Birth Name :Li Lian Jie
Height : 5' 6¼" (1.68 m)
Mini Biography
Jet Li was Wushu (a martial art) national champion in China several times. He got his first part as a shaolin disciple in the film Shaolin Temple. His first attempt at directing, Born to Defense (1986) (Born to defend), met with failure. It was good film regardless, because it was the first time Li directed and had more realistic fight scenes.jet li movies jet li the master jet li forbidden kingdom jet li family jet li film.
Actor, martial artist. Born Li Lian Jie on April 26, 1963, in Hebei, China. The youngest of five children, he lost his father when he was only 2 years old. At the age of 8 Li began learning wushu, a form of martial arts. Noting his talent, his family sent him to continue his studies at a special school. "I was from a very poor family and we didn't have enough money for a good school, so sports-school was good; it gave me good food and an opportunity out of China," Li later explained to Muscle & Fitness magazine.
At the age of 11, Li won his first national championship. As a result, he traveled to more than 45 countries as part of the Bejing Wushu Team. In 1974, Li traveled to the United States and gave a martial arts demonstration for President Richard M. Nixon. He became the All-Around National Wushu Champion that year, a title he held for five consecutive years.
Li retired from the sport when he was 17. Working with director Chang Hsin Yen, he made his film debut in Shaolin Temple (1982). The film helped make Li a star in his native country, and spawned several sequels. By the end of the 1980s, Li had relocated to Hong Kong, where he became involved in the martial arts film scene. In Once Upon a Time in China (1991) he played Wong Fei-hung, a legendary hero who fights against foreigners in this 19th century tale. The popular film had two sequels.
In 1994, Li landed his first English-language role, playing a bad guy in Lethal Weapon 4 with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. He relocated to Los Angeles for the film, where he underwent intensive language training to prepare for his role as a Chinese crime boss. This action film, especially the scenes with Li, delighted movie audiences.
Li teamed up with rapper DMX and singer Aaliyah for Romeo Must Die (2000) a hip-hop-meets-martial-arts take on the classic tale of young love, Romeo and Juliet. Li and Aaliyah played star-crossed lovers from two warring crime families. The film scored big at the box office, earning roughly $100 million. In 2001, Li co-starred with Bridget Fonda in Kiss of the Dragon directed by Luc Besson. He helped develop the story for the film, which tells the tale of a wronged intelligence officer out to clear his name with the help of a prostitute (played by Fonda). A critic for The New York Times praised parts of the film, writing "his action sequences are like an oil fire, spilling from one room into the next and lighting the interiors with heat and wreckage. Mr. Li and his fisticuffs choreographer, Corey Yuen, have set a new standard for action here."
That same year, Li starred in the convoluted science fiction tale, The One. He played the two main characters, an unsuspecting California sheriff and a ruthless killer who travels through parallel worlds to eliminate the other versions of himself. The film was panned by critics for its confusing plot and weak acting. Next, he worked with director Yimou Zhang on the Chinese historical drama Hero, in which Li played a warrior in 3rd century China. The movie was released in China in 2002, and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Film. He then reunited with DMX for 2003's crime thriller Cradle 2 the Grave, which received poor reviews and a lukewarm response from movie-goers.
One of the most popular stars of Hong Kong martial arts films throughout the 1990s, charismatic wushu champion Jet Li was at one time considered the heir apparent to the original master, Bruce Lee. After winning numerous gold medals while an adolescent national champion, Li made an auspicious film debut with the hit martial arts action flick, "The Shaolin Temple" (1982).
Though continued success followed after two sequels, Li had a major breakthrough with "Once Upon a Time in China" (1990), a martial arts epic that gave Li what many considered to be the role of a lifetime - one he went back to several times over the course of his career. Despite the enormity of his popularity throughout Asia, Li's career had its share of ups and downs, particularly during the latter half of the nineties. Eventually Hollywood stood up and took notice, allowing the Hong Kong star to make his debut in the hit franchise, "Lethal Weapon 4" (1998). Even though he was consigned to playing two dimensional villains, he nonetheless had a toehold in the United States, though it took the Hong Kong epic "Hero" (2004) to turn Li into a bona fide star in America.
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