Uwais Qorny (), known professionally as Iko Uwais, is an Indonesian

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

, stuntman, fight choreographer, and martial artist. He is best known for acting in the action films '' Merantau'' (2009), '' The Raid'' (2011), '' The Raid 2'' (2014), '' Headshot'' (2016), ''

Mile 22 ''Mile 22'' is a 2018 American espionage action thriller film directed by Peter Berg and screenplay by Lea Carpenter, from a story by Carpenter and Graham Roland. The film stars Mark Wahlberg, Iko Uwais, John Malkovich, Lauren Cohan, and Ronda ...

'' (2018),''

The Night Comes for Us ''The Night Comes for Us'' is a 2018 Indonesian action thriller film written and directed by Timo Tjahjanto. It was originally conceived as a screenplay and then adapted into a graphic novel, before finally being released as a film. In December ...

'' (2018), '' Stuber'' (2019) and the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

series '' Wu Assassins'' (2019–present).

Early life

Uwais was born in Jakarta,

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, and is the son of Maisyaroh and Mustapha Kamaluddin. His grandfather, H. Achmad Bunawar, was a

silat is the collective term for a class of indigenous martial arts from the Nusantara and surrounding geocultural areas of Southeast Asia. It is traditionally practised in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Southern Thailand, Southern Phil ...

master and founded a silat school. He is named after the 7th-century Islamic Sufi mystic Owais al-Qarani.

Film career

In 2007, Uwais was discovered by director Gareth Evans, who was filming a documentary about

a form of martial arts in Uwais's training hall. Uwais's natural charisma and great camera presence encouraged Evans to cast him as the leading role for his first martial art movie, '' Merantau''. After signing a five-year contract with Gareth Evans and his production company, Uwais resigned from his daytime job as an operational driver at Esia, an Indonesian telecom company. In his first acting experience in ''Merantau'', Uwais played the role of a young Minang (West-Sumatran), which led him to learn the Minang style of silat harimau (tiger style) from Master Edwel Datuk Rajo Gampo Alam. ''Merantau'' was released in Indonesia on 6 August 2009. The film was featured in

Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival The Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (), or BiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea. Prior to 2015, it was known as the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival or PiFan. Inaugurate ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

and

Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies, writer of ''The Iron Giant'' and ''Secondhand ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

with highly positive reviews. ''Merantau'' won the Best Film award at ActionFest 2010. Uwais's second collaboration with Gareth Evans was '' The Raid'' (known as ''The Raid: Redemption'' in the United States), which began filming in mid-March 2011 and was released in mid-2012. The movie has been hailed by critics and audiences in various festivals as one of the best martial art movies in years. Uwais collaborated on a third movie with Evans, '' The Raid 2''. Uwais also appeared briefly in '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015), alongside ''The Raid 2'' co-star

Yayan Ruhian Yayan Ruhian (born 19 October 1968) is an Indonesian martial artist and actor. He is known for co-starring in Gareth Evans' films '' The Raid'' (2011) as Mad Dog, '' The Raid 2'' (2014) as Prakoso, '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015) as Ta ...

. In 2016, he appeared in the martial arts film '' Headshot'', which received generally positive reviews. In 2017, he filmed the international martial arts film '' Triple Threat'', together with

Tony Jaa Tatchakorn Yeerum ( th, ทัชชกร ยีรัมย์, , ; formerly Phanom Yeerum ( th, พนม ยีรัมย์, ); born 5 February 1976), better known internationally as Tony Jaa and in Thailand as Jaa Phanom ( th, จา � ...

Michael Jai White Michael Jai White (born November 10, 1967) is an American actor, director and martial artist. He was the first African American to portray a major comic book superhero in a major motion picture, starring as Al Simmons, the protagonist in the 1 ...

Tiger Chen Tiger Chen (; born 3 March 1975) is a Chinese martial artist and actor. Tiger Chen is Yuen Wo Ping's protege and Keanu Reeves's teacher and friend. He was also Uma Thurman's stunt double. Life Early life Tiger Chen was born on 3 March 1975 i ...

, and

Scott Adkins Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is a British actor, film producer, screenwriter, gymnast, and martial artist. He is best known for his role as the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the ''Undisputed franchise''. He has played Yuri Boy ...

—the film was released in early 2019. In 2018, Uwais starred in the films, ''

'' and ''

''. In the same year, it was announced that Uwais was cast in the lead role of Kai Jin on the

series, '' Wu Assassins''. The series premiered on August 8, 2019. Uwais reprised his role in the sequel film, '' Fistful of Vengeance''. It was released on 17 February 2022 to mixed reviews. In 2019, Uwais starred in the

action comedy Action comedy is a genre that combines aspects of action and comedy. The genre is most prevalent in film with action comedy films, though several TV series fit this genre. Film The action comedy film is a film genre that combines aspects of acti ...

film '' Stuber'' alongside

Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ur, کمیل علی ننجیانی, ; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-wr ...

and

Dave Bautista David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. He had several stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019. In his acting career, he is most widely known for his portrayal of Drax the Dest ...

. In the same year, it was announced that Uwais will appear in a film called ''China Town Express'' playing a man who must fight through the gangland of New York to save his family after the disappearance of his son during a gang's killing spree. Uwais is also attached to star in ''The Bellhop'', one of the first five films in development by

Balboa Productions Balboa Productions is an American film and television production company led by Sylvester Stallone and named after his character Rocky Balboa from the ''Rocky'' franchise. History On May 30, 2018, Sylvester Stallone formed Balboa Productions w ...

, the new production company co-founded by Sylvester Stallone in 2018. Uwais played

Hard Master Storm Shadow is a fictional character from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toyline, comic books and animated series. He is best known as the Cobra Commander's ninja bodyguard, and for his history with fellow ninja Snake Eyes. Throughout t ...

in '' Snake Eyes'', a spin-off from the ''G.I. Joe'' movie franchise. The film was released on 23 July 2021. He will next star in the action thriller, ''Chinatown Express''. In October 2021, Uwais joined the cast of ''

The Expendables 4 ''The Expendables 4'' (stylized as ''Expend4bles'') is an upcoming American action film directed by Scott Waugh, with a script co-written by Spenser Cohen and Max Adams, from an original story by Cohen. It is the fourth installment in ''The ...

'', set to be released in 2022.

Personal life

On 25 June 2012, Uwais married singer

Audy Item Paula Allodya Item, also known as Audy Item, (born April 23, 1983) is an Indonesian singer. Personal life Item is the youngest of three children born to jazz musician Jopie Item, and Evie Aquanthie Aziz. Her oldest brother, Stevie Item, is a g ...

at the Hotel Gran Mahakam in Jakarta. The couple have two daughters, Atreya Syahla Putri Uwais and Aneska Layla Putri Uwais.

Filmography

Film

Television series

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * ;Articles
Hollywood Elsewhere: Merantau – Indonesia – Directed by Gareth Evans

Twitch.com: Merantau Review

Pifan.com: A Sumatran Tiger Flashes His Claws: Merantau
{{DEFAULTSORT:Uwais, Iko 1983 births 21st-century Indonesian male actors Action choreographers Betawi people Indonesian expatriates in the United States Indonesian male film actors Indonesian male television actors Indonesian martial artists Indonesian Muslims Indonesian stunt performers Living people Male actors from Jakarta Silat practitioners