Non-Asian actors in Hong Kong cinema

[AlbertV]

Hey guys,
I thought I'd start up a post about who you thought were good foreign actors in Hong Kong cinema, from any era. As Hong Kong cinema has virtually gone more international, it is quite interesting to pop in a classic kung fu movie or new wave film and see Americans, British, and other non-Asians in these films. Here's a list of my favorite actors.

Carl Scott (1970's) - awesome teenage kung fu and karate expert, best known for Last Strike (aka Soul Brothers of Kung Fu) and his famous on-screen teamups with Billy Chong. Last I heard, he ran a camera shop in California, but that was years ago. Could be doing that still or not. Who knows?
Louis Neglia (1980) - former kickboxing champion who played main baddie in A Hard Way to Die. Currently a kickboxing promoter in New York City and runs a kickboxing school in Brooklyn.
Alexander Grand (1970's) - played the Russian boxer in Crystal Fist and appeared in other classic kung fu films.
Robert Kerver (1970's) - played the blond Russian fighter in Snuff Bottle Connection and as one of the villain's top thugs in Fists of Bruce Lee.
Ron Van Clief (1970's) - The famous "Black Dragon" who starred in the film of the same name and was the martial arts teacher of Taimak, who played Leroy in the 1985 classic The Last Dragon. Still active in martial arts today.
Roy Horan (1970's-1980's) - best known for being a student of Hwang Jang-Lee's and had memorable villain roles in Snuff Bottle Connection and Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. Also showed some nice MA in Tower of Death and had a memorable acting scene in No Retreat, No Surrender 2. Currently a teacher in Hong Kong.

Anyone have favorites here or perhaps in the New Wave era? :)

OOPS...can someone move this to the General Forum...I didn't realize where it was...sorry :(

[dragonherb]

Top-3:

Mark Houghton
Cynthia Rothrock
Richard Harrison

[niro]

Did Brad Allen appear in any films based in Hong Kong? I know he was part of Jackie Chan's stunt team and i've seen him appear in quite a few films but those were shot in either Australia or USA

[TibetanWhiteCrane]

Richard Norton
Jeff Falcon
Michael Woods
Stephan Bervic
Steve Tartaglia
Bobby Samuels
Mike Abbot
Louis Roth
Kim Maree Penn
Sophia Crawford
Wayne Archer
Vincent Lynn

So many... and they all deserve props, cuz that is a damn hard way to make a living!

[Chinatown Kid]

Benny Urquidez, Keith Vitali, Chuck Norris, Bob Wall, Jim Kelly ....

[AlbertV]

Did Brad Allen appear in any films based in Hong Kong? I know he was part of Jackie Chan's stunt team and i've seen him appear in quite a few films but those were shot in either Australia or USA

Brad was the fighter in Gorgeous, which is a Hong Kong film. It was shot in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He also appeared in Drunken Master 3 in a bit part and The Accidental Spy as the cab driver Chan fights while in Turkey I believe.

[kungpowmaster]

Yeah, Richard Harrison is great, and I really like Stuart Smith/Steen. I read a great interview with him too a while back.

Chosen One

[niro]

Brad was the fighter in Gorgeous, which is a Hong Kong film. It was shot in Taiwan and Hong Kong. He also appeared in Drunken Master 3 in a bit part and The Accidental Spy as the cab driver Chan fights while in Turkey I believe.

ah yea i forgot gorgeous was a HK based film lol...that was the film that was came to mind when i thought of Brad Allen...stupid me :quiet:

[AlbertV]

ah yea i forgot gorgeous was a HK based film lol...that was the film that was came to mind when i thought of Brad Allen...stupid me :quiet:

Nah, it happens. We all tend to forget things. Don't worry about it niro. :D

The Godfrey Ho Ninja films are definitely a guilty pleasure. Richard Harrison is definitely the definition of them.

Stuart Smith/Steen is good, Bruce Baron still is ranking and is still p.o.ed at how he was "exploited", Bruce Stallion is actually Paulo Tocha and he's a kickboxing trainer these days, Pierre Kirby was good in Full Metal Ninja and Zombie vs. Ninja (the latter with Elton Chong from Zombie Raiders)

[niro]

I remember another one although i didnt think he was good actor in the film at all but still a starring role for a British martial artist...Darren Shahlavi in Tai Chi Boxer XD

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Eugene Thomas was my fav.

[Jun]

Good ol' Richard Norton.
Brad Allen.
Benny Urquidez.
John Salvitti and Michael Woods, two of Donnie Yen's buddies from Boston.

Cynthia Rothrock might be the only white actor routinely assigned POSITIVE characters in HK movies.

[Chinatown Kid]

I wish Jerry "Golden Boy" Trimble had been given more opportunity to showcase his kicks in HK films, his real life kickboxing bouts often looked as good as if they were choregraphed for a film. His spinning hook kick was a thing of beauty!

