Known from movies
Mortal Kombat (1995)
as Liu Kang
Mortal Kombat: Destruction (1997)
as Liu Kang
Death Race (2008)
as 14K
Beverly Hills-Ninja (1997)
as Gobei
Short information
| Husband | Anne Shu |
| Fact | Performs most of his own stunts. |
Introduction
If you’re a fan of combat video games, you’ve probably heard of titles like ‘Mortal Combat’, ‘Dead or Alive’ and ‘Street Fighter’. Do you know the name of the man who acted in film adaptations of these popular games? How much money has Chinese-American actor Robin Shou made from his acting endeavors?
Early life and education
Shou Wan Por was born on July 17, 1960 in Hong Kong (then known as British Hong Kong), the People’s Republic of China.
Robin Shou #MortalCombat# #DeathRace#
Posted by Kung Fu cowboy on Friday, November 6, 2015
He is the fourth child of a housewife and a tailor. When he was 11 years old in 1971, his family moved to Los Angeles, California, USA, and lived in a two-bedroom apartment in the area known today as Koreatown. Little is known about his early training, but it has been revealed that he only started practicing martial arts at the age of 19, which was considered quite late by the standards. He enrolled at California State University, while also taking Kenpo (Karate) classes. However, he was not satisfied with karate, so he quickly quit it, and a year later came across a group of Wu Shu practitioners who had come to Los Angeles from Beijing.
He immediately thought that this was what a’real Chinese’ would have to train, so he took a break from college just before starting his senior year in 1981, sold his car, and spent the earnings on a flight to China, where he was able to study Wu Shu for several months. He didn’t even tell his parents where he was going – his aunt had to send a letter to his mother to let her know that Shou was safe in Nanjing, China.
When he finished Wu Shu classes, he returned to California and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.
He worked in the field for a year and a half when he realized he needed a career change as he was bored with electronics and computers. He went back to Hong Kong, hoping to spend some time learning martial arts, when he was offered a stuntman position in a movie. He accepted and eventually his short vacation turned into two years, during which he was a stuntman in several films. When he returned to the US, he adopted his stage name Robin Shou, thinking it was more suited to Western audiences.
Career
During the latter years of the 1980s, Shou made minor appearances in several films, such as “The Big Brother”, “The Big Heat”, “In the Line of Duty III” and “Long Arm of the Law”.
However, his roles usually portrayed a bodyguard or an assassin, who would only get a few minutes of screen time.
His real feature film debut came in 1990, when he co-starred with Melissa Gilbert in the TV drama film “Forbidden Nights”, about a woman who came to China to become a teacher, but fell in love with one of her students. People immediately noticed Shou, but he decided to return to Hong Kong and work as an actor there.
He appeared in several movies, such as “Tiger Cage II”, “Fury in Red”, “Forbidden Arsenal” and “Honor and Glory”, but in 1994 he returned to the US to pursue a career in Hollywood. him to a casting call for the movie “Mortal Combat”, inspired by the famous video game of the same name. Soon after, Robin Shou was cast as the lead character, Liu Kang – the film premiered in 1995.
In 1997, Shou played Gobei in ‘Beverly Hills Ninja’ and that same year reprized his role of Liu Kang in ‘Mortal Kombat: Annihilation’. In 1998, he appeared in the TV series “The Outer Limits”, playing Major Ronald Neguchi.
Moving on, in 2006, Shou appeared in “DOA: Dead or Alive”, the action movie directed by Corey Yuen. Two years later, he starred alongside Jason Statham, Joan Allen, and Tyrese Gibson in the sci-fi movie “Death Race”, reprising that role in the movie’s sequels that aired in 2010 and 2014. In 2009, he starred in another video game adaptation. , “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li”, in which he played Gen, appeared in an episode of the TV series “Cold Case” that same year.
Shou starred as Sunny in the action movie “Mortal Enemies” in 2011, before making his voice acting debut in 2012, voicing Conroy and Roland Ho in the video game “Sleeping Dogs”.
He also appeared in the short film “Black Tiger: Hunter Hunted” which aired in 2014.
It has been announced that Shou will play a character simply named ‘Boss’ in Lou Pizzaro’s TV movie “Way of the Empty Hand”, which still has no release date as of May 2020.
Private life
He was the International Forms Champion and a member of the National Wu Shu Team in the 1982-1983 season. He won several gold and silver medals in Wu Shu at various competitions held in China, and also won a gold medal in weapons. He won the Traditional Form Grand Championship held in California four times.
Shou trained fellow actress Mila Jovovich for her role in the ‘Resident Evil’ saga.
When he’s not working on movies, he enjoys ceramics classes, painting, welding and even woodworking!
On 19e In September 2009, he married his mysterious long-term girlfriend known simply as ‘Anne’. Whether the couple has children has not been disclosed.
According to the Chinese zodiac, he was born in the year of the Rat.
Shou keeps his life private and he is not active on any social media platforms.
Net value
Robin Shou has made a lot of money from his successful acting career, as well as from Wu Shu competitions and classes he held. His ability is estimated around $8 million, as of mid-2020.
Physical Characteristics
Shou is 1.83 m tall and weighs about 75 kg; he has dark eyes. He takes good care of his long black hair, which is even joking said possess mystical powers and be able to defy gravity.
