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I like to stay within the context of the character's background. If he's a cop, I have to make sure the audience is convinced that this person, a cop, can do only so much without a gun.

Donnie Yen

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Donnie Yen
Age: 61
Born: 1963
Born: July 27
Actor
Choreographer
Film Actor
Film Director
Film Producer
Judoka
Karateka
Martial Artist
Producer
Taekwondo Athlete
Television Actor
Canton
Donnie Yen Ji-dan
Character
Background
Persons
Backgrounds
Person
Gun
Without
Convinced
Much
Stay
Make
Audience
Like
Within
Cop
Sure
Context

More quotes by Donnie Yen

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Martial art is a form of expression, an expression from your inner self to your hands and legs.
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It's a blessing to be given a variety of roles to what I call an iconic action actor like myself.
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When you direct a movie, you're basically looking at a story, the way you want to look at it. You bring that director's vision, and I'm totally open for that.
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I certainly hope 'Dragon' can leave some legacy behind.
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An action choreographer is kind of like a dance choreographer. You choreograph the moves and you let the director, cinematographer take into positioning their cameras.
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Bruce is the man. He was definitely ahead of his time.
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I love working with older actors because number one, I can learn so much from them because they have so much experience. And it's fun to hear their stories from their era, some of the jokes.
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A lot of people don't realize, when you are acting in a martial arts film, you're not just performing martial arts. You're not just performing martial arts. You're actually acting as much as any other actor.
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When audiences look at an action actor like myself, sometimes we are very easily stereotyped or characterized as one type. They forget that we are actors, too.
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For me, the challenge of a period film is that, unlike a contemporary film where the character can be very free-form when it comes to the acting, there's a burden to acting in a period film because you have to stay within the character's historical background and the gestures of certain periods.
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My action follows my characters. If a character is a cop, you cannot be posing all the time, you cannot fly off the roof because it doesn't make any sense - it's not practical.
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My mum lives in Boston she's famous for teaching wushu and t'ai chi. So from when I was young, my mum and aunt were like: 'You're training you're not playing baseball or football.' Training every day was normal. Later, when I was almost a teenager, Bruce Lee became my idol.
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For me, I like to have explosive moments, whether it is a particular movement itself in the whole sequence. I like to have shocking moments for audiences to feel, like, 'Whoa!' It's always been my forte.
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When you watch my films, you're feeling my heart.
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I act according to the requirements of the character, and if I try to play the role, then I play it truthfully. In my daily life, I'm a laid-back, peaceful guy. I'm just doing my job to act.
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Like any other actor, I draw on life experience.
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I've always been in a rebel.
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Personally, I prefer contemporary films, but the market calls for more period choices, especially since China opened up a cinema market in Hong Kong. There's a lot of restriction for contemporary films simply because of subject matter.
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I spent a couple of years doing American films. I did a few.
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As an action director I always try to bring something fresh and new.
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