Scott Adkins

Last updated

Scott Adkins
Stuttgart 2023 -Comic Con Germany- Scott Adkins- by-RaBoe 013 (cropped).jpg
Adkins in December 2023
Born
Scott Edward Adkins

(1976-06-17) 17 June 1976 (age 48)
Sutton Coldfield, England
Occupations
  • Actor
  • screenwriter
  • producer
  • martial artist
Years active1998–present
Height5 ft 11 in (180 cm) [1]
Children2
Website scottadkins.com

Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) [2] is an English actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his villainous portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006), a role he reprised in its sequels Undisputed III: Redemption (2010), which won him an Action on Film Award for Breakout Action Star, and Boyka: Undisputed (2017), which won him a Jackie Chan Action Movie Award for Best Action Movie Actor.

Contents

His early acting credits include minor roles in the Hong Kong films The Accidental Spy (2001), Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2002), and The Medallion (2003), and the American films Special Forces (2003), Unleashed (2005), and The Pink Panther (2006). His first lead role was as Casey Bowman in the American martial arts film Ninja (2009), a role he reprised in the sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013). He went on to play leading and supporting roles in the well-received films The Expendables 2 , Zero Dark Thirty (both 2012), Close Range (2015), Savage Dog (2017), Accident Man (2018), Triple Threat , Avengement , Ip Man 4: The Finale (all 2019), Legacy of Lies (2020), Castle Falls (2021), Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday (2022), and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023), among others. [3]

Adkins has been practicing martial arts since the age of 13, when he took up taekwondo and earned his black belt at age 19. He is also trained in the styles of judo, kickboxing, capoeira, Krav Maga, Jeet Kune Do (JKD), and Wushu. [4]

Early life

Scott Edward Adkins was born into a family of butchers in Sutton Coldfield on 17 June 1976. [2] He first became interested in martial arts at the age of ten, when he visited a local Judo club with his father and older brother. [5] After being robbed at age 13, his interest in martial arts grew even more. That same year, he began to practice taekwondo. At age 16, he started to practice kickboxing and eventually became a kickboxing instructor for the Professional Karate Association. He also ran weekly classes at the Fitness First in Bearwood. He has since gained experience in aikido, capoeira, gymnastics, jujutsu, karate, Krav Maga, MMA, ninjutsu, and wushu.

Adkins was inspired by Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. [2] He said in 2012, "I wanted to be an actor first because I grew up idolising action stars. The first one for me was Bruce Lee, and then there was Stallone and Arnold, and then Van Damme came along in '88 and really inspired me." [6]

Career

Adkins secured a role in a Hong Kong martial arts film called Dei Seung Chui Keung (2001), known in English as Extreme Challenge. He was spotted by Head of the Hong Kong Stuntmen Association and director Stephen Tung and British-born Hong Kong movie expert Bey Logan. [7] [8] He had the opportunity to work with some of Hong Kong cinema's leading action directors including Yuen Woo-ping, Corey Yuen, Sammo Hung, and Jackie Chan. He was soon offered a guest role in the BBC series Doctors (2000) and appeared in a few episodes of the BBC series Dangerfield (1998), City Central (1999), and EastEnders (2003), and a lead role in the Sky One comedy-drama Mile High (2003), followed by a regular role in BBC's Holby City (2006).[ citation needed ]

Starring roles in feature films soon followed with Adkins' portrayal of Talbot in Special Forces (2003) and Yuri Boyka in Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006). It was this film that broke him into the mainstream with his villainous portrayal of the Russian MMA underground fighter Yuri Boyka. After this, he had guest starring roles in bigger budget films like The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and The Tournament (2009), and played Jean-Claude Van Damme's main adversary in The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008). He shared the role of Weapon XI with Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). His first lead role was as Casey Bowman in the American martial arts film Ninja (2009), [2] a role he reprised in the sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013).[ citation needed ]

