• Robin Shou is a Chinese-American actor born in Hong Kong in 1960.
• He studied martial arts in China and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in civil engineering.
• He is best known for his roles in “Mortal Kombat”, “DOA: Dead or Alive”, “Death Race”, “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li”, and “Mortal Enemies”.
• He has won multiple Wu Shu competitions and has a net worth of $8 million.
• He is married and is 6ft tall with dark eyes and long black hair.



Known for movies

Short Info

SpouseAnne Shou
FactEducation: Civil Engineering Degree at California State University


Introduction

If you are a fan of combat video games, you must’ve heard of titles such as “Mortal Combat”, “Dead or Alive” and “Street Fighter”. Do you know the name of the man who acted in film adaptations of these popular games? How much money has Chinese-American actor Robin Shou earned from his acting endeavors?

Early life and Education

Shou Wan Por was born on 17 July 1960, in Hong Kong (at the time known as British Hong Kong), the People’s Republic of China.

He is the fourth child of a homemaker and a tailor. When he was 11 years old in 1971, his family moved to Los Angeles, California US, and lived in a two-bedroom apartment in the area that is today known as Koreatown. Little is known about his early education, but it’s disclosed that he didn’t start practicing martial arts until he was 19, which was considered pretty late for the standards. He enrolled at the California State University, while also taking Kenpo (Karate) classes. However, he wasn’t satisfied with Karate so he quickly quit it, then a year later he stumbled across a group of Wu Shu practitioners who had came to Los Angeles from Beijing.

He immediately thought that this was what a ‘real Chinese’ should train in, so he took a break from University just before starting his senior year in 1981, sold his car, and spend the earnings on a flight to China, where he could study Wu Shu for several months. He didn’t even tell his parents where he was going – his aunt had to mail a letter to his mother to let her know Shou was safe in Nanjing, China.

When he was done with Wu Shu classes, he returned to California and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in civil engineering.

Robin Shou

He worked in the field for a year and a half when he realized he needed a change of career, as he was bored by electronics and computers. He went back to Hong Kong, hoping to spend some time learning more about martial arts, when he was offered a position of a stuntman in a film. He accepted, and in the end his short vacation turned into two years, during which he was a stuntman in several films. When he returned to the US, he adopted Robin Shou his stage name, as he thought it was more appropriate for the Western audience.

Career

During the last several years of the 1980s, Shou made small appearances in several movies, such as “The Big Brother”, “The Big Heat”, “In the Line of Duty III” and “Long Arm of the Law”.

However, his roles usually portrayed a bodyguard or an assassin, who would get only a few minutes of the screen time.

His real feature film debut happened in 1990, when he co-starred with Melissa Gilbert in the TV drama film “Forbidden Nights”, about a woman who came to China to become a school teacher but who fell in love with one of her students. People immediately noticed Shou, but he decided to return to Hong Kong and work as an actor there.

He appeared in several films, such as “Tiger Cage II”, “Fury in Red”, “Forbidden Arsenal” and “Honor and Glory”, however, in 1994 he returned to the US to pursue a career in Hollywood, his agent calling him to a casting call for the movie “Mortal Combat”, inspired by the famous video game of the same name. Soon after, Robin Shou was cast as the lead character, Liu Kang – the movie premiered in 1995.

In 1997, Shou portrayed Gobei in “Beverly Hills Ninja, and that same year reprised his Liu Kang role in “Mortal Kombat: Annihilation”. In 1998, he made an appearance in the TV series “The Outer Limits”, in which he portrayed Major Ronald Neguchi.

Moving along, in 2006 Shou appeared in “DOA: Dead or Alive”, the action movie directed by Corey Yuen. Two years later starred next to Jason Statham, Joan Allen and Tyrese Gibson in the sci-fi film “Death Race”, and reprised that role in the film’s sequels that aired in 2010 and 2014. In 2009, he acted in another video game adaptation, “Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li”, in which he portrayed Gen, then the same year appeared in an episode of the TV series “Cold Case”.

Shou starred as Sunny in the action film “Mortal Enemies” in 2011, before in 2012 making his voice acting debut, voicing Conroy and Roland Ho in the video game “Sleeping Dogs”.

He also appeared in the short film “Black Tiger: Hunter Hunted” that aired in 2014.

Shou is announced to portray a character called simply ‘Boss’ in the Lou Pizzaro’s TV film “Way of the Empty Hand” that, as of May 2020, still doesn’t have a release date.

Personal Life

He was the International Forms Champion and a member of the National Wu Shu Team in the 1982-83 season. He won several gold and silver medals in Wu Shu at various competitions held in China, and also won a gold medal in weapons. He won the Traditional Form Grand Championship held in California four times.

Shou trained fellow actress Mila Jovovich for her role in the “Resident Evil” saga.

When he’s not working on films, he loves taking ceramic classes, painting, welding, and even does woodworking!

On 19th September 2009, he married his mysterious, long-term girlfriend known simply as ‘Anne’. It isn’t disclosed whether or not the couple has any children.

According to the Chinese zodiac, he was born in the year of the Rat.

Shou keeps his life private and he isn’t active on any social media platforms.

