Scott Adkins
British action film actor with a black belt in taekwondo, known for the role of the fighter Yuri Boyka in the film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006) and its sequels.
Quick Facts
United KingdomBiography
Scott Adkins is a British actor, born on 17 June 1976 in Sutton Coldfield, England. He has been active in film since 1998.
From the age of ten he trained judo, started taekwondo at thirteen and earned his black belt in it at nineteen. He also trained kickboxing, capoeira, krav maga, jeet kune do and wushu.
As a stuntman he worked on the film Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003). He got his breakthrough role as the fighter Yuri Boyka in the film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006) and reprised it in three further instalments of the series between 2010 and 2017. For Undisputed III: Redemption he received the Breakout Action Star award at the Action On Film International Film Festival in 2010, and for Boyka: Undisputed (2017) the Best Fight and Best Action Movie Actor awards at the Jackie Chan Action Movie Awards. He got his first lead role, Casey Bowman, in 2009 in the film Ninja and reprised it in Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013).
In the film Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019) he portrayed the main villain, Sergeant Barton Geddes, and in John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) the character Killa Harkan. On the film Accident Man (2018) he also served as producer and screenwriter, and on Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday (2022) additionally as fight choreographer. He collaborated with the choreographers Yuen Woo-ping, Corey Yuen, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan.
Associated Martial Arts
A Japanese art of throws and grappling, Olympic since 1964; its idea is to use the opponent's strength instead of your own.
KickboxingNotable figure→A striking sport joining boxing hands with kicks. It appeared in the 1960s and 1970s in Japan and the United States at once, from a wish to give karate full contact.
TaekwondoNotable figure→The Korean art of high, dynamic kicks, unified after the Second World War from nine schools. A full Olympic discipline since 2000.
Filmography
A screen role does not mean the person actually practises the art — that is listed above.