Andy On () (born May 11, 1977) is an American actor and
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 ...
.
Life and career
On was born on May 11, 1977,
in
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
. He is a native of the US, and can speak English, Mandarin, and a bit of Cantonese.
Andy On did not graduate from high school. He worked as a bartender in Rhode Island. While doing this, he was approached by
China Star founder
Charles Heung and filmmaker
Tsui Hark to take over the role of one of
Jet Li
Li Lianjie (courtesy name Yangzhong; born 26 April 1963), better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese film actor, film producer, martial artist, and retired Wushu champion. He is a naturalized Singaporean citizen.
After three years of ...
's film characters, ''
Black Mask'', in ''
Black Mask 2: City of Masks'' (2002). He had no martial arts background. Director Tsui Hark had to send Andy to Shaolin Temple one month for training. He even received some guidance from Jet Li himself. Despite the poor reviews and the bad box office ratings, On continued to act, improving in both martial arts and acting. Like fellow Hong Kong film star Nicholas Tse, On trained in martial arts under Chung Chi Li, the leader of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team. On began training with Chan in 2001 for the film ''Looking for Mister Perfect/Kei fung dik sau'' (2003), which was released two years later. On trained in
wushu
Wushu may refer to:
Martial arts
* Chinese martial arts, the various martial arts of China
* Wushu (sport), a modern exhibition of traditional Chinese martial arts
* Wushu stances, five key stances utilized in both contemporary wushu and traditio ...
at the
Shaolin Temple
Shaolin Monastery (少林寺 ''Shàolínsì''), also known as Shaolin Temple, is a renowned monastic institution recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin Kung Fu. It is located at the foot of Wuru Peak of the So ...
and studied film fighting under former Jackie Chan Stunt Team leader Nicky Li for his first film, ''Looking for Mister Perfect'', which was shot before ''
Black Mask 2: City of Masks'', but released one year later, in 2003. On continued his acting career with many injuries, sustaining a hamstring injury on the set of ''
New Police Story
''New Police Story'' is a 2004 Hong Kong action film produced and directed by Benny Chan, and also produced by and starring Jackie Chan. The film was released in the Hong Kong on 24 September 2004. The film is a reboot of the ''Police Story'' ...
'' (2004) in one of the two fights against Jackie Chan.
On was nominated and won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Actor Award for his role in ''
Star Runner
''Star Runner'' (), (also known in the United States as ''The Kumite''), is a 2003 Hong Kong action/romance film co-written and directed by Daniel Lee. It is rated PG-13 by the MPAA "for intense sequences of martial arts action violence".
Plo ...
/Siu nin a Fu'' (2003). He shared the screen with the man who influenced him,
Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
, in ''
New Police Story
''New Police Story'' is a 2004 Hong Kong action film produced and directed by Benny Chan, and also produced by and starring Jackie Chan. The film was released in the Hong Kong on 24 September 2004. The film is a reboot of the ''Police Story'' ...
''. On has also won the Best New Artist Award in 2004 at the Hong Kong Film Awards for his role as Tank Wong in ''Siu nin a Fu'', beating favorite
Vanness Wu
Vanness Wu (; born August 7, 1978) is a Taiwanese-American singer and actor. He is a member of the Taiwanese boyband F4 and the Korean Mandopop duo Kangta & Vanness.
Early life
Wu was born in Santa Monica, California. He learned to breakda ...
by only one-tenth of the votes.
Aside from his filmmaking career, On is also a singer. He has released some tracks, including a duet with Taiwanese pop singer
Jolin Tsai
Jolin Tsai (; ; born September 15, 1980) is a Taiwanese singer, songwriter, and actress. Referred to as the " Queen of C-Pop", she is considered one of the most influential figures in Chinese popular culture. She is known for her continual rei ...
called "Angel of Love". His hobbies are martial arts and video games. He continues to train in
Wing Chun
Wing Chun (Chinese: 詠春 or 咏春, lit. "singing spring"), sometimes spelled Ving Tsun, is a concept-based fighting art, form of Southern Chinese kung fu and close-quarters system of self-defense. In Mandarin, it is pronounced "Yong Chun. ...
Kung Fu with good friend, actor, and martial artist Philip Ng, and has studied
Thai boxing
Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...
under former world kickboxing champion and actor
Billy Chau
Billy Chow Bei-lei ( zh, 周比利; born August 24, 1958) is a Hong Kong-Canadian martial artist, film actor, and retired professional kickboxer. He was the WKA world Welterweight champion from 1984 to 1986, and retired with a professional recor ...
in preparation for ''Star Runner''.
During production of the film ''
Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon'' (2008), On was hit in the face by a stuntman during an action sequence. On cut his lip, and, after seven surgeries, sports a small scar on his lip. He considers the scar a "trophy" of his hard work in the film.
Personal life
On had a short-lived relationship with
Coco Lee
Coco Lee (; born Ferren Lee, 17 January 1975) is a Hong Kong-American singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actress. Lee's career began in Hong Kong and then expanded to Taiwan. Her single, "Do You Want My Love" also entered the US m ...
in which first started in June 2002. On dated model and actress
Jennifer Tse from 2009 to 2013 before breaking up.
During the filming of ''
Zombie Fight Club
A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whi ...
'', On met actress
Jessica Cambensy. The two began dating in November 2014. They became engaged in October 2015, a week after Jessica announced she was pregnant. Andy and Jessica became the parents of a 9-pound baby girl they named Tessa in March 2016. Andy and Jessica married on October 15, 2017, in a private ceremony in Hawaii. They later had a son Elvis, on June 19, 2018.
Filmography
Andy On at chinesemov.com
/ref>
Music videos
*2002 – Coco Lee
Coco Lee (; born Ferren Lee, 17 January 1975) is a Hong Kong-American singer-songwriter, record producer, dancer, and actress. Lee's career began in Hong Kong and then expanded to Taiwan. Her single, "Do You Want My Love" also entered the US m ...
("有你就够了")
*2004 – Miriam Yeung
Miriam Yeung (born 3 February 1974) is a Hong Kong actress and Cantopop diva. As of 2020, she has released more than 35 albums and has starred in more than 40 films. In 2012, Yeung won the Award for Best Actress at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Award ...
("处处吻")
*2004 – Miriam Yeung ("柳媚花娇")
References
External links
Official blog of Andy On
*
*
Andy On
at the Hong Kong Cinemagic
Hong Kong Cinemagic, sometimes referred to as HKCinemagic, is a bilingual (French and English) website providing a repository for information about Chinese language films from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, and the people who created them. The webs ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:On, Andy
1977 births
Living people
Male actors from Rhode Island
American people of Hong Kong descent
Hong Kong male film actors
Hong Kong martial artists
Hong Kong people of Taiwanese descent
Actors from Providence, Rhode Island
21st-century Hong Kong male actors
American emigrants to Hong Kong
21st-century American male actors
American male actors of Taiwanese descent
American born Hong Kong artists