Iko Uwais facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Iko Uwais
Uwais at the New York premiere of The Raid 2 in March 2014
Born	Uwais Qorny (1983-02-12) 12 February 1983 (age 42) Jakarta, Indonesia
Nationality	Indonesia
Occupation	Actor stuntman fight choreographer martial artist
Years active	2007–present
Spouse(s)	Audy Item ​ (m. 2012)​
Children	2
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Iko Uwais (born February 12, 1983) is a famous Indonesian actor, stuntman, and martial artist. He is known for his amazing skills in action films. Some of his most popular movies include Merantau (2009), The Raid (2011), and The Raid 2 (2014). He has also appeared in big Hollywood movies and TV shows like Mile 22 (2018), Stuber (2019), and the Netflix series Wu Assassins.

Early Life and Martial Arts

Iko Uwais was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. His birth name is Uwais Qorny. His grandfather, H. Achmad Bunawar, was a master of silat. Silat is a traditional Indonesian martial art. His grandfather even started his own silat school. Iko was named after a historical Islamic figure, Owais al-Qarani.

Becoming a Movie Star

Discovering His Talent

In 2007, Iko Uwais met a director named Gareth Evans. Gareth was making a documentary about silat. He saw Iko training and was very impressed. Iko had a natural charm and looked great on camera. This led Gareth to offer him the main role in his first martial arts movie, Merantau.

After signing a five-year contract with Gareth Evans, Iko left his job. He used to work as a driver for a telecom company.

First Big Roles

Merantau was Iko's first acting experience. He played a young man from the Minang people of West Sumatra. For this role, he learned a special Minang style of silat called silat harimau (tiger style). The movie came out in Indonesia in August 2009. It was shown at film festivals and received great reviews. Merantau even won the Best Film award at ActionFest 2010.

Iko worked with Gareth Evans again on his next film, The Raid. Filming started in 2011, and the movie was released in 2012. Critics and audiences loved The Raid. Many called it one of the best martial arts movies in years.

Hollywood and Beyond

In 2013, Iko had a small part in Man of Tai Chi. This movie was directed by famous actor Keanu Reeves.

His third movie with Gareth Evans was The Raid 2, released in 2014. This film was a sequel to the first Raid movie.

Iko also made a brief appearance in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015). He was in the movie with his The Raid 2 co-stars, Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman. The director, J. J. Abrams, even asked Iko to help choreograph a lightsaber fight. However, that scene was not used because it was too intense.

In 2016, Iko starred in the martial arts film Headshot. This movie also received good reviews.

Recent Projects

Iko filmed Triple Threat in 2017. This international martial arts film featured other big action stars like Tony Jaa and Scott Adkins. It was released in early 2019. In 2018, Iko starred in Mile 22 and The Night Comes for Us.

In 2019, Iko took on the lead role of Kai Jin in the Netflix series Wu Assassins. The show premiered in August 2019. He returned as Kai Jin in the sequel film, Fistful of Vengeance, which came out in February 2022.

Also in 2019, Iko starred in the action comedy Stuber with Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista. He was also announced for a film called Chinatown Express. In this movie, he plays a man fighting through New York's gang world to save his family. Iko was also set to star in The Bellhop, one of the first films from Sylvester Stallone's production company.

Iko played Hard Master in Snake Eyes. This movie is a spin-off from the G.I. Joe film series. It was released in July 2021.

In October 2021, Iko joined the cast of Expend4bles, which was released in 2023. In May 2023, it was announced that Iko Uwais would star in a sci-fi thriller called Ash. This movie is directed by Flying Lotus.

In January 2025, Iko Uwais announced that he started his own film production company, Uwais Pictures. One of the first films from his company is Timur. Iko will direct and star in this movie, which tells the story of the Mapenduma hostage crisis.

Personal Life

Iko Uwais married singer Audy Item on June 25, 2012, in Jakarta. They have two daughters named Atreya Syahla Putri Uwais and Aneska Layla Putri Uwais.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Iko Uwais para niños

• Cinema of Indonesia
• Martial arts film