Joey Ansah
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Joey Ansah (born 24 November 1982) is an English actor,
martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the pres ...
, stuntman and director best known for his roles in '' The Bourne Ultimatum'' (2007), '' Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist'' (2014) and '' The Old Guard'' (2020)."Kofi Ansah's Son Produce Hollywood Movie"
Peace FM Online, 5 June 2014.


Early life and education

Joey Ansah was born in the borough of Hackney, London, England, of
mixed ethnicity The term multiracial people refers to people who are mixed with two or more races (human categorization), races and the term multi-ethnic people refers to people who are of more than one ethnicity, ethnicities. A variety of terms have been used ...
, the second son of Ghanaian fashion designer Kofi Ansah and his
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
-born wife Nicola. Between the ages of 10 and 15, he lived in Ghana and studied
Tae Kwon Do Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In a ...
for four years. Upon returning to England, Ansah began to audition for stunt roles in films, drawing inspiration from
Ray Park Raymond Park (born 23 August 1974) is a British actor, martial artist and stuntman. He is best known for physically portraying Darth Maul in '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' and '' Solo: A Star Wars Story'', along with a motion ...
's performance as
Darth Maul Maul (originally Darth Maul) is a character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He first appeared in the prequel film '' Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace'' (1999). Maul returned in the animated television series ' ...
in 1999.


Career

Ansah's first important role as an actor was in the UK
indie film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, in ...
''Love Struck'' (2005). Notable appearances on British TV followed in episodes of
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
productions '' Spooks'' (2005) and '' Timewatch'' (2006). Ansah went on to play a minor role as one of the Shadow Warriors in ''
Batman Begins ''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy), Bruce Wayne / B ...
'' (2005). However, his most noteworthy role to date came in 2007, when he appeared in '' The Bourne Ultimatum'' as Desh Bouksani, an assassin tracking down
Jason Bourne Jason Bourne () is the titular character and the protagonist in a series of novels and subsequent film adaptations. The character was created by novelist Robert Ludlum. He first appeared in the novel '' The Bourne Identity'' (1980), which wa ...
. Ansah's performance was notable for an extended set-piece fight scene between himself and
Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon ( ; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. He was ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars in 2007, and in 2010 was one of the highest-grossing actors of all time. He has received va ...
, regarded by one reviewer as one of the best ever filmed, in which Ansah performed all of his own stunts. In 2008 he was nominated for an
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
Film Award in the "Best Fight" category. Ansah has also acted in British independent martial arts films, such as '' Left for Dead'' (2004) and ''Underground'' (2007). He choreographed, co-wrote and directed the 2010 short film '' Street Fighter: Legacy''. A self-proclaimed fan of the video game series, Ansah wanted the short to be the most accurate depiction of the series, different from the two theatrically released films. He and collaborator Christian Howard, with whom he worked on ''SFL'', worked on the live-action ''
Street Fighter is a Media mix, Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting games developed and published by Capcom. Street Fighter 1, The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by List of Street Fighter video games, six other ma ...
'' series '' Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist'', and they are developing a second season titled ''Street Fighter: World Warrior'' and '' Street Fighter: Resurrection''.


Filmography


Film


Series


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ansah, Joey 1982 births Alumni of Oxford Brookes University English male film actors English film directors English people of Ghanaian descent English capoeira practitioners British stunt performers English male taekwondo practitioners Living people English ninjutsu practitioners Male actors from London Black British male actors People educated at Devonport High School for Boys 21st-century English sportsmen