Scott Adkins facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Scott Adkins
Portrait of Adkins, Stuttgart Comic Con 2023
Born	Scott Edward Adkins (1976-06-17) 17 June 1976 (age 48) Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actor gymnast screenwriter film producer martial artist
Years active	1998–present
Children	2

Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is a British actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his villainous portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006), a role he reprised in its sequels Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2017). He has since made films in a variety of genres, such as crime dramas, martial arts movies, war films, action thrillers, sci-fi actioners and action comedies, mostly as the lead.

Born in Sutton Coldfield, Adkins began practising martial arts at age 13, taking up taekwondo and earning his black belt at age 19. His early acting credits include minor roles in the Hong Kong films The Accidental Spy (2001), Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2002), and The Medallion (2003), and the American films Special Forces (2003), Unleashed (2005), and The Pink Panther (2006). His portrayal of Yuri Boyka in the Undisputed film series won him an Action on Film Award for Breakout Action Star in 2010 and a Jackie Chan Action Movie Award for Best Action Movie Actor in 2017. His first lead role was as Casey Bowman in the American martial arts film Ninja (2009), a role he reprised in the sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013).

Adkins is known for his collaborations with Jean-Claude Van Damme, starring in The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008), Assassination Games (2011), Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning and The Expendables 2 (both in 2012). He also starred opposite Kellan Lutz in The Legend of Hercules (2014), Wu Jing in Wolf Warrior (2015), Donnie Yen in Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019), Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais in Triple Threat (2019), and Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023).

Early life

Scott Edward Adkins was born in Sutton Coldfield, a town within Birmingham, into a family of butchers. He first became interested in martial arts at the age of ten, when he visited a local Judo club with his father and older brother. After being robbed at age 13, his interest in martial arts grew even more. That same year, he began to practice Taekwondo. Since the age of 16, Scott also started to practice Kickboxing with Anthony Jones, eventually becoming a kickboxing instructor for the Professional Karate Association. He ran classes at the Fitness First at Bearwood, Smethwick once a week. He has also gained experience in Ninjutsu, Krav Maga, Karate, Wushu, Aikido, Jujutsu, MMA, Capoeira and Gymnastics.

As a youth, Adkins was inspired by Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, stating, "I wanted to be an actor first because I grew up idolizing action stars. The first one for me was Bruce Lee, and then there was Stallone and Arnold, and then Van Damme came along in '88 and really inspired me".

Acting career

He secured a role in a Hong Kong martial arts film called Dei Seung Chui Keung (2001) (aka Extreme Challenge). He was spotted by Head of the Hong Kong Stuntmen Association and director Stephen Tung and British-born Hong Kong movie expert Bey Logan, and found himself in the East for the first time. He had the opportunity to work with some of Hong Kong cinema's leading action directors including Yuen Woo-ping, Corey Yuen, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan. Acting roles soon started to come in and he was offered a guest role in the BBC's Doctors (2000) filmed at Birmingham's Pebble Mill. He appeared in a few episodes in BBC's EastEnders (2003) and City Central (1999), and a lead role in Sky One comedy drama Mile High (2003) followed by a regular role in BBC's Holby City (2006) as Bradley Hume, the assistant general manager of Holby General.

Starring roles in feature films soon followed with his portrayal of Talbot in Special Forces (2003) and Yuri Boyka in Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006). It was this film that broke him into the mainstream with his villainous portrayal of the Russian MMA underground fighter Yuri Boyka. After this Scott had guest starring roles in bigger budget films like The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and The Tournament (2009), and played Jean-Claude Van Damme's main adversary in Sony Pictures The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008). He shared the role of Weapon XI with Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). His first lead role was as Casey Bowman in the American martial arts film Ninja (2009), a role he reprised in the sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013).

In 2014, Adkins appeared in the role of King Amphitryon in The Legend of Hercules.

In 2012, he was cast to star in Métal Hurlant Chronicles, a television adaptation of the popular French comic book Metal Hurlant.

He has worked in four films with his idol Jean-Claude Van Damme: The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008), Assassination Games (2011), Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning and The Expendables 2 (both in 2012).

