DONNIE YEN HAS BEEN punched, in the name of moviemaking, more times than he can count. Kicked. Burnt. Sliced open. Thrown from horses. You name it, he’s hurt it. “I have so many injuries,” Yen says, laughing. It comes with the job—you don’t carve out a 40-year career kicking ass in Hong Kong action cinema without also getting your own kicked occasionally.
Yen could regale you with stories of his scrapes for hours. But for brevity’s sake, here’s just one. Yen was on the set of Tsui Hark’s now classic 1992 sequel Once Upon a Time in China II, filming the kind of action scene they really don’t make anymore. Yen and fellow martial arts legend Jet Li go at it with bamboo poles, literally bringing down the building around them. Bravura martial arts choreography. Ridiculous athleticism. Zero CGI. Anyway: “[Li] hurt himself. So he had a stunt double wired up,” Yen explains. “We’d broken each other’s staffs, so we were holding two, one in each hand.” The prop staffs weren’t up to the task, so they were using real bamboo, “solid, heavy as hell”.
The shot was simple: Yen had to block an incoming strike with his pole, while keeping the straight face of a badass wushu master. But the stunt double couldn’t hit the mark. “After 20 or 50 moves, he keeps missing,” Yen says. Last take, the guy overshot and cracked Yen in the face, slicing open his brow a quarter-inch from his eye, nearly blinding him. “I saw stars. Blood sprays like a horror movie.” An ambulance came; Yen received six stitches. The next day, the director called. “ ‘Donnie, can you come in and shoot a close-up? It’s okay—I’m going to shoot you from one side.’ ” Yen laughs.
This story is from the February - March 2023 edition of GQ India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the February - March 2023 edition of GQ India.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Finally, Women Are Breaking Up One