Cheng Kai-Chung, also known as Andy Cheng, is a Hong Kong actor,

stuntman A stunt performer, often called a stuntman or stuntwoman and occasionally stuntperson or stunt-person, is a trained professional who performs daring acts, often as a career. Stunt performers usually appear in films or on television, as opposed ...

, choreographer,

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

, and director. He was a prominent member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team from the late 1990s to early 2000s until he broke out on his own and became a member of the Stunts Unlimited team. He has doubled for Chan on occasion when Chan suffered serious injuries, and Chan saved his life on the set of

Rush Hour 2 ''Rush Hour 2'' is a 2001 American buddy action comedy film directed by Brett Ratner and written by Jeff Nathanson, based on the characters created by Ross LaManna. A sequel to ''Rush Hour'', it is the second installment in the ''Rush Hour'' ...

when a boat stunt went awry. Cheng has been working steadily as both a director and stunt coordinator.

Early life

Cheng was born in Hong Kong. At the age of 14, he began studying the Korean martial art of

Tae Kwon Do ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

. He won three gold medals at the Hong Kong Invitationals from 1988 to 1990, followed by a bronze medal at the 1991 Asian Games. He would retire from competition to start his career in the film industry.

Film career

In 1990, Cheng was discovered by legendary filmmaker

Lau Kar-leung Lau Kar-leung (28 July 1934 – 25 June 2013), was a Chinese actor, filmmaker, choreographer, and martial artist from Hong Kong. Lau is best known for the films he made in the 1970s and 1980s for the Shaw Brothers Studio. His most famous wor ...

and had a small role as a Tae Kwon Do instructor in '' New Kids in Town''. From there, Andy spent the next five years working at TVB, owned and operated by the

Shaw Brothers Shaw Brothers (HK) Ltd. () was the largest film production company in Hong Kong, and operated from 1925 to 2011. In 1925, three Shaw brothers— Runje, Runme, and Runde—founded Tianyi Film Company (also called "Unique") in Shangh ...

. He would then be invited to join the Jackie Chan Stunt Team and serve as a stuntman and occasional double for Chan himself when needed. This would lead Cheng to appear in prominent henchman roles in films like '' Rush Hour'' and ''

'' while doubling for Chan in films like '' Who Am I?'' and '' Mr. Nice Guy''. In 2001, Cheng was loaned out to director Isaac Florentine to amp up the action sequences and serve as lead fight choreographer on '' U.S. Seals II: The Ultimate Force''. In addition to fight choreography, Andy appeared in the film as Artie, a blonde-haired henchman to

Damian Chapa Damian Robert Chapa (born October 29, 1963) is an American actor, film director, and producer. Life Chapa's ancestry is of Mexican, Italian, German and Native American descent. He now calls San Antonio, Texas home. Career Chapa played the par ...

's villain character. This led to Cheng eventually forming his own team, with martial artist and assistant

Dan Southworth ''Power Rangers Time Force'' is a television series and the ninth season of the '' Power Rangers'' franchise, based on the 24th Super Sentai series '' Mirai Sentai Timeranger'', running for 40 half-hour episodes from February to November 2001 ...

as his assistant on films like ''

The Scorpion King ''The Scorpion King'' is a 2002 American sword and sorcery action adventure film directed by Chuck Russell, starring Dwayne Johnson, Steven Brand, Kelly Hu, Grant Heslov and Michael Clarke Duncan. It is both a prequel and spin-off of '' ...

'' and ''

The Rundown ''The Rundown'' (known internationally as ''Welcome to the Jungle'') is a 2003 American buddy action comedy film directed by Peter Berg and written by James Vanderbilt and R.J. Stewart. It stars Dwayne Johnson (credited as The Rock), Seann Wil ...

'', both starring

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the develop ...

with Cheng serving as the stunt coordinator and fight choreographer on these films. In 2006, Cheng made his feature film directorial debut on '' End Game'', a political thriller starring Cuba Gooding Jr. A year later, he followed that up with the car racing film ''

Redline Redline refers to the maximum engine speed at which an internal combustion engine or traction motor and its components are designed to operate without causing damage to the components themselves or other parts of the engine. The redline of an en ...

'', starring Nathan Phillips and Nadia Bjorlin. Cheng was the stunt coordinator for the 2008 hit adaptation of

Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; née Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire romance series ''Twilight'', which has sold over 100 million copies, with translations into 37 differ ...

's acclaimed youth adult novel ''

Twilight Twilight is light produced by sunlight scattering in the upper atmosphere, when the Sun is below the horizon, which illuminates the lower atmosphere and the Earth's surface. The word twilight can also refer to the periods of time when this ...

''. Cheng has since worked steadily as a stunt coordinator in both television and films since.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cheng, Andy Living people Hong Kong film directors Hong Kong stunt performers Year of birth missing (living people)