General information
| First and last name | Robin Sho |
| Height | 1.83 meters |
| Profession | Actor, martial artist |
| Education | California State University, Los Angeles |
Family
Performance
| Movies | Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Death Race, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Beverly Hills Ninja, Death Race 2, Death Race 3: Inferno, Tiger Cage 2, Red Trousers – The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen, Death Cage, Forbidden Nights, DOA: Dead or Alive, Pirate Brothers, 18 Fingers of… |
Links to social profiles
Facts
| # | Fact |
|---|---|
| 1 | Starred in three movies with the word “Mortal” in the title. |
| 2 | Has starred in 4 video game adaptations, which means he has a bond with Zach Ward for the actor who has starred in most of the video game adaptations. He has had roles in Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, DOA: Dead or Alive, and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. |
| 3 | Performs most of his own stunts. |
| 4 | Regular appearance at the annual Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker 5k/10k Run/Walk. |
| 5 | The role of Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat (1995) was very unique to Robin. It was rare at that time to find Asians starring in Hollywood movies. That kind of movie was also uncommon at the time because the hero and the villain were both Asian. |
| 6 | Some of his martial arts stats: 1982-1983 International Forms Champion, member of the national WuShu team, gold and silver medal in China competitions, gold medal in weapons, 4-time Traditional Forms Grand Champion in California. |
| 7 | Education: Civil Engineering degree from California State University |
Pictures
Movies
Actor
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Away from the empty hand | Post-production of TV movies | Boss | |
| Black Tiger: Hunter hunted | 2014 | Short | Pacific ‘Pac’ Fong / Black Tiger |
| Death Race: Inferno | 2013 | Video | 14K |
| Sleeping dogs | 2012 | Video game | Conroy / Roland Ho (voice) |
| Deadly enemies | 2011 | Sunny | |
| death race 2 | 2010 | Video | 14K |
| Coldcase | 2009 | TV serials | Bo Lin Chen ’83 |
| Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li | 2009 | Gene | |
| death race | 2008 | 14K | |
| DOA: dead or alive | 2006 | Pirate Leader | |
| 18 fingers of death! | 2006 | Video | Jackie Chong |
| Lost time: the movie | 2003 | Short | Eva |
| The outer limits | 1998 | TV serials | Major Ronald Neguchi |
| Mortal Kombat: Destruction | 1997 | Liu Kang | |
| Beverly Hills Ninja | 1997 | Gobei | |
| Mortal Kombat | 1995 | Liu Kang | |
| Long hu xin feng yun: Zhi tou hao tong ji fan | 1994 | Gang leader | |
| Long kua si hai zhi zhi ming qing ren | 1993 | Joi Gam Seui / Chin Shui | |
| Angel the kickboxer | 1993 | ||
| Honor and glory | 1993 | Dragon Lee | |
| Kakambal ko sa tapang | 1993 | Allan (as Robin Shaw) | |
| Zhi fa wei lang | 1992 | Allan Lung / Inspector Dragon | |
| Zhi zun te jing | 1992 | Co Chi Pang | |
| Soldier Soldier | 1992 | TV serials | Journalist Feng |
| Hei mao zhi ci sha Ye Li Qin | 1992 | robin | |
| Di xia bing gong chang | 1991 | Paul | |
| Eastern heroes | 1991 | Nocturnal monster | |
| Hong tian long | 1991 | Night monster | |
| Magdaleno Orbos: Sa kuko ng mga avalan | 1991 | robin | |
| Dong fang lao hu | 1990 | Tomoriki Jiono | |
| Sai hak chin | 1990 | Waise Chow | |
| Forbidden nights | 1990 | TV movie | Liang Hong |
| Yellow wire street | 1990 | TV serials | Tony Siu |
| Chi se da feng bao | 1990 | Wai Loong | |
| Triads: the inside story | 1989 | Coffin rope man | |
| Zhi zun wu shang | 1989 | assassin | |
| Long zhi zheng ba | 1989 | iron club | |
| Saang gong kei bing 3 | 1989 | 966 | |
| Zhan long | 1988 | Lan Si Han (as Robin Chou) | |
| City war | 1988 | Killer | |
| Huang jia shi jie zhi III: Ci xiong da dao | 1988 | Bodyguard (uncredited) | |
| Seng thick roof went | 1988 | Hospital killer | |
| Yat gosh | 1987 | robin | |
| Dead Mule Suitcase | Jack Lamb |
Director
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Pants: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen | 2003 | Documentary | |
| Lost time: the movie | 2003 | Short | |
| Dead Mule Suitcase |
author
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Pants: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen | 2003 | Documentary screenplay | |
| Hei mao zhi ci sha Ye Li Qin | 1992 | English dialogue |
Mixed
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| resident evil | 2002 | trainer: Milla Jovovich – uncredited | |
| Mortal Kombat: Destruction | 1997 | fight choreographer | |
| Mortal Kombat | 1995 | fight choreographer: extra action sequences, extra crew |
Producer
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Pants: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen | 2003 | Documentary producer |
stunts
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mortal Kombat: Destruction | 1997 | fight choreographer | |
| Mortal Kombat | 1995 | fight choreographer: additional fight sequences |
Thank you
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance | 2002 | Video Game Special Thanks: Artistic Contribution |
Yourself
| Title | Year | Status | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Man with a thousand faces | 2008 | Documentary | Himself |
| Red Pants: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen | 2003 | Documentary | Evan / Narrator / Himself |
| Mortal Kombat: Behind the Dragon | 1995 | TV movie documentary | Himself |
| Mortal Kombat: behind the scenes | 1995 | Video short | Himself |
