Philip Ng Wan-lung (; born September 16, 1977) is a Hong Kong-born American

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

martial artist Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preserv ...

and

action choreographer Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

. He is currently based in Hong Kong.

Early life

Born in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

on September 16, 1977. Ng's father is Sam Ng. Ng's mother is Frances Ng. Ng immigrated to United States with his family at the age of seven. Ng spent the majority of his youth in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

Career

Martial arts

Ng began his study of the martial arts with

Hung Gar Hung Ga (), Hung Kuen (), or Hung Ga Kuen () is a southern Chinese martial art belonging to the southern Shaolin styles. The hallmarks of Hung Ga are strong stances, notably the horse stance, or "si ping ma" (), and strong hand techniques, not ...

, taught by his uncle and

Choy Lay Fut Choy Lee Fut is a Chinese martial art and wushu style, founded in 1836 by Chan Heung (陳享). Choy Li Fut was named to honor the Buddhist monk Choy Fook (蔡褔, Cai Fu) who taught him Choy Gar, and Li Yau-San (李友山) who taught him ...

, taught by his father. At the age of 13, Philip Ng began his study of Wing Chun Gung Fu with his uncle, Alan Ang, and

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast kicking techniques. T ...

with Master Woon S. Shim. To further his education in the field of Wing Chun Gung Fu, Ng traveled to Hong Kong during the summers and became the student of the

Wong Shun-leung Wong Shun-leung (; 8 May 1935 – 28 January 1997) was a Hong Kong martial artist who studied Wing Chun kung fu under Yip Man (葉問)Ving Tsun Athletic Association (1990)The development of Ving Tsun Kungfu in Hong Kong: 1954-1960Retrieved ...

, with whom he trained until Wong's passing early in 1997. Before his death, Sifu Wong Shun-leung encouraged Ng to begin instructing students in America to become training partners. Ng founded the Illini Wing Chun Association at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

at Urbana-Champaign. Ng spent five years presiding over the association as both the head instructor and club president. Time spent at the University had not only awarded Philip a master's degree in education, but training and sparring with other martial stylists gained him the knowledge and applicable skill in the arts of

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ; pt, jiu-jitsu brasileiro ) is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting (ne-waza) and submission holds. BJJ focuses on the skill of taking an opponent to the ground, control ...

, Western

Boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

Muay Thai Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised ...

and

Eskrima Arnis, also known as Kali or Eskrima/Escrima, is the national martial art of the Philippines. The three are roughly interchangeable umbrella terms for the traditional martial arts of the Philippines ("Filipino Martial Arts", or FMA), which emp ...

. Ng holds a bachelor's degree in Graphic design and a master's degree in Education.

Acting and choreography

Ng returned to Hong Kong in 2002 to pursue a career in

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

and

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

choreography Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design ...

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

. In addition to acting, Ng is also an accomplished

fight choreographer Stage combat, fight craft or fight choreography is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performers. It is employed in live stage plays as well as operatic and ballet pr ...

and action director. He taught school for a year and decided to fulfill his dream of performing in a martial arts film. He quit his job and headed to Hong Kong to try to enter the business. He was introduced to

Chin Ka Lok Chin Ka-lok, sometimes credited as Chin Kar-lok ( Chinese: 錢嘉樂, Pinyin: Qián Jiālè, born 6 August 1965), is a Hong Kong actor, action choreographer, and television presenter. Chin was born in Hong Kong, the younger brother of actor ...

, an action director who needed someone with Ng's background to train the actors and became the assistant martial arts choreographer on a film. Ng worked his way up as a stuntman and featured actor until he achieved his goal of starring in a 2014 martial arts film, ''Once Upon a Time in Shanghai''. He was selected to play

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 ...

in the 2016 biographical film ''

Birth of the Dragon ''Birth of the Dragon'' is a 2016 American martial arts action film directed by George Nolfi and written by Christopher Wilkinson and Stephen J. Rivele. The film stars Philip Ng, Xia Yu, and Billy Magnussen. The film is a fictional account on th ...

'', which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 13, 2016.

Filmography

Film Television Second Unit Director or Assistant Director:

References

External links

Official blog and fan siteWeibo page (Chinese mirco-blog)
*
HKMDB profileNg Family Chinese Martial Arts Association
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ng, Philip 1977 births Living people Action choreographers Male actors from Chicago American male film actors American male television actors Hong Kong emigrants to the United States Hong Kong male film actors Hong Kong kung fu practitioners Hong Kong male taekwondo practitioners Hong Kong jujutsuka Hong Kong male karateka Hong Kong male kickboxers American eskrimadors Hong Kong male television actors Hong Kong wushu practitioners Hong Kong stunt performers American stunt performers American Wing Chun practitioners 21st-century Hong Kong male actors 21st-century American male actors Wing Chun practitioners from Hong Kong