Overview (3)

Born April 26, 1963 in Beijing, China Birth Name Li Lian Jie Height 5' 6¼" (1.68 m)

Mini Bio (1)

Jet Li born Li Lian Jie in Beijing, China. He started training at the Beijing wushu academy (wushu is China's national sport, largely a performance version of various martial art styles) at age eight. He won five gold medals in the Chinese championships, his first when he was only 11. In his teens, he was already a national coach, and before he was 20 he had starred in his first movie: Shao Lin si (1982), which started the 1980s Kung-Fu boom in mainland China. He relocated to Hong Kong, where he was the biggest star of the early 1990s Kung-Fu boom. His first directorial effort was Final Fight (1986).

- IMDb Mini Biography By: <bbjamin@micronet.fr> and Johan Wikberg

Spouse (2)

Nina Li Chi (19 September 1999 - present) ( 2 children) Qiuyan Huang (1987 - 1990) ( divorced) ( 2 children)

Trade Mark (3)

His brutal fighting style



Often plays soft-spoken men who dislike violence



Lightning fast kicks and punches



Trivia (30)



Won Chinese national championship in the acrobatic martial art wushu when he was 11; his prize was a trip to Washington D.C. to meet President Richard Nixon

He studies English with a tutor for 4 hours a day.





Jet & wife Nina Li Chi became parents to a 6 lb. 13 oz. daughter, Jane. [April 2000]



Other than providing voice-overs for Kit Yun in Rise to Honor (2003), he also did the motion-capture for his fight scenes.

Injured his foot while escaping the tsunami that followed a 9.0 earthquake in the Indian Ocean. Li and his four year old daughter were on vacation in the Maldives on December 26th, 2004. The two were in the lobby of their hotel when the wave came ashore. Scooping up his daughter and running for higher ground, a piece of furniture hit his foot, causing the injury.



In 2009, he renounced his US citizenship. He was thought to have taken up Singaporean citizenship, although Singaporean authorities did not initially provide any confirmation of this. On 28 July 2009, the chairman of One Foundation (the charity fund of Li) announced that Jet Li had indeed become a Singaporean citizen. He was said to have chosen Singapore for its education system for his two younger daughters.



His Mandarin name is Li Lianjie. His Cantonese name is Lei Lin-Git (or Lee Lin-Kit).





Has played both real life legend Huo Yuan Jia (in Fearless (2006)) and his semi-fictional student Chen Zhen (in Fist of Legend (1994)).

One of 105 people invited to join AMPAS in 2008.



In 2009, he launched his own fitness program, Wuji. The programme consists of elements of martial arts, yoga and pilates; Adidas launched a special clothing line for it that bears the initials of "JL".



In his free time he likes to play badminton and table tennis, ride his bicycle, read and meditate. He collects rare Tibetan beads. He says he is never bored in his free time.



In 2013, he revealed that he suffers from hyperthyroidism and has been dealing with the issue for the past three years. Since his heart rate can hit 130~140 at rest, Li takes medication to control his heart rate and has been advised not to do any sort of exercise. In 2016, he stated that he had recovered from his illness and that accepting fewer film offers was due to his charity work and not because of his health conditions.





In July 2001, Li agreed to produce and star in an action film with Jackie Chan which was to be released in 2002 or 2003, but no further news of their collaboration surfaced until 2006. That was Forbidden Kingdom (2008).



He was considered for the role of The Amazing Yen in Ocean's Eleven (2001).



He has been a "philanthropic ambassador" of the Red Cross Society of China since January 2006. He contributed 500,000 yuan (US$62,500) of box office revenues from Fearless (2006) to the Red Cross' psychological sunshine project, which promotes mental health.

As a Buddhist, believes that the difficulties of everyday life can be overcome with the help of religious philosophies. He thinks that fame is not something he can control; therefore, he does not care about it.





He was originally set to star in The Art of War (2000).



According to Li, everything he has ever wanted to tell the world can be found in three of his films: the message of Hero (2002) is that the suffering of one person can never be as significant as the suffering of a nation; Unleashed - Entfesselt (2005) shows that violence is never a solution; and Fearless (2006) tells that the biggest enemy of a person is himself. Li thinks that the greatest weapon is a smile and the largest power is love.

He founded Taiji Zen in 2011, along with co-founder Executive chairman Jack Ma. Taiji Zen is a lifestyle company with the mission of spreading "Health and Happiness for All" through a balance of physical wellness and mental fitness. Taiji Zen combined the martial art of Taijiquan (a.k.a. T'ai Chi Chuan) with mindfulness-based practices such as meditation. It packaged these art forms into several different classes and online programs.





He was originally going to star in Hard to Die (1993). While the film was still in pre-production, his agent Jim Choy was gunned down by the Triads. The incident caused Li to opt out of making a movie about organized crime, as he was afraid of attracting the wrong attention, so he chose to do Tai Chi (1993) instead.

About Wushu, he said that he believes the essence of martial arts is not power or speed but inner harmony, and considers it a sad development that today's Wushu championships place greater emphasis on form than on the essence of being a martial artist. He believes Wushu now lacks individuality and competitors move like machines, whereas according to his views Wushu should not be considered a race where the fastest athlete wins. He would like to see Wushu as a form of art, where artists have a distinctive style. Li blames the new competition rules that, according to him, place limitations on martial artists.



He nearly died during the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami but both he and his daughters just barely escaped with only minor injuries.



Personal Quotes (12)

I can feel very brave through all the action scenes in front of the people who are on the set, but when a girl comes close to me my face turns red because I'm so shy.





I have met Jackie Chan about 6 times up 'til now . . . and even though many people think we are natural enemies, I personally think he is a cool bloke and would honestly love to work with him in a film one time - that would a well brilliant movie!

You can beat me up, but don't touch my hair, I will kill you!





[on Hero (2002)] Usually action films have a formula: good guy gets in trouble, his wife dies, friends have problems, so he goes to the mountain, learns martial arts, comes back, and kills the bad guy. But on this film, we talked about a totally different angle to see my character.



[on Hero (2002)] In the past two years, somebody tried to recut it the American way, looping English, but I'm glad right now we still keep the original way. I think the way the director shot [the movie] was not a normal action film.



I stepped into the martial arts movie market when I was only 16. I think I have proved my ability in this field and it won't make sense for me to continue for another five or 10 years. Fearless (2006) is a conclusion to my life as a martial arts star.

We are a global family. The religion is different, the languages are different but we are human beings and we need to help each other.



She's a wonderful actress and I'm glad Luc Besson decided to use her in this film. Usually, for action movies, the actress is a beautiful flower. They put the flower there, and then they fight. When they need the flower to come in, they bring her in. But this film, Bridget is the key.



You cannot make one film and make everybody happy. You make a PG movie and your hardcore fans say, "It's too soft".



[on 'Kiss of the Dragon'] This story focuses on a normal man, trying to do his job. He doesn't know how to deal with the girl. He gives the promise to the girl. Later on the character develops, because he has to do something to keep his word. Even if that something is against his job, his country. But he still needs to keep his word. It's a unique story. I like it very much.



[on 'Kiss of the Dragon'] After 'Romeo Must Die' a lot of hardcore Jet Li fans told me on my website they don't like the action sequences. They thought it was too choppy, not clear. Not as good as my older films. So, I thought it would be the right time for me to do some hardcore fighting with a strong character.



[on 'Kiss of the Dragon'] We used street fighting, hardcore fighting. Very straightforward, no cable, just hand to hand to hand, or gungfu to gungfu. We found a lot of good champions in Europe.



Salary (6)