Iko Uwais

Iko Uwais
Uwais at the New York premiere of The Raid 2 in March 2014
Born
Uwais Qorny

(1983-02-12) 12 February 1983 (age 40)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • stuntman
  • fight choreographer
  • martial artist
Years active2007–present
Spouse
(m. 2012)
Children2
Signature

Uwais Qorny (pronounced [uˈwaɪh ˈkorni]), known professionally as Iko Uwais, 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 series Wu Assassins (2019–present).

Early life

Iko Uwais was born Uwais Qorny in Jakarta, 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 was discovered by 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 and Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas 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.

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 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 film Stuber alongside Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista. 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, the new production company co-founded by Sylvester Stallone 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. He will next star in the action thriller, Chinatown Express.

In October 2021, Uwais joined the cast of Expend4bles, set to be released in 2023. 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.

Personal life

On 25 June 2012, Uwais married singer Audy Item at the Hotel Gran Mahakam in Jakarta. The couple have two daughters, Atreya Syahla Putri Uwais and Aneska Layla Putri Uwais.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Director(s) Notes Ref.
2009 Merantau (Wander) Yuda Gareth Evans
2011 The Raid Rama Also action choreographer
2013 Man of Tai Chi Gilang Sanjaya Keanu Reeves
2014 The Raid 2 Rama/Yuda Gareth Evans Also fight choreographer
2015 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Razoo Qin-Fee J. J. Abrams
2016 Headshot Ishmael/Abdi The Mo Brothers
2017 Beyond Skyline Sua Liam O'Donnell Also action choreographer
2018 Mile 22 Li Noor Peter Berg Also co-fight choreographer
The Night Comes for Us Arian Timo Tjahjanto Also action coordinator
2019 Triple Threat Jaka Jesse V. Johnson
Stuber Oka Tedjo Michael Dowse Also action choreographer
2021 Snake Eyes Hard Master Robert Schwentke
2022 Fistful of Vengeance Kai Jin Roel Reiné
2023 Expend4bles Rahmat Scott Waugh
TBA Ash
The Bellhop
Chinatown Express
The Blind of the Phantom Cave: Angel's Eyes
(Si Buta dari Gua Hantu: Mata Malaikat)
Barda Mandrawata Timo Tjahjanto

Television series

Year Title Role Network Notes Ref.
2019 Wu Assassins Kai Jin Netflix Main role; also as producer and lead fight choreographer

Awards and nominations

Year Organisation Award Work Result Ref.
2010 Indonesian Movie Awards Best Newcomer Actor Merantau Nominated
Favorite Newcomer Actor Nominated
2013 Indonesian Movie Awards Best Chemistry
(shared with Donny Alamsyah)
The Raid Nominated
2014 Indonesian Choice Awards Actor of the Year Himself Nominated
Indonesian Yahoo! Celebrity Awards Most Wanted Male Nominated
Republika Awards The Best Republika's Change Figure Won
2016 Infotainment Awards Indonesian Celebrity of World Achievement Won
JawaPos Group Awards Actor of the Year Won

See also


This page was last updated at 2023-12-17 04:20 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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