History Creator / TonyJaa

A fan of action movies since young, having idolized Creator/JackieChan, Creator/JetLi and Creator/BruceLee as a kid, Jaa began training in the Thai martial arts of Muay Thai since age 10, under the tutelage of Thai stuntman extraordinaire Panna Rittikrai. With his outstanding skills in Muay Boran, fluid, acrobatic moves and natural athletic prowess, Jaa landed himself roles in action movies or as stunt doubles, but it wasn't until his performance in ''Film/OngBak'', starring the then 27-year-old Jaa, made him an international star.

Fun fact: Tony Jaa trained himself to jump extraordinarily high and perform complex gymnastics because he wanted to emulate the action stars he admired, [[AchievementsInIgnorance but didn't realize that those stars performed stunts with the assistance of wires and mats]]. He is capable of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnQreE8C93k jumping twelve feet high, without the assistance of wires, and executing a kick in mid-air hard enough to shatter wood]]. Such is the unnaturally high prowess of Jaa's martial arts skills.

* ''Film/XXXReturnOfXanderCage''

* ''Film/XXXReturnofXanderCage''

UsefulNotes/{{Thailand}}'s answer to Jackie Chan.

[[caption-width-right:350:Somehow, this image barely manage to capture five percent of the natural badassery present on Jaa himself.]]

* ''Film/OngBak'' - appears in all three films of the trilogy, although he plays a different character in the first movie
* ''Film/TomYumGoong''

* ''Film/TripleThreat''

* ''Film/MasterZTheIpManLegacy''

* ''Film/MonsterHunter2020''

* ''Film/{{Paradox}}''

* ''Film/MonsterHunter''

Thailand's answer to Jackie Chan.

Fun fact: Tony Jaa trained himself to jump extraordinarily high and perform complex gymnastics because he wanted to emulate the action stars he admired, but didn't realize that those stars performed stunts with the assistance of wires and mats. He is capable of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnQreE8C93k jumping twelve feet high, without the assistance of wires, and executing a kick in mid-air hard enough to shatter wood]]. Such is the unnaturally high prowess of Jaa's martial arts skills.

* ''Film/TripleThreat''

Fun fact: Tony Jaa is capable of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnQreE8C93k jumping twelve feet high, without the assistance of wires, and executing a kick in mid-air hard enough to shatter wood]]. Such is the unnaturally high prowess of Jaa's martial arts skills.

Jaa would go on to star in various martial arts movies in his native Thailand in the late 2000s, until leaving the film industry temporarily in 2010 to become a Buddhist monk in the temple he trained his arts in as a child. After a short hiatus, Jaa would make a grand comeback into cinema, with his Hollywood debut ''Film/SkinTrade'' and first Hong Kong movie, ''Film/ShaPoLangIIATimeForConsequences''.

* ''The Bodyguard'' - appears in both movies, but only have a [[TheCameo cameo]] role in each. His collective screentime in both movies combined totals to roughly 8 minutes.

Tatchakorn Yeerum, or more popularly known as Tony Jaa (Thai: ทัชชกร ยีรัมย์; Thatchakon Yiram; born 5 February 1976) is a Thai action star, stuntman, action choreographer, stuntman, director and former Buddhist monk, internationally known for his role in the ''Film/OngBak'' films and ''Film/TomYumGoong''.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tony_jaa_5.jpg]]

* ''Film/TheBodyguard'' - appears in both movies, but only have a [[TheCameo cameo]] role in each. His collective screentime in both movies combined totals to roughly 8 minutes.