Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is a British actor, film producer, screenwriter, gymnast, and martial artist. He is best known for his role as the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the ''Undisputed franchise''. He has played Yuri Boyka in the (2006) film '' Undisputed II: Last Man Standing'' and its two sequels, '' Undisputed III: Redemption'' (2010) and '' Boyka: Undisputed'' (2017); Casey Bowman in the (2009) film ''

Ninja A or was a covert agent or mercenary in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included reconnaissance, espionage, infiltration, deception, ambush, bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu.Kawakami, pp. 2 ...

'' and its (2013) sequel '' Ninja: Shadow of a Tear''; French in the (2018) film ''The Debt Collector'' and its (2020) sequel ''Debt Collectors'' (starring alongside

Louis Mandylor Louis Mandylor (born Elias Theodosopoulos; 13 September 1966) is an Australian film and television actor. Mandylor played Nick Portokalos in ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding'' (2002), a role he reprised in the sequel ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2'' (2 ...

). He worked in four films with his idol

Jean-Claude Van Damme Jean-Claude Camille François Van Varenberg (, ; born 18 October 1960), known professionally as Jean-Claude Van Damme (, ), is a Belgian actor, martial artist, filmmaker, and fight choreographer. Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, at the ag ...

: '' The Shepherd: Border Patrol'', ''

Assassination Games ''Assassination Games'' is a 2011 American action thriller film directed by Ernie Barbarash and starring Jean-Claude van Damme and Scott Adkins with Ivan Kaye as their main antagonist. The film was released in the United States on July 29, 2011 ...

'', '' Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning'' and '' The Expendables 2''. He also had starring roles in ''

The Legend of Hercules ''The Legend of Hercules'' is a 2014 American 3D action fantasy film directed by Renny Harlin, written by Daniel Giat and Sean Hood, and starring Kellan Lutz, Gaia Weiss, Scott Adkins, Roxanne McKee, and Liam Garrigan. It was distributed by Lions ...

'', ''

Wolf Warrior ''Wolf Warrior'' () is a 2015 Chinese war film written and directed by Wu Jing. It stars Wu Jing along with Scott Adkins, Yu Nan and Kevin Lee. It was released on 2 April 2015. A sequel, titled ''Wolf Warrior 2'', was released in China in 201 ...

'' and '' Ip Man 4: The Finale'' playing the main antagonist in all three films, and also appeared in ''

The Bourne Ultimatum ''The Bourne Ultimatum'' is the third Jason Bourne novel written by Robert Ludlum and a sequel to ''The Bourne Supremacy'' (1986). First published in 1990, it was the last Bourne novel to be written by Ludlum himself. Eric Van Lustbader wrote ...

'', ''

Zero Dark Thirty ''Zero Dark Thirty'' is a 2012 American thriller film directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. The film dramatizes the nearly decade-long international manhunt for Osama bin Laden, leader of terrorist network Al-Qaeda, after ...

'', and the Marvel projects '' Mutant X'', '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'', and ''

Doctor Strange Doctor Stephen Strange is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Ditko, the character first appeared in ''Strange Tales'' #110 (cover-dated July 1963). Doctor Strange serves as Sorce ...

''. In (2022), he starred in '' Day Shift'' with

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film ''Ray'', for which he won the A ...

and Dave Franco, and (2023) will appear in '' John Wick: Chapter 4'' alongside

Keanu Reeves Keanu Charles Reeves ( ; born September 2, 1964) is a Canadian actor. Born in Beirut and raised in Toronto, Reeves began acting in theatre productions and in television films before making his feature film debut in '' Youngblood'' (1986). ...

Early life

Scott Edward Adkins was born in

Sutton Coldfield Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles sou ...

, a town within

Birmingham, England Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

on 17 June 1976 into a family of butchers. He first became interested in martial arts at the age of ten, when he visited a local

Judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...

club with his father and older brother. After being robbed at age 13, his interest in martial arts grew even more. That same year, he began to practice

Taekwondo ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

. Since the age of 16, Scott also started to practice

Kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

with Anthony Jones, eventually becoming a kickboxing instructor for the

Professional Karate Association The Professional Karate Association (PKA), later Professional Karate & Kickboxing Association, now--effective March 1, 2022 PKA Worldwide--was originally a martial arts sanctioning organization, now transformed into a martial arts promotion compa ...