[AlbertV]

Yeah Jerry was the main villain in Jet Li's The Master and also appeared in King of the Kickboxers and Invincible (a HK military action film that co-starred Billy Blanks and Stefanos Miltsakakis)

I also like Mark Williams. He was the dread-locked gang leader in The Master, but he really shined in the finale of another Jet Li film, Dragon Fight. He played the lead bodyguard to the big boss whom Dick Wei allied himself with. Mark would also get to shine in College Kickboxers, which co-starred and was choreographed by Tang Tak-Wing.

A name not many know but he has done more recent films in Hong Kong is Brandon Rhea. He's a German-born martial artist who appeared in Silver Hawk (in the opening fight as one of the panda poachers), Star Runner (one of the thugs in the bar fight), but is perhaps more known for his role in Fearless as the fighter with the spear who takes on Jet Li in the opening of the film. He's pretty good as well after seeing him work with Yuen Woo-Ping.

I'm also a fan of Jake Strickland, the young XMA fighter from House of Fury. He recently graduated from high school and I'm hearing rumors that Jackie Chan is planning another film for him. Maybe he may end up doing some stunt work on Spy Next Door???? Who knows?

[dionbrother]

Paul Rudd, GEN Y COPS. Peter Graves and Richard Kiel, ACES GO PLACES 3.

Did you know Phoebe Cates wanted a role in OPERATION CONDOR? But Jackie decided she may not like the Hong Kong way of filming (throw out the script, overlong shooting schedule).

[HyperDrive]

Evelyn Kraft (Mighty Peking Man, Deadly Angels)
Paul Smith (Return of the Tiger)
Coolio + Mark Dascascos (China Strike Force)

[SamuraiDana]

And let's not forget Michael DePasquale Jr. from CHINA HEAT. He plays the "New York" cop assigned to help the visiting policewomen from China, who include Sibelle Hu, and he takes them to what looks like a hotel dining room in the Pacific Northwest tricked up with a couple of lion statues and tells them, "This is the best Chinese restaurant in Noo Yawk!"

[Tantheman]

Keith Vitali, great fight with Yuen Baio in wheels on Meals, the guy has some charisma about him

[dragonherb]

Kim Maree Penn

I remember her in Fun and Fury, really get her ass kicked by Frankie Chan XD

[AlbertV]

I remember her in Fun and Fury, really get her ass kicked by Frankie Chan XD

Yeah, but she did some pretty good stuff in In the Line of Duty 5: Middle Man, City of Darkness, and Death Games

[The Running Man]

Did you know Phoebe Cates wanted a role in OPERATION CONDOR? But Jackie decided she may not like the Hong Kong way of filming (throw out the script, overlong shooting schedule).

Wow! That sounds like a great piece of trivia. Where'd ya here it?

I do know that Oliver Stone visited the set though.

And just to help add to the thread, Gary Daniels in City Hunter and Michael Biehn in Dragon Squad.

[Asmo]

There is a pic of Jackie 'giving Oliver Stone some directing tips' in his book. It didn't say what time period. Now I know, thanks!

[AlbertV]

Gary Daniels was also in Mission of Justice and has a fight scene with Moon Lee.

[dragonherb]

This have been discussed before but about non-asian actors in general, not just fighters:
http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7405

Anyways, my favourite is Mark Houghton.

[Yi-Long]

Brad Allen is the one that jumps to mind, mainly because of the speed and ability. A shame he hasnt be used more and better.

[Tosh]

But it seems hk filmmakers are racists because they always shom western people like beasts.If i remember right Jeffrey played only twice as a good guy.They should give them better roles.

It cracks me up when Asian(probably more Asian Americans) people complain they get typecast in Hollywood movies, having watched a lot of Asian cinema over the years Americans and Europeans are always the murders, rapists and drug dealers. Not that these people didn't exist, but there was also a lot of doctors and people overseas trying to help. Then again I'd love to go to Hong Kong and play the bad American villain part:p

[sonnychibaidol]

Of these actors, how many of these non-Chinese, non-Asian actors actually speak Cantonese in the movies? How many of these actors are actually conversant with the Cantonese tongue? Could you please list the names. Thank you.

[Bus]

it was also brought up in 07

http://kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3964

[Dragon Ma]

I always liked Steve Tartaglia, he always seemed to have fun with his villainous roles.

[WalkOn]

Not sure if all fall in this category, but here goes some others who I don't believe were mentioned.

