
I spoke to him just before coming here, and he's a huge fan of yours.

I've heard so much about him and followed his career for years, but I never had the opportunity to meet him in person. I have a gift for you from someone you might have heard of: Dan Inosanto.ĭonnie Yen: Wow! Thank you so much. What I got was a great interview with a man who's humble, hardworking and still hungry for higher achievements. When the publicity tour for Ip Man 3 brought Donnie Yen and co-star Mike Tyson to Los Angeles, I got an opportunity to interview Yen and hear about the struggles, triumphs, insights and visions that make up his life.īearing a gift from my teacher, Black Belt Hall of Fame member Dan Inosanto, I entered the room, hoping for a good conversation. Portraying the martial artist who was Bruce Lee's master didn't come without immense pressure and criticism, but the movie's box-office performance and the rabid following it generated online proved the naysayers wrong - and set the stage for two sequels.
Actors ip yip man 2 movie#
In this article, I will use “Ip Man" to refer to the movie and “Yip Man" to refer to the man.) (The Chinese family name Yip can be Romanized as Yip or Ip. In 2008 he landed what would be his heaviest role to date: playing wing chun grandmaster Yip Man in Ip Man. With hit after hit under his belt, Donnie Yen built himself into one of Asia's most bankable actors. distribution in 2001 thanks to Quentin Tarantino and Miramax.) Donnie Yen quickly leveled up to starring roles, commanding the screen opposite Jet Li in Once Upon a Time in China II (1992) and as hung gar kung fu master Wong Kei-Ying in Iron Monkey (1993). Like Bruce Lee, he opted to return to southern China, where he found work as a stuntman in Hong Kong. In part because he longed to follow in the footsteps of Bruce Lee, Donnie Yen decided to try his hand at action films.

I learned that Donnie Yen, the son of Boston-based wushu pioneer and Black Belt Hall of Famer Bow Sim Mark, stood out from his peers because of his strong stances and aesthetic postures, which helped him dominate the competition at martial arts tournaments.

Donnie Yen first appeared on my radar 25 years ago, when his name often graced the pages of martial arts periodicals.
