolin sold an estimated 490 million tickets, making it 1984's highest-grossing film in China.

Some of his more famous Chinese films include:

The Shaolin Temple series (1, 2 and 3), which are considered to be the films which sparked the rebirth of the real Shaolin Temple in Dengfeng, China;

The Once Upon a Time in China series (Chinese title: Wong Fei Hung), about the legendary Chinese folk hero Master Wong Fei Hung.

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 1987, Li married Huang Qiuyan, 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 2011, Li confirmed his Singaporean citizenship.

Li, as a Buddhist, believes that the difficulties of everyday life can be overcome with the help of religious philosophies. He thinks that fame is not something he can control; therefore, he does not care about it.

I never say to myself I'm the best fighter in the world. If someone learns martial arts solely to pick fights on the street, to lean on it as a keystone weapon in conflicts, to use it to bully and intimidate others – then that person, in my opinion, cannot be considered a true martial artist.

According to Li, everything he has ever wanted to tell the world can be found in three of his films: the message of Hero is that the suffering of one person can never be as significant as the suffering of a nation; Unleashed shows that violence is never a solution; and Fearless tells that the biggest enemy of a person is himself. Li thinks that the greatest weapon is a smile and the largest power is love.

About Wushu, he said that he believes the essence of martial arts is not power or speed but inner harmony, and considers it a sad development that today's Wushu championships place greater emphasis on form than on the essence of being a martial artist. He believes Wushu now lacks individuality and competitors move like machines, whereas according to his views Wushu should not be considered a race where the fastest athlete wins. He would like to see Wushu as a form of art, where artists have a distinctive style. Li blames the new competition rules that, according to him, place limitations on martial artists.

Li believes that Wushu is not primarily for self-defense and instead of trying to play the hero people should think about peaceful resolutions of conflicts and call the police if necessary: "A gun outdoes years of martial arts training in a split second. Like I've said many times before, it is important to differentiate between movies and reality. The hero in movies may be able to knock the gun off his opponent and save the day, but in real life – probably that is not the case." He has also stated that he has never had to use his martial arts skills in a real-life fight and he does not wish to either.

In 2011, Li founded Taiji Zen, along with co-founder Executive chairman Jack Ma. Taiji Zen combined the martial art of tai chi (taijiquan in Chinese) with practices such as meditation. It packaged these into several different classes and online programs.

Li has been a "philanthropic ambassador" of the Red Cross Society of China since January 2006. He contributed 500,000 yuan (US$62,500) of box office revenues from his film Fearless to the Red Cross' psychological sunshine project, which promotes mental health.

In April 2007, touched by his life-shaking experience in the Maldives when he was close to dying during the 2004 tsunami, Li formed his own non-profit foundation called One Foundation. The One Foundation supports international disaster relief efforts in conjunction with the Red Cross as well as other efforts, including mental health awareness and suicide prevention. Since the starting of the foundation, Li has been involved with recovery efforts in seven disasters, including the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan. In the 2013 Lushan earthquake in Ya'an, Sichuan, Li and other members of the entertainment sector were the first to appeal for donations of money, goods and materials to help the victims of the disaster. Wu Jing was a One Foundation volunteer and helped in the effort.

Li discussed his commitment to philanthropy in an interview with the December 2009 issue of Alliance magazine, stating that "grassroots non-government organizations can help the government in its blind spots. Government relief is not always detail-oriented. Grassroots NGOs can't be as big as a government effort, but they need to be flexible and independent."

In September 2010, he was appointed by the International Red Cross as the first Good Will Ambassador. He posted online, saying: "Today I signed a deal with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies – IFRC – to become the FIRST goodwill ambassador in the history of this humanitarian organization. I am very honored! At the same time, I will not pause to celebrate, but instead keep pushing forward and do my best to help the world! Thank you all once again for your support and belief in me!"

It was also announced in September 2010, when Li was attending his wax unveiling ceremony in Hong Kong Madame Tussauds, that Li would be meeting Bill Gates and Warren Buffett to talk about charity work. "Three days ago, I received an email from Gates, hoping I could make time because he and Buffett hoped I could go for a 30-minute chat before the dinner about the future we face as human beings, so I will go," Li said.