Adkins was reunited with action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping in 2019 when he starred alongside Donnie Yen in Ip Man 4: The Finale as the main antagonist Barton Geddes, a Marine gunnery sergeant. According to Adkins, Yen personally requested him to star in the film.

In 2022, he starred in Day Shift with Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco, and appeared in John Wick: Chapter 4 alongside Keanu Reeves in 2023.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	The Accidental Spy	Lee's bodyguard / Turkish leader	Credited as Scott Edward Adkins
	Extreme Challenge	Isac Borman	Direct-to-video
	Pure Vengeance	Dany	Short film
2002	Black Mask 2: City of Masks	Dr. Lang	Voiced by Jordan Chan in the Cantonese dub version
2003	Special Forces	Talbot	Direct-to-video
	The Medallion	Snakehead's Henchman
2005	Unleashed	Swimming Pool Fighter	Also known as Danny the Dog
	Pit Fighter	Nathan	Direct-to-video
2006	The Pink Panther	Jacquard / Footballer
	Undisputed II: Last Man Standing	Yuri Boyka	Direct-to-video
2007	The Bourne Ultimatum	Agent Kiley
2008	The Shepherd: Border Patrol	Karp	Direct-to-video
	Stag Night	Carl
2009	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	Weapon XI	Role shared with Ryan Reynolds
	The Tournament	Yuri Petrov	Direct-to-video
	Ninja	Casey Bowman
2010	Undisputed III: Redemption	Yuri Boyka
2011	Assassination Games	Roland Flint
2012	El Gringo	The Man
	The Expendables 2	Hector
	Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning	John	Direct-to-video
	Zero Dark Thirty	John Simmons
2013	Legendary	Travis Preston	Direct-to-video
	Green Street 3: Never Back Down	Danny Harvey
	Ninja: Shadow of a Tear	Casey Bowman
2014	The Legend of Hercules	King Amphitryon
2015	Zero Tolerance	Steven	Direct-to-video
	Wolf Warrior	Tom Cat
	Close Range	Colton MacReady	Direct-to-video
	Re-Kill	Parker
2016	Home Invasion	Heflin
	Jarhead 3: The Siege	Gunny Raines
	Grimsby	Pavel Lukashenko
	Criminal	Pete Greensleeves
	Hard Target 2	Wes Baylor	Direct-to-video
	Doctor Strange	Lucian / Strong Zealot
	Eliminators	Martin Parker / Thomas Mackenzie	Direct-to-video
2017	Savage Dog	Martin Tillman
	Boyka: Undisputed	Yuri Boyka
	American Assassin	Victor
2018	Accident Man	Mike Fallon	Direct-to-video; also producer and screenwriter
	Deadpool 2	Weapon XI	Archive footage; shared role with Ryan Reynolds
	The Debt Collector	French	Direct-to-video
	Incoming	Reiser
	No Surrender	The Crazy One	Originally known as Karmouz War
2019	Abduction	Quinn	Direct-to-video
	Triple Threat	Collins
	Avengement	Cain Burgess
	Ip Man 4: The Finale	Barton Geddes
2020	Debt Collectors	French	Direct-to-video; a sequel to The Debt Collector; Released as Payback in the UK
	Legacy of Lies	Martin Baxter	Direct-to-video
	Seized	Nero
	Dead Reckoning	Marco
	The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud	Max Cloud
2021	One Shot	Jake Harris
	Castle Falls	Mike Wade	Limited release
2022	Day Shift	Diran Nazarian
	Section Eight	Leonard Locke	Direct-to-video
	Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday	Mike Fallon	Direct-to-video; a sequel to Accident Man; Also producer, screenwriter and fight choreographer
2023	John Wick: Chapter 4	Killa Harkan
	Wherever You Go	Joseph	The US release date has not been determined; Originally known as Matrah Matrouh
2024	One More Shot	Jake Harris	Direct-to-video; A sequel to One Shot
	Lights Out	Don 'The Reaper' Richter	Limited release
	The Killer's Game	Angus Mackenzie	Post-production
	Take Cover	Sam Lorde	Post-production; Direct-to-video
2025	Skyline: Warpath	Eric Corley	Post-production; Direct-to-video
	Diablo	Kris Chaney	Post-production; Direct-to-video; Also producer

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Adkins in 2011

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Scott Adkins para niños