In 2012, Adkins was cast to star in Métal Hurlant Chronicles , a television adaptation of the popular French comic book Metal Hurlant .[ citation needed ] He has worked in four films with his idol Jean-Claude Van Damme: The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008), Assassination Games (2011), Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning , and The Expendables 2 (both in 2012).[ citation needed ] In 2014, he played King Amphitryon in The Legend of Hercules . [9] [10] He was reunited with action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping in 2019 when he starred alongside Donnie Yen in Ip Man 4: The Finale as the main antagonist Barton Geddes. [11] According to Adkins, Yen personally requested him to star in the film. [12] He also starred in Day Shift (2022) and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023). [13]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2001 The Accidental Spy Lee's Bodyguard / Turkish LeaderCredited as Scott Edward Adkins
Extreme ChallengeIsac Borman Direct-to-video
Pure VengeanceDany Short film
2002 Black Mask 2: City of Masks Dr. Lang
2003 Special Forces TalbotDirect-to-video
The Medallion Snakehead's Henchman
2005 Danny the Dog Swimming Pool Fighter
Pit Fighter NathanDirect-to-video
2006 The Pink Panther Jacquard / Footballer
Undisputed II: Last Man Standing Yuri BoykaDirect-to-video
2007 The Bourne Ultimatum CIA Agent Kiley
2008 The Shepherd: Border Patrol KarpDirect-to-video
Stag Night Carl
2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine Weapon XI Shared role with Ryan Reynolds
The Tournament Yuri Petrov
Ninja Casey BowmanDirect-to-video
2010 Undisputed III: Redemption Yuri Boyka
2011 Assassination Games Roland Flint
2012 El Gringo The Man
The Expendables 2 Hector
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning JohnDirect-to-video
Zero Dark Thirty CIA SAD/SOG Operative John Simmons
2013 Legendary Travis PrestonDirect-to-video
Green Street 3: Never Back Down Danny Harvey
Ninja: Shadow of a Tear Casey Bowman
2014 The Legend of Hercules King Amphitryon
2015 Zero Tolerance StevenDirect-to-video
Wolf Warrior Tom Cat [14]
Close Range Colton MacReadyDirect-to-video
Re-Kill Trent Parker
2016 Home Invasion Heflin
Jarhead 3: The SiegeGunny Raines
Grimsby Pavel Lukashenko
Criminal CIA Agent Pete Greensleeves
Hard Target 2 Wes BaylorDirect-to-video
Doctor Strange Lucian / Strong Zealot
Eliminators Martin Parker / Thomas MackenzieDirect-to-video
2017 Savage Dog Martin Tillman
Boyka: Undisputed Yuri Boyka
American Assassin Victor
2018 Accident Man Mike FallonDirect-to-video
Also producer and screenwriter
Deadpool 2 Weapon XI Archive footage
Shared role with Ryan Reynolds
The Debt Collector"Frenchy" FrenchDirect-to-video
IncomingReiser
No SurrenderThe Crazy One
2019AbductionQuinn
Triple Threat Collins
Avengement Cain BurgessDirect-to-video
Ip Man 4: The Finale Gunnery Sergeant Barton Geddes
2020Debt Collectors"Frenchy" FrenchDirect-to-video
Legacy of Lies Martin Baxter
Seized Nero
Dead Reckoning Marco
The Intergalactic Adventures of Max CloudMax Cloud
2021 One Shot Jake Harris
Castle Falls Mike Wade
2022 Day Shift Diran Nazarian
Section Eight Leonard LockeDirect-to-video
Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday Mike FallonDirect-to-video
Also producer, screenwriter and fight choreographer
2023 John Wick: Chapter 4 Killa Harkan
Wherever You GoJoseph
2024 One More Shot Jake HarrisDirect-to-video
Lights Out Don "The Reaper" Richter
The Killer's Game Angus Mackenzie [15]
Take Cover Sam LordeDirect-to-video
2025 Skyline: Warpath †Eric CorleyPost-production
Diablo †Kris Chaney
RIP †
TBADeath March†James WrightDirect-to-video
Also screenwriter
Reckless [16] †DevonPost-production
Direct-to-video
Day of Reckoning †
Key
†Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Adkins in 2011 Scott Adkins Hector.jpg
Adkins in 2011
YearTitleRoleNotes
1998 Dangerfield Episode: "Paths"
1999 City Central Jake ClantonEpisode: "Life Liberty and Pursuit"
2000 Doctors Ross3 episodes
2001 The Big Breakfast Himself1 episode
2002 Mutant X MarkoUncredited
Episode: "Sign from Above"
2003 EastEnders Joel6 episodes
2005 Mile High Ed Russell12 episodes
Hollyoaks: Let Loose Ryan2 episodes
2006 Holby City Bradley Hume9 episodes
2012, 2014 Métal Hurlant Chronicles Guillame / Joe Manda3 episodes

Awards and nominations

YearNominated workAwardCategoryResults
2010 Undisputed III: Redemption Action On Film International Film Festival Breakout Action StarWon
2017 Boyka: Undisputed Jackie Chan Action Movie Awards Best FightWon
Best Action Movie ActorWon

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References

  1. ↑ "Interview with Scott Adkins, Part 1". www.kungfukingdom.com. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "About Scott Adkins". ScottAdkins.com. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  3. ↑ "Scott Adkins". www.rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  4. ↑ "Interview with Scott Adkins, Part 1". www.kungfukingdom.com. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  5. ↑ "Interview | Scott Adkins on 'Close Range' and 'Doctor Strange' - CraveOnline". CraveOnline. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  6. ↑ "Scott Adkins Interview: 'Universal Soldier,' Fighting van Damme, and 'Zero Dark Thirty'". 24 September 2012.
  7. ↑ Francisco, Eric (21 February 2024). "Scott Adkins is the Last of the Great Action Stars". Inverse . Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  8. ↑ Johnson, Travis (4 October 2021). "Enter the world of action star Scott Adkins with 'Ninja: Shadow of a Tear'". SBS Australia . Retrieved 15 May 2024.
  9. ↑ Peter Martin. "Scott Adkins Crowned King In Renny Harlin's HERCULES 3D". TwitchFilm. Archived from the original on 8 June 2013.
  10. ↑ "'Kickboxer' Reboot Punches Up Cast With Scott Adkins, Tony Jaa". Variety . 5 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  11. ↑ "Meet Scott Adkins, Donnie Yen's nemesis in Ip Man 4". South China Morning Post. 17 December 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  12. ↑ Topel, Fred (1 January 2020). "'Ip Man 4: The Finale' Villain Scott Adkins Reveals One Big Change in His Fight with Donnie Yen". Showbiz Cheat Sheet. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
  13. ↑ Kroll, Justin (29 June 2021). "'John Wick 4': Scott Adkins In Talks To Join Keanu Reeves In Next Installment". Deadline. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  14. ↑ "Scott Adkins". Archived from the original on 21 April 2014.
  15. ↑ Fuge, Jonathan (11 July 2023). "John Wick 4 Stars Scott Adkins & Marko Zaror Join Dave Bautista in Action Flick The Killer's Game". MovieWeb. Retrieved 23 July 2023.
  16. ↑ Kay2024-11-05T12:30:00+00:00, Jeremy. "AFM 2024: the buzz titles from the Americas". Screen. Retrieved 3 December 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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