Tom Wu

In this Hong Kong name, the surname is Wu.

Tom Wu
Born	(1972-05-15) 15 May 1972 (age 53) British Hong Kong
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1988–present
Known for	Martial arts

Tom Wu (born 15 May 1972) is a Hong Kong-born British actor. He is a martial artist whose films include Shanghai Knights (2003), Out for a Kill (2003), Belly of the Beast (2003), Revolver (2005), Batman Begins (2005) and the Bollywood film Ra.One (2011). ^[1] On television, he is known for his roles in the CBBC series Spirit Warriors (2010), the Netflix series Marco Polo ^[2] (2014–2016) and the ITV crime drama Strangers (2018).

Early life

Wu was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Chinatown, London. ^[3] At the age of ten, Wu began practising various martial arts such as Hung Gar, karate and Wing Chun and later took up acrobatics. In 1988, he competed for Britain at China's International wu-shu (martial arts) tournament, winning two bronze medals and a gold medal. ^[4]

Wu went on to study at Guildhall School of Music and Drama. ^{[5] [6]}

Career

Wu is one of the founding members of the British theatre company Yellow Earth Theatre, which was established in 1995. ^{[7] [8] [9] [10]} He's performed in their various productions over the years including The Magic Paintbrush, ^[11] Play to Win, ^[12] a co-production with Soho Theatre and The Whisper of a Leaf Falling at Battersea Arts Centre, ^[13] Blue Remembered Hills ^[14] and Behind the Chinese Takeaway. ^[15] He choreographed their touring show Why The Lion Danced in 2013. ^[16]

His further stage credits include M. Butterfly in 1989 at Shaftesbury Theatre ^[17] and the original production of Miss Saigon in 1989. ^[18] In 2005, he went on to perform in an adaptation of Tintin (character) at Barbican Theatre. ^[19]

Wu is known for playing numerous Chinese Triad gang member or leader roles in various films. ^[20] Such as Out for a Kill , Wake of Death , Revolver and Kick-Ass 2 and most recently, in 2019 playing a criminal and tattoo artist in the Fast & Furious spin-off Hobbs & Shaw and playing the Chinese Triad leader Lord George in the British film The Gentlemen . ^[21]

One of his notable roles was in The Scorpion King 2 (2008) ^[22] where he played Fung, a Chinese Ming dynasty soldier rescued by Mathayus and his allies and who later assists them towards the end of the film.

In 2014, he portrayed the character Hundred Eyes in the Netflix original series Marco Polo before its cancellation in late 2016. ^[23] Wu played Sir George, King Arthur's mentor in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword in 2017. In 2018, Wu played Hong Kong inspector Daniel Tsui in the series Strangers . ^[24] In 2019 he featured as Lord George in the Guy Ritchie film The Gentlemen (2019 film). ^[25] In 2021 he appeared in action feature Havoc (2025 film). ^[26]

Personal life

Wu is married to violinist Sarah Chi Shang Liew. ^[27]

Filmography

Film & Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1988	Rockliffe's Babies	Ho Lee	Episode: "A Very Diplomatic Incident"
1991	The Godfather Squad	Triad Member In Restaurant
1992	To Be the Best	Airline Official	TV movie
1996	Thief Takers	Chang Ming	2 episodes
	Cracker	Detective Lawyer	Episode: "White Ghost"
1998	Immortality	Gang Member
1999	Rogue Trader	George Seow
2003	Shanghai Knights	"Lead Boxer" Liu
	Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life	Sean's Man
	Out for a Kill	Li Bo
	Belly of the Beast	General Jantapan
2004	Wake of Death [28]	Andy Wang
2005	Batman Begins	Bhutanese Prison Guard #1
	Revolver [29]	Lord John
2008	The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior [30]	Fong
	Mutant Chronicles [31]	Corporal Juba Kim Wu
2010	Spirit Warriors [32]	Hwang	7 episodes
2011	Ra.One [33]	Akashi	Hindi film
2012	Treasure Island	Joe Thoby	TV film
	Skyfall	Silva's Mercenary
2013	RED 2	Security Officer
	Kick-Ass 2 [34]	Genghis Carnage
2014	Da Vinci's Demons	Quon Shan	5 episodes
2014–2016	Marco Polo [35]	Hundred Eyes	18 episodes
2015	Marco Polo: One Hundred Eyes [36]	Hundred Eyes	TV short
2016	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny	[37]
2017	King Arthur: Legend of the Sword [38]	Kung Fu George
2018	Strangers [39]	Detective Inspector Daniel Tsui	8 episodes
2019	Baliko	King	Short film
	Strike Back: Revolution [40]	Uncle Laoshu	2 episodes
	Hobbs & Shaw [41]	Tsoi
	The Gentlemen [42]	Lord George
2020	The Host [43]	Yong
2022	The Sandman [44]	Hippogriff (voice)	Episode: "Dream of a Thousand Cats"
2024	3 Body Problem [45]	Count of the West	Episode: "Red Coast"
2025	Havoc [46]	Wong

