Scott Adkins

Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976 ) is a British actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his villainous portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006), a role he reprised in its sequels Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2017). He has since made films in a variety of genres, such as crime dramas, martial arts movies, war films, action thrillers, sci-fi actioners and action comedies, mostly as the lead.

Born in Sutton Coldfield, Adkins began practising martial arts at age 13, taking up taekwondo and earning his black belt at age 19. His early acting credits include minor roles in the Hong Kong films The Accidental Spy (2001), Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2002), and The Medallion (2003), and the American films Special Forces (2003), Unleashed (2005), and The Pink Panther (2006). His portrayal of Yuri Boyka in the Undisputed film series won him an Action on Film Award for Breakout Action Star in 2010 and a Jackie Chan Action Movie Award for Best Action Movie Actor in 2017. His first lead role was as Casey Bowman in the American martial arts film Ninja (2009), a role he reprised in the sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013).

Adkins is known for his collaborations with Jean-Claude Van Damme, starring in The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008), Assassination Games (2011), Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning and The Expendables 2 (both in 2012). He also starred opposite Kellan Lutz in The Legend of Hercules (2014), Wu Jing in Wolf Warrior (2015), Donnie Yen in Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019), Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais in Triple Threat (2019), and Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023).

Early life
Scott Edward Adkins was born in Sutton Coldfield, a town within Birmingham, into a family of butchers. He first became interested in martial arts at the age of ten, when he visited a local 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. Since the age of 16, Scott also started to practice Kickboxing with Anthony Jones, eventually becoming a kickboxing instructor for the Professional Karate Association. He ran classes at the Fitness First at Bearwood, Smethwick once a week. He has also gained experience in Ninjutsu, Krav Maga, Karate, Wushu, Aikido, Jujutsu, MMA, Capoeira and Gymnastics.

As a youth, Adkins was inspired by Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, stating, "I wanted to be an actor first because I grew up idolizing action stars. The first one for me was Bruce Lee, and then there was Stallone and Arnold, and then Van Damme came along in '88 and really inspired me".

Acting career
He secured a role in a Hong Kong martial arts film called Dei Seung Chui Keung (2001) (aka Extreme Challenge). He was spotted by Head of the Hong Kong Stuntmen Association and director Stephen Tung and British-born Hong Kong movie expert Bey Logan, and 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, Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan. 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 (2003) and City Central (1999), and a lead role in Sky One comedy drama Mile High (2003) followed by a regular role in BBC's Holby City (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 (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 Yuri Boyka. After this Scott had guest starring roles in bigger budget films like The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and The Tournament (2009), and played Jean-Claude Van Damme's main adversary in Sony Pictures The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008). He shared the role of Weapon XI with Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). His first lead role was as Casey Bowman in the American martial arts film Ninja (2009), a role he reprised in the sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013).

In 2014, Adkins appeared in the role of King Amphitryon in The Legend of Hercules.

In 2012, he was cast to star in Métal Hurlant Chronicles, a television adaptation of the popular French comic book Metal Hurlant.

He has worked in four films with his idol Jean-Claude Van Damme: The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008), Assassination Games (2011), Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning and The Expendables 2 (both in 2012).

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

In 2022, he starred in Day Shift with Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco, and appeared in John Wick: Chapter 4 alongside Keanu Reeves in 2023.