5 top Chinese martial arts actors to know, from Zhang Jin in Wong Kar-wai’s The Grandmaster and Ip Man films to Wu Jing’s cameo in The Mummy

Oct 8 , 2021

Max Zhang Jin in Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy. Photo: Handout

With China’s crackdown on ‘sissy idols’, stars like Huang Zitao – ex-member of K-pop boy band Exo – are ditching gender-bending looks for beefed up physiques

Martial arts actors like Zhang, husband of TVB actress Ada Choi, are enjoying more spotlight too – could they be the next Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan?

It’s a tumultuous time for Chinese celebrities. On the one hand, there’s Huang Zitao, ex-member of K-pop boy band Exo, who had to ditch his make-up and gender-bending style, highlighting instead his new beefed up physique in recent social media posts. It’s a move likely due to the widely reported banning of “sissy idols” from the National Radio and Television Administration of China.

Then on the other hand, there also seems to be a sudden rise in actors who excel in martial arts – or at least play characters who do so – taking leading roles in wuxia films. Like Huang, these Chinese celebrities are showcasing their fit physiques along with impressive fighting skills.

Here are some of the emerging martial artists worth paying attention to, who are well on their way to becoming the next Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan or Donnie Yen.

Wu Jing

A still of Wolf Warrior 2. Photo: Handout

There is no doubt about Wu Jing’s martial arts skills, as he began practising from the tender age of six. He joined the Beijing wu shu team and was the winner of several national competitions by the time he was 12.

He starred in numerous mainland Chinese wuxia TV series in his early years, but his Hong Kong breakthrough was the 2005 action film SPL: Sha Po Lang, in which he had a fight scene with Donnie Yen.

He had a small cameo in the Hollywood blockbuster The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor in 2008, and made his directorial debut on Legendary Assassin. Since then, he has appeared in plenty of exciting flicks including Shaolin and SPL II: A Time for Consequences, and directed and starred in the Wolf Warrior film series.

Max Zhang

Max Zhang Jin also has a martial arts background. After retiring as a wushu athlete, he started a new career as a stunt actor, with his first major role being the stunt double for Zhang Ziyi in Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.