Uwais Qorny (), known professionally as Iko Uwais, (born 12 February 1983) is an Indonesian actor, 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'' (2018),''
The Night Comes for Us'' (2018), ''
Stuber'' (2019), and the
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
series ''
Wu Assassins'' (2019–22).
Early life
Iko Uwais was born Uwais Qorny in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
, to Musthafa and Maisyaroh Kamaluddin.
His grandfather, H. Achmad Bunawar, was a
silat master and founded a silat school. He is named after the 7th-century Islamic figure
Owais al-Qarani.
Career
In 2007, Uwais met director
Gareth Evans, who was filming a documentary about
silat, 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 in
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
and
Fantastic Fest
Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas, focused on fantasy, horror, sci-fi, action and cult films, the largest genre festival in the United States. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse.
Lisa Dreyer ...
in
Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
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. The following year, Uwais appeared in a small role in
Keanu Reeves's directorial debut ''
Man of Tai Chi''.
In 2014, Uwais collaborated on a third movie with Evans, ''
The Raid 2'', a sequel to the original film. Uwais also appeared briefly in ''
Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015), alongside his ''The Raid 2'' co-stars
Yayan Ruhian and
Cecep Arif Rahman.
He was also asked to choreograph a
lightsaber fight in the film by director
J. J. Abrams, but the sequence was rejected for being too violent.
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,
Michael Jai White,
Tiger Chen, and
Scott Adkins—the film was released in early 2019. In 2018, Uwais starred in the films, ''
Mile 22'' and ''
The Night Comes for Us''.
In the same year, it was announced that Uwais was cast in the lead role of Kai Jin on the
Netflix
Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
series, ''
Wu Assassins''. The series premiered on 8 August 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
The action comedy is a film genre that applies to action films where humor plays a much more central role. While early films feature stuntwork and humor, academic Cynthia King wrote that the genre only came into its own as a mainstay of the America ...
film ''
Stuber'' alongside
Kumail Nanjiani and
Dave Bautista. In the same year, it was announced that Uwais would appear in a film called ''Chinatown 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 was also announced to star in ''The Bellhop'', one of the first five films in development by
Balboa Productions, the new production company co-founded by
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...
in 2018.
Uwais played
Hard Master in ''
Snake Eyes'', a spin-off from the
''G.I. Joe'' movie franchise. The film was released on 23 July 2021.
In October 2021, Uwais joined the cast of ''
Expend4bles'', which was released in 2023 to poor reviews.
In May 2023, Iko Uwais was announced to star in a sci-fi thriller ''Ash'' directed by
Flying Lotus alongside
Aaron Paul,
Eiza González, Beulah Koale, and Kate Elliott.
In January 2025, Uwais revealed that he had started a film production company, Uwais Pictures. The company's initial slate of films includes Uwais's directorial debut ''Timur'', a dramatization of the
Mapenduma hostage crisis that Uwais also stars in.
Personal life
On 25 June 2012, Uwais married singer
Audy Item at the Hotel Gran Mahakam in
Jakarta
Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...
. The couple have two daughters, Atreya Syahla Putri Uwais and Aneska Layla Putri Uwais.
Filmography
Film
Television series
Awards and nominations
See also
*
Cinema of Indonesia
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Martial arts film
Martial arts films are a subgenre of action films that feature martial arts combat between characters. These combats are usually the films' primary appeal and entertainment value, and often are a method of storytelling and character expression a ...
References
External links
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;Articles
Hollywood Elsewhere: Merantau – Indonesia – Directed by Gareth EvansTwitch.com: Merantau ReviewPifan.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