Age: 62
male
Donnie Yen Chi-tan is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and action director. He is the recipient of various accolades, including three Golden Horse Awards and five Hong Kong Film Awards. He is best known for portraying Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man in the Ip Man film series, namely Ip Man (2008), Ip Man 2 (2010), Ip Man 3 (2015), and Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019). He also served as co-producer for the spin-off Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018). Born in Guangdong, Yen developed an interest in martial arts at a young age, and began experimenting with various styles, including tai chi and other traditional Chinese martial arts. At age 18, he auditioned for action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping in Hong Kong. He landed his first starring role in the 1984 Hong Kong martial arts action film Drunken Tai Chi. He made his breakthrough role as the antagonist General Nap-lan in Once Upon a Time in China II (1992), opposite Jet Li's character. He appeared in several other Hong Kong kung fu films, including Iron Monkey (1993) and Wing Chun (1994). In 1997, he starred in his directorial debut film Legend of the Wolf. Yen made his American debut in Highlander: Endgame (2000), followed by a cameo in Blade II (2002). He went on to appear in the American films Shanghai Knights (2003), Rogue One (2016), XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017), Mulan (2020), and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023). He has continued to be active in Hong Kong cinema, appearing in the well-received films Hero (2002), SPL: Sha Po Lang (2005), 14 Blades (2010), Wu Xia (2011), Kung Fu Jungle (2014), Chasing the Dragon (2017), Enter the Fat Dragon (2020), Raging Fire (2021), and The Prosecutor (2024), among others. In television, Yen portrayed fictional character Chen Zhen in the television series Fist of Fury (1995); he reprised the role in the 2010 film Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen. For portraying Ip Man in the Ip Man film series (2008-2019), Yen is credited by many for contributing to the popularisation of Wing Chun in China. Alongside Kung fu, particularly Wing Chun, Yen is also known for incorporating mixed martial arts (MMA) elements into his action choreography. Aside from his acting, in 1997, he established his own production company, Bullet Films, which choreographed the action for Western blockbusters like Blade II (2002) and Stormbreaker (2006).
Donnie Yen
Mao Zedong
for Mao Zedong in World War II: The War in the Pacific
Suggested by darksith
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War, was the scene of World War II, which took place in East Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. Geographically, it was the largest theater of the war, including the huge war rampage in the Pacific, the war in the Southwest Pacific, the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the Soviet-Japanese War. The Second Sino-Japanese War between the Empire of Japan and the Republic of China had been ongoing since July 7, 1937, with hostilities extending as far back as September 19, 1931, with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. The Pacific War itself began on December 7 (December 8 Japanese time) 1941, when the Japanese simultaneously attacked United States military bases in Hawaii, Wake Island, Guam, and the Philippines and invaded Thailand and the British colonies of Malaya, Singapore and Hong Kong. In the Pacific War, the Allies opposed Japan, aided by Thailand and to a lesser extent by Axis allies. The fighting consisted of some of the largest naval battles in history and incredibly fierce battles and war crimes across Asia and the Pacific Islands resulting in huge loss of life. The war culminated in massive Allied air raids on Japan, including the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, accompanied by a declaration of war by the Soviet Union and the invasion of Manchuria and other territories on August 9, 1945, causing the Japanese to announce their intention to surrender on August 15, 1945.
