Christian Howard (born 4 May 1984) is a British actor, model, martial artist, and filmmaker. He is best known for his performance as

Ken Masters , originally spelled in kanji as with his original full name being unknown, is a fictional character in Capcom's ''Street Fighter'' series. Ken is the best friend and rival of Ryu, who has also appeared in all ''Street Fighter'' games. Ken's g ...

in the short film '' Street Fighter: Legacy'', the 2014 web series '' Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist'' and its follow-up '' Street Fighter: Resurrection''.

Early life

Christian Howard was born in

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, near Newcastle, in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

on 4 May 1984. At the age of 13, Howard began his training in martial arts in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. Howard began his training in Kung Fu, but later trained in

Karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the ...

, Taekwondo and Capoeira. He notes

Bruce Lee Bruce Lee (; born Lee Jun-fan, ; November 27, 1940 – July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong and American martial artist and actor. He was the founder of Jeet Kune Do, a hybrid martial arts philosophy drawing from different combat disciplines that ...

and Jean-Claude Van Damme as his influences for training in the martial arts."Kung Fu Kingdom: Interview with Christian Howard"
Kung Fu Kingdom, 22 May 2014.

Career

Howard made his film debut in 2005 with the

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'' and worked primarily in television movies and short films. In 2010, he played the role of Ken Masters in the short film Street Fighter: Legacy opposite Jon Foo as Ryu. In addition to playing Ken, Howard also co-wrote the screenplay and assisted with fight choreography with director

Joey Ansah Joey Ansah (born 24 November 1982) is a British actor, director and martial artist best known for his roles in '' The Bourne Ultimatum'' (2007), '' Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist'' (2014) and '' The Old Guard'' (2020). Early life and educatio ...

. He earned his first male lead role in a feature film with

Ross Boyask Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sout ...

's sword and sorcery homage ''Warrioress'' opposite Cecily Fay, who met Howard while he worked as a stuntman. Howard worked as a fight choreographer on films such as ''Dragon Crusaders'' and the Bollywood film ''

Force In physics, a force is an influence that can change the motion of an object. A force can cause an object with mass to change its velocity (e.g. moving from a state of rest), i.e., to accelerate. Force can also be described intuitively as a p ...

'' and doubled for lead actor John Abraham. Howard had worked as assistant fight choreographer and doubled for idol Jean-Claude Van Damme on '' U.F.O''. In 2013, Howard co-starred as Wedge and served as assistant fight choreographer on '' Green Street 3: Never Back Down''. The overwhelming success of the 2010 short film '' Street Fighter: Legacy'' led to Capcom and

Machinima Machinima, originally machinema () is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often, video games are used to generate the computer animation. The word "machinima" is a portmanteau of the words ''ma ...

financing the web-series '' Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist''. Howard was able to return to the role of

, but since Jon Foo was unavailable,

Mike Moh Mike Moh (born August 19, 1983) is an American actor and martial artist of Korean descent. A sixth degree black belt in American Taekwondo, Moh is perhaps best known for his roles as martial arts legend Bruce Lee in the 2019 film '' Once Upon a ...

replaced Foo as Ryu. The series was also co-written by Howard and again, Howard assisted with the series' fight choreography alongside co-star and series director

. In 2016, Howard returned to the role of Ken Masters in the sequel series '' Street Fighter: Resurrection'' alongside Mike Moh returning as Ryu and features

Alain Moussi Alain Moussi is a Canadian actor, stuntman and martial artist. He plays the lead role of Kurt Sloane in the reboot of Kickboxer (film series), ''Kickboxer'' series, ''Kickboxer: Vengeance'' (2016) and ''Kickboxer: Retaliation'' (2018), a role tha ...

as Charlie Nash. He has also expressed interest in playing the lead role of

He-Man He-Man is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the sword and planet ''Masters of the Universe'' franchise, which includes a toy line, several animated television series, comic books and a feature film. He-Man is characterized by h ...

in Mattel's rumored ''

Masters of the Universe ''Masters of the Universe'' (sometimes referred to as the ''He-Man'' or ''She-Ra'' series) is a sword and planet-themed media franchise created by Mattel. The main premise revolves around the conflict between He-Man (the alter ego of Prince Ada ...

'' film.

Filmography

* ''Immortal 65'' (Short) (2021) - Orson Randall/Iron Fist / Writer * ''Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves'' (Short) (2021) - Terry Bogard/Producer/Fight Choreography * ''Oddjob'' (Short) (2020) - James Bond * ''Ripper'' (2017) - Ricochet * ''Thirst of the Ancients'' (2017) - Dario * ''Dead.Gay.Fictional'' (Short) (2016) - James Bond * ''Jack'' (2016) - Jack * ''Option Zero'' (2016) - Nate * '' Street Fighter: Resurrection'' (2016) - Ken Masters * ''Impossible'' (Short) (2015) - Fitzgerald Grant * '' Street Fighter: Assassin's Fist'' (2014) - Ken Masters * ''Control'' (Short) (2014) - The Henchman * '' Green Street 3: Never Back Down'' (2013) - Wedge/assistant fight choreographer * ''The Making of a Cold'' (Short) (2012) - Sebastian Buck/Roger * ''

U.F.O. An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are ide ...

'' (2012) - Bartholomew/assistant fight choreographer/stunt double * ''Brother'' (Short) (2012) - Prince Lucius * ''Awake'' (Short) (2012) - C * ''Bound'' (Short) (2012) - Captain Stevens * ''

'' (2011) - fight choreographer/stunt double * ''10 Minutes'' (Short) (2011) - Mike * ''Dragon Crusaders'' (2011) - Calvain/fight choreographer * ''Warrioress'' (2011) - Finvarrah/Raider * ''Love of Brian'' (Short) (2010) - George * ''The Seer'' (Short) (2010) - Kano * '' Street Fighter: Legacy'' (Short) (2010) - Ken Masters/assistant fight choreographer * ''Am I Digital?'' (Short) (2009) - Assassin * ''Game'' (Short) (2008) - Eddie * ''Voyage: Killing Brigitte Nielsen'' (2007) - Chris * ''Love Struck'' (2005) - Door Evictee #1

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Christian English male film actors English male television actors English male martial artists English male models 1984 births Living people 21st-century English male actors