. He ran classes at the Fitness First at Bearwood, Smethwick once a week. He also has experience in

Ninjutsu , sometimes used interchangeably with the modern term , is the martial art strategy and tactics of unconventional warfare, guerrilla warfare and espionage purportedly practised by the ninja. ''Ninjutsu'' was a separate discipline in some tra ...

Krav Maga Krav Maga ( ; , ; ) is an Israeli martial art. Developed for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), it is derived from a combination of techniques used in aikido, judo, karate, boxing, and wrestling. It is known for its focus on real-world situation ...

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

, Wushu,

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 ...

Jujutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subd ...

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 characterise ...

Capoeira Capoeira () is an Afro-Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics, music and spirituality. Born of the melting pot of enslaved Africans, Indigenous Brazilians and Portuguese influences at the beginning of the 16th cent ...

and

Gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

Career

His first break came when he was offered a role in a Hong Kong martial arts film called ''Dei Seung Chui Keung'' (2001) (aka ''Extreme Challenge''). Spotted by Head of the Hong Kong Stuntmen Association and director Wei Tung and England-born Hong Kong movie expert Bey Logan, Adkins found himself in the East for the first time. He had the opportunity to work with some of Hong Kong cinema's leading action directors including Yuen Woo-ping,

Corey Yuen Corey Yuen (; born Ying Gang-ming (殷元奎); 15 February 1951) is a Hong Kong director, film director, producer, action choreographer, and former actor. Yuen was a member of the Peking Opera Schools and one of the Seven Little Fortunes. As an ...

Sammo Hung Sammo Hung Kam-bo ( zh, t=洪金寶, j=Hung4 Gam1-bou2; born 7 January 1952) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film producer and director, known for his work in martial arts films, Hong Kong action cinema, and as a fight choreographer for ...

and

Jackie Chan Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...

. Acting roles soon started to come in and he was offered a guest role in the BBC's '' Doctors'' (2000) filmed at Birmingham's Pebble Mill. He appeared in a few episodes in BBC's ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' (2003) and ''

City Central City Central is a business improvement district (BID) that represents around 630 businesses in the retail and leisure heart of Liverpool's city centre, covering a total area of 49 acres and including 61 streets, such as Bold Street, Church ...

'' (1999), and a lead role in Sky One comedy drama ''

Mile High ''Mile High'' is a British television drama based on the lives of the cabin crew members of Fresh!, a budget airline based in London. The name of the show is a reference to the Mile High Club. The show was broadcast on Sky1 from 2003 to 2005 ...

'' (2003) followed by a regular role in BBC's ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', and ...

'' (2006) as Bradley Hume, the assistant general manager of Holby General. Starring roles in feature films soon followed with his portrayal of Talbot in ''

Special Forces Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equi ...

'' (2003) and Yuri Boyka in '' Undisputed II: Last Man Standing'' (2006). It was this film that broke him into the mainstream with his villainous portrayal of the Russian MMA underground fighter Boyka. After this Scott had guest starring roles in bigger budget films like ''

'' (2007) and '' The Tournament'' (2009), and played

's main adversary in Sony Pictures '' The Shepherd: Border Patrol'' (2008). He shared the role of Weapon XI with

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over billion. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...

in '' X-Men Origins: Wolverine'' (2009). Adkins appears in the role of King Amphitryon in ''

''. In 2012, he was cast to star in ''

Métal Hurlant Chronicles ''Métal Hurlant Chronicles'' is an English-language Franco-Belgian television science fiction anthology series based on the popular comics anthology magazine ', known in the United States as '' Heavy Metal''. Each episode is a self-contained stor ...

'', a television adaptation of the popular French comic book ''

Metal Hurlant A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

''. Adkins was reunited with action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping in 2019 when he starred alongside

Donnie Yen Donnie Yen Chi-tan (; born 27 July 1963) is a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, and action director. Yen is one of Hong Kong's top action stars. Yen is widely credited for bringing mixed martial arts (MMA) into the mainstream Asian cinema by cho ...

in '' Ip Man 4: The Finale'' as the main antagonist Barton Geddes, a Marine gunnery sergeant. According to Adkins, Yen personally requested him to star in the film.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adkins, Scott 1976 births 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors British stunt performers English male film actors English male soap opera actors English male taekwondo practitioners English people of Spanish descent English jujutsuka English expatriates in the United States Krav Maga practitioners Living people Male actors from Birmingham, West Midlands People educated at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School People from Sutton Coldfield