References

1. "SRK ropes in Tom Wu for 'Ra.One'". NDTV Movies. 21 July 2010. Archived from the original on 13 July 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
2. Maglio, Tony (11 December 2014). "Netflix's 'Marco Polo' Showrunner Explains Why He's 'Obsessed' With the Legendary Explorer (Video)".
3. "The Cultural Politics of In/Visibility: Contesting 'British Chineseness' in the Arts" (PDF). openaccess.city.ac.uk.
4. "Tom Wu". Visible Chinese. 7 March 2008. Archived from the original on 19 August 2008. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
5. "Tom Wu – Waring McKenna". waringmckenna.com.
6. "Production Is Underway On Epic Netflix Original Series "Marco Polo" Produced By The Weinstein Company". www.prnewswire.com.
7. "Yellow Earth Theatre: milestone shows over the last 25 years". 20 February 2020.
8. "Tom Wu". Yellow Earth Theatre. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
9. "Exclusive: Kumiko Mendl to step down as artistic director of New Earth Theatre". The Stage.
10. "Alumni - Theatre companies - Rose Bruford". catalogue.bruford.ac.uk.
11. "Eclipse Report - Developing strategies to combat racism in theatre" (PDF). www.artscouncil.org.uk.
12. Gardner, Lyn (6 October 2000). "Play to Win" – via The Guardian.
13. "Yellow Earth Theatre, The Whisper of a Leaf Falling | Total Theatre Magazine Print Archive". totaltheatre.org.uk.
14. Web, UK Theatre. "Tour archive for Blue Remembered Hills (Play). 14th September 1999-13th November 1999 [T1723328008]". UK Theatre Web.
15. "Yellow Earth, Behind the Chinese Takeaway | Total Theatre Magazine Print Archive". totaltheatre.org.uk.
16. "Theatre review: Why the Lion Danced from Yellow Earth Theatre at Tara Arts Studio". British Theatre Guide. 25 January 2013.
17. "Production of M. Butterfly | Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
18. "A world premiere of Miss Saigon". www.abouttheartists.com.
19. "Casting confirmed for "Tintin" at Barbican Theatre". London Theatre. 8 June 2016.
20. "What a view | HBO's Strike Back brings the action to Southeast Asia". South China Morning Post. 27 January 2019.
21. "Tom Wu – Actor". mubi.com.
22. "Films starring Tom Wu". letterboxd.com.
23. "Production Is Underway On Epic Netflix Original Series "Marco Polo" Produced By The Weinstein Company". www.prnewswire.co.uk.
24. Griffiths, Eleanor Bley. "Strangers on ITV: Who is in the cast with John Simm and Emilia Fox? Also airs as White Dragon on BBC First | Radio Times". www.radiotimes.com.
25. "'We quite liked each other': Charlie Hunnam on chemistry with Hugh Grant in gangster comedy 'The Gentlemen' (VIDEO)". Yahoo News. 11 February 2020.
26. "Netflix's 'Havoc' Starring Tom Hardy Is Now Filming in the UK". www.backstage.com. 5 October 2021.
27. "STRING THEORY". South China Morning Post. 20 April 2003.
28. Stanway, Glen (5 April 2021). "Wake of Death (2004) Blu-ray version".
29. "Film review - Revolver (15)". The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald. 27 September 2005.
30. "The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior Summary, Latest News, Trailer, Cast, Where to Watch and More". ScreenRant. 3 November 2024.
31. "Mutant Chronicles – Blu-ray Review". 15 August 2009.
32. "BBC - Press Office - Spirit Warriors press pack: introduction". www.bbc.co.uk.
33. "Khan enlists Wu for 'Ra.One' role". Digital Spy. 21 July 2010.
34. Heimlich, Rich (16 August 2013). "Kick-Ass 2 Review - Cinemotic". cinemotic.com.
35. "Being a stuntman on Marco Polo is harder than it looks". Digital Spy. 29 June 2016.
36. "Hong Kong goes West - When Hong Kong film makers attempt to break the Western market - part 6". ScreenAnarchy. 17 March 2017.
37. Ortiz, Christopher (29 February 2016). "Review: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny is a Predictable, Artificial Sequel - The Script Lab".
38. BERNSTEIN, ABBIE (12 May 2017). "Movie Review: KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD - Assignment X".
39. "Strangers. Television Review". 30 October 2018.
40. Hartshorn, Tori. "Cinemax Action Series STRIKE BACK Returns For Sixth Season 1/25". BroadwayWorld.com.
41. "Movie Review: 'Hobbs & Shaw' less Fast & Furious, more brisk & peeved". 31 July 2019.
42. Le, Nguyen (27 January 2020). "'The Gentlemen' Movie Review: Guy Ritchie's re-snatch rocks the suits and deserves better rolls".
43. "Nerdly » 'The Host' VOD Review".
44. Kim, Matt (19 August 2022). "The Sandman: Surprise Episode Released on Netflix". IGN.
45. "3 Body Problem Episode 2 Recap: Would You Push the Button? - Netflix Tudum".
46. "'Havoc' Netflix Review: Tom Hardy & Gareth Evans Deliver The Best Action Movie Of The Year Yet". 24 April 2025.

External links

• Tom Wu at IMDb