Thailand's answer to Jackie Chan.
Tatchakorn Yeerum, or more popularly known as Tony Jaa (Thai: ทัชชกร ยีรัมย์; Thatchakon Yiram; born 5 February 1976 in Surin, Thailand) is a Thai action star, stuntman, action choreographer, stuntman, director and former Buddhist monk, internationally known for his role in the Ong-Bak films and Tom-Yum-Goong.
A fan of action movies since young, having idolized Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Bruce Lee 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, gaining skills in Taekwondo, Wushu, Kung Fu, Silat, Karate, Judo and Kickboxing along with Muay Thai. 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 Ong-Bak, starring the then 27-year-old Jaa, made him an international star.
Jaa would go on to star in various martial arts movies in his native Thailand in the late 2000s. He left the film industry temporarily in 2010, due to a notorious Creator Breakdown in his debut as a director, 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 Skin Trade and first Hong Kong movie, Sha Po Lang II: A Time For Consequences.
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 kicking something 12 feet off the ground from a standing start
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Tony Jaa's Notable Films
- Spirited Killer
- Ong-Bak
- Tom-Yum-Goong and its sequel
- The Bodyguard (Thai) - appears in both movies, but only have a cameo role in each. His collective screentime in both movies combined totals to roughly 8 minutes.
- Skin Trade
- Furious 7
- Sha Po Lang II: A Time For Consequences
- xXx: Return of Xander Cage
- Master Z: Ip Man Legacy
- Paradox
- Triple Threat (2019)
- Monster Hunter (2020)
- Expend4bles
