Yuen Woo-ping facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Yuen Woo-ping
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| 袁和平 | |||||||||||
Yuen Woo-ping at the Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas in 2010 at the premiere of True Legend
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| Born | 1 January 1945 Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
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| Awards | Hong Kong Film Awards – Best Action Choreography 2001 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2005 Kung Fu Hustle 2007 Fearless 2014 The Grandmaster 2020 Ip Man 4 Hong Kong Film Awards – Professional Achievement Award 2000 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon |
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| Chinese | 袁和平 | ||||||||||
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Yuen Woo-ping (Chinese: 袁和平; pinyin: Yuán Hépíng) is a famous Hong Kong film director and a martial arts choreographer. He is often called "Master Yuen" because he creates amazing fight scenes for movies. He has worked on many famous films in Hong Kong and Hollywood.
Yuen Woo-ping is also the son of Yuen Siu-tien, who was a well-known martial arts actor. Yuen Woo-ping even has a star on the Avenue of Stars in Hong Kong!
Contents
Life and Career of Yuen Woo-ping
Yuen Woo-ping was born in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China in 1945. He started his career in movies by helping with fight scenes.
Early Success in Hong Kong
In 1978, Yuen Woo-ping directed his first movie, Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. This film starred a young Jackie Chan. Soon after, he directed Drunken Master, also with Jackie Chan.
These movies were huge hits! They made Jackie Chan a big movie star. They also started a new trend in martial arts films, adding more comedy. This style became very popular for many years.
Yuen Woo-ping continued to direct movies starring other famous martial arts actors. He worked with Sammo Hung in Magnificent Butcher (1979) and Yuen Biao in Dreadnaught (1981). He also directed Donnie Yen in Iron Monkey (1993) and Jet Li in Tai Chi Master (1993). He even directed Michelle Yeoh in Wing Chun (1994).
Becoming a Hollywood Master
Yuen Woo-ping's amazing fight choreography in films like Fist of Legend (1994) caught the eye of Hollywood filmmakers. The directors of The Matrix (1999) hired him to create the martial arts scenes for their movie.
The success of The Matrix and his work on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) made him very famous in Hollywood. Everyone wanted to work with him! He then choreographed the fight scenes for the next two Matrix movies. He also worked on Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004).
Recent Works and Achievements
After his Hollywood success, Yuen Woo-ping continued to work on big Hong Kong films. He choreographed the action for Kung Fu Hustle (2004), starring Stephen Chow. He also worked on Fearless (2006), starring Jet Li.
In 2008, he choreographed The Forbidden Kingdom. This was a special movie because it was the first time Jackie Chan and Jet Li starred together! Yuen Woo-ping also helped with the fight scenes for Ninja Assassin (2009).
In 2010, Yuen Woo-ping directed True Legend. He also worked as a stunt coordinator for two big South Indian films, Enthiran (2010) and I (2014).
In 2015, he directed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny. This movie brought back many of his famous action styles. In 2021, he was one of six famous Hong Kong filmmakers who made short films for Septet: The Story of Hong Kong.
Filmography
As a Director
- Snake in the Eagle's Shadow (1978)
- Drunken Master (1978)
- Magnificent Butcher (1979)
- The Buddhist Fist (1980)
- Dreadnaught (1981)
- The Miracle Fighters (1982)
- Legend of a Fighter (1982)
- Shaolin Drunkard (1983)
- Drunken Tai Chi (1984)
- Mismatched Couples (1985)
- The Close Encounter of the Vampire (1986)
- Tiger Cage (1988)
- In the Line of Duty 4: Witness (1989)
- Tiger Cage 2 (1990)
- Tiger Cage 3 (1991)
- Heroes Among Heroes (1993)
- Iron Monkey (1993)
- Tai Chi Master (1993)
- Wing Chun (1994)
- Fire Dragon (1994)
- Red Wolf (1995)
- Tai Chi Boxer (1996)
- True Legend (2010)
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny (2016)
- The Thousand Faces of Dunjia (2017)
- Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy (2018)
- Septet: The Story of Hong Kong (2020)
As Action Choreographer / Fight Advisor (Selected)
- Drunken Master (1978)
- Once Upon a Time in China II (1992)
- Fist of Legend (1994)
- The Matrix (1999)
- Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
- The Matrix Reloaded (2003)
- The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
- Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
- Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
- Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
- Unleashed (2005)
- Fearless (2006)
- The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)
- Enthiran (2010)
- The Grandmaster (2013)
- Man of Tai Chi (2013)
- I (2015)
- Ip Man 3 (2015)
- Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019)
As an Actor (Selected)
- Mismatched Couples (1985) as Mini
- Eastern Condors (1987) as Grandpa Yun Yen-hoy
- The Wicked City (1992) as Sergeant Kayama
- The Grandmaster (2013) as Chan Wah-shun
Awards and Nominations
Yuen Woo-ping has won many awards for his amazing work!
- He won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Action Choreography six times for movies like Once Upon a Time in China II, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and Kung Fu Hustle.
- He also received a special Professional Achievement Award at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2001.
- He won the Special Achievement Award from the Hong Kong Film Critics Society for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
- He won the Best Action Choreography award at the Golden Horse Awards for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
See also
In Spanish: Yuen Woo-ping para niños