Net Worth

Robin Shou has earned a lot of money from his successful acting career, as well as from Wu Shu competitions and classes he held. His net worth is estimated at around $8 million, as of mid-2020.

Physical characteristics

Shou has a height of 6ft (1.83m), and weighs around 165lbs (75kg); he has dark eyes. He takes good care of his long, black hair which is even jokingly said to have some mystical powers and to be able to defy gravity.

General Info

Full NameRobin Shou
Height1.83 m
ProfessionActor, Martial Artist
EducationCalifornia State University, Los Angeles

Family

SpouseAnne Shou

Accomplishments

MoviesMortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Death Race, Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, Beverly Hills Ninja, Death Race 2, Death Race 3: Inferno, Tiger Cage 2, Red Trousers – The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen, Death Cage, Forbidden Nights, DOA: Dead or Alive, Pirate Brothers, 18 Fingers of...

Social profile links

Facts

#Fact
1Has starred in three movies with the word "Mortal" in the title.
2Has stared in 4 video game adaptations meaning he ties with Zach Ward for the actor who's stared in most video game adaptations. He's had roles in Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, DOA: Dead or Alive and Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.
3Performs most of his own stunts.
4Makes frequent appearances at the annual Los Angeles Chinatown Firecracker 5k/10k Run/Walk.
5The role of Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat (1995) was very unique for Robin. It was rare to find Asians starring as heroes in Hollywood films at that time. That kind of movie was also uncommon at that time because the hero and the villain were both Asian.
6Some of his martial arts stats: 1982-1983 International Forms Champion, Member of the National WuShu Team, Gold and Silver Medal at Competitions in China, Gold Medal in Weapons, 4-Time Traditional Forms Grand Champion in California.
7Education: Civil Engineering Degree at California State University

Pictures

Movies

Actor

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Way of the Empty HandTV Movie post-productionBoss
Black Tiger: Hunter Hunted2014ShortPacific 'Pac' Fong / Black Tiger
Death Race: Inferno2013Video14K
Sleeping Dogs2012Video GameConroy / Roland Ho (voice)
Mortal Enemies2011Sunny
Death Race 22010Video14K
Cold Case2009TV SeriesBo-Lin Chen '83
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li2009Gen
Death Race200814K
DOA: Dead or Alive2006Pirate Leader
18 Fingers of Death!2006VideoJackie Chong
Lost Time: The Movie2003ShortEvan
The Outer Limits1998TV SeriesMajor Ronald Neguchi
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation1997Liu Kang
Beverly Hills Ninja1997Gobei
Mortal Kombat1995Liu Kang
Long hu xin feng yun: Zhi tou hao tong ji fan1994Gang Leader
Long kua si hai zhi zhi ming qing ren1993Joi Gam-Seui / Chin Shui
Angel the Kickboxer1993
Honor and Glory1993Dragon Lee
Kakambal ko sa tapang1993Allan (as Robin Shaw)
Zhi fa wei long1992Allan Lung / Inspector Dragon
Zhi zun te jing1992Co Chi Pang
Soldier Soldier1992TV SeriesJournalist Feng
Hei mao zhi ci sha Ye Li Qin1992Robin
Di xia bing gong chang1991Paul
Eastern Heroes1991Night Monster
Hong tian long1991Night-Monster
Magdaleno Orbos: Sa kuko ng mga lawin1991Robin
Dong fang lao hu1990Tomoriki Jiono
Sai hak chin1990Waise Chow
Forbidden Nights1990TV MovieLiang Hong
Yellowthread Street1990TV SeriesTony Siu
Chi se da feng bao1990Wai Loong
Triads: The Inside Story1989Coffin Rope's Man
Zhi zun wu shang1989Hitman
Long zhi zheng ba1989Iron Club
Saang gong kei bing 31989966
Zhan long1988Lan Si Han (as Robin Chou)
City War1988Killer
Huang jia shi jie zhi III: Ci xiong da dao1988Bodyguard (uncredited)
Seng fat dak ging1988Hospital Assassin
Yat goh1987Robin
Dead Mule SuitcaseJack Lam

Director

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Red Trousers: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen2003Documentary
Lost Time: The Movie2003Short
Dead Mule Suitcase

Writer

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Red Trousers: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen2003Documentary screenplay
Hei mao zhi ci sha Ye Li Qin1992english dialogue

Miscellaneous

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Resident Evil2002trainer: Milla Jovovich - uncredited
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation1997fight choreographer
Mortal Kombat1995fight choreographer: additional action sequences, additional crew

Producer

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Red Trousers: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen2003Documentary producer

Stunts

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation1997fight choreographer
Mortal Kombat1995fight choreographer: additional fight sequences

Thanks

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance2002Video Game special thanks: artistic contribution

Self

TitleYearStatusCharacter
Man of a Thousand Faces2008DocumentaryHimself
Red Trousers: The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen2003DocumentaryEvan / Narrator / Himself
Mortal Kombat: Behind the Dragon1995TV Movie documentaryHimself
Mortal Kombat: Behind the Scenes1995Video shortHimself

Source: IMDb, Wikipedia

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