Jet Li

Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean martial artist and actor. With a film career spanning more than forty years, Li is regarded as one of the most iconic Chinese film stars, one of the most renowned martial arts stars of his generation, and one of the greatest martial arts stars in the history of cinema. Films in which he has appeared in have grossed over $2.4 billion worldwide.

After three years of training with acclaimed wushu teacher Wu Bin, Li won his first national championship for the Beijing Wushu Team in 1974, winning the first of five men's national championships. After his retirement from the sport in 1979, he went on to win great acclaim as an actor, making his debut with the martial arts film Shaolin Temple (1982), which instantly catapulted him to stardom in East Asia. Li had a major breakthrough across Asia with the Once Upon a Time in China film series (1991-1993), in which he portrayed folk hero Wong Fei-hung. He went on to star in many martial arts films that are regarded as classics of the genre, such as Swordsman II (1992), Fong Sai-yuk (1993), and Fist of Legend (1994). He starred in his directorial debut film Born to Defence (1986). His movie career in China is credited with reviving wushu in Hong Kong martial arts films during the 1990s, popularising the gun fu subgenre, and revitalising the Shaolin Temple. Li is also noted for his contribution to making new wuxia films popular internationally during his career.

Li made his Hollywood debut as a villain in the 1998 buddy cop action film Lethal Weapon 4. His first leading role in a Hollywood film was as Han Sing in Romeo Must Die (2000). He went on to star in many international action films, including in French cinema with the Luc Besson-produced films Kiss of the Dragon (2001) and Unleashed (2005). He continued to be active in Chinese and Hong Kong cinema, appearing in the critically acclaimed film Hero (2002), Fearless (2006), which marked his final wushu martial arts film, and The Warlords (2007). For the latter, he became the highest paid actor in a Chinese-language movie, previously holding the record for his part in Hero. In 2008, he portrayed the title character villain in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor and starred in The Forbidden Kingdom, which marked his first collaboration with fellow martial arts star Jackie Chan. After his hyperthyroidism diagnosis in 2010, Li stepped away from more physically demanding film roles.

Li's accolades include Best Actor wins from the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award (for his performance in Fearless) and the Hong Kong Film Award and the Shanghai Film Critics Award (for his performance in The Warlords). Li topped Forbes list of China's richest stars in 2004. In 2007, he founded One Foundation, which was registered in 2011 as the first private charitable fundraising organization in China. Also that year, he was appointed by the International Wushu Federation (IWUF) and the Chinese Wushu Association (CWA) as the "Image Ambassador of Wushu". Li was named by Time as one of the 100 Most Influential People in 2010.