Loren Avedon - No Retreat No Surrender II & III, King of Kickboxers
Chuck Jeffreys - Bloodmoon, Angel the Kickboxer (Excellent ma practitioner)
Bob Wall - Return of the Dragon, Enter the Dragon
Bob Baker - Chinese Connection
Steve (Muhammad) Sanders - Dynamo
Donnie Williams - Bruce Lee: The Man, The Myth
John Ladalski - Counter Attack, Amour of God, My Rebellious Son
Sophia Crawford - Cypress Tigers and many other HK films
Billy Blanks - Invincible, King of Kickboxers
Bill "Superfoot" Wallace - The Protector

My favorite is probably Carl R. Scott (previously mentioned) for his roles in Soul Brothers of Kung Fu, A Hard Way to Die and Kung Fu Executioner. Superb martial arts practitioner and he's currently still involved in martial arts. He was a student of Steve (Muhammad) Sanders and continues to hold seminars for the 5 Level Method ma system which he may still teach in the Los Angeles area. From what I hear, he's very private and doesn't like to discuss(provide interviews) his HK movies days, although I'd wish he would!

[AbeRudder]

Keith Vitali - Wheels on meals

[Joseph_Kuby]

Robert Kerver - geeky looking white guy in '70s movies was a laugh riot but solid when using a nunchaku.

Anne Winston from When Taekwondo Strikes is admirable too.

[Gaijin84]

originally posted by sonnychibaidol:
Of these actors, how many of these non-Chinese, non-Asian actors actually speak Cantonese in the movies? How many of these actors are actually conversant with the Cantonese tongue? Could you please list the names. Thank you.

Mark Houghton is fluent in Cantonese. I have a friend who is acquaintances with him and I think he said his Cantonese is virtually indecipherable from a native speaker.

[AbeRudder]

Of these actors, how many of these non-Chinese, non-Asian actors actually speak Cantonese in the movies? How many of these actors are actually conversant with the Cantonese tongue? Could you please list the names. Thank you.

Roy Horan speaks cantonese so does Bey Logan.

[Jingangchan]

Mark Houghton is fluent in Cantonese. I have a friend who is acquaintances with him and I think he said his Cantonese is virtually indecipherable from a native speaker. He runs a school there so why not?

[Jingangchan]

Hey guys,
I thought I'd start up a post about who you thought were good foreign actors in Hong Kong cinema, from any era. As Hong Kong cinema has virtually gone more international, it is quite interesting to pop in a classic kung fu movie or new wave film and see Americans, British, and other non-Asians in these films. Here's a list of my favorite actors.

Carl Scott (1970's) - awesome teenage kung fu and karate expert, best known for Last Strike (aka Soul Brothers of Kung Fu) and his famous on-screen teamups with Billy Chong. Last I heard, he ran a camera shop in California, but that was years ago. Could be doing that still or not. Who knows?
Louis Neglia (1980) - former kickboxing champion who played main baddie in A Hard Way to Die. Currently a kickboxing promoter in New York City and runs a kickboxing school in Brooklyn.
Alexander Grand (1970's) - played the Russian boxer in Crystal Fist and appeared in other classic kung fu films.
Robert Kerver (1970's) - played the blond Russian fighter in Snuff Bottle Connection and as one of the villain's top thugs in Fists of Bruce Lee.
Ron Van Clief (1970's) - The famous "Black Dragon" who starred in the film of the same name and was the martial arts teacher of Taimak, who played Leroy in the 1985 classic The Last Dragon. Still active in martial arts today.
Roy Horan (1970's-1980's) - best known for being a student of Hwang Jang-Lee's and had memorable villain roles in Snuff Bottle Connection and Snake in the Eagle's Shadow. Also showed some nice MA in Tower of Death and had a memorable acting scene in No Retreat, No Surrender 2. Currently a teacher in Hong Kong.

Anyone have favorites here or perhaps in the New Wave era? :)

OOPS...can someone move this to the General Forum...I didn't realize where it was...sorry :(

Are we forgettimg the obvious? Donnie Yen. Technically he grew up in the Boston area. I forget if he was born overseas but, I think it was here.

[Jingangchan]

It cracks me up when Asian(probably more Asian Americans) people complain they get typecast in Hollywood movies, having watched a lot of Asian cinema over the years Americans and Europeans are always the murders, rapists and drug dealers. Not that these people didn't exist, but there was also a lot of doctors and people overseas trying to help. Then again I'd love to go to Hong Kong and play the bad American villain part:p

Actually I don't know if "racist" is the best term. Even the Nipponese players get the shaft most of the time. Look at the roles Kurata and Oshima played...and HJL is Korean. I think it's just anyone who's not from HK, Taiwan or such.

[Jingangchan]

If you are regarding him as the non asian.Then lot of stars were raised in Canada and etc.
Donnie Yen is 100% asian.

The original post in this thread mentioned foreign actors as opposed to nonasian...

[AlbertV]

Donnie was born in Canton, China. His family moved to Boston shortly after. I think Donnie's sister Chris was born in Boston, but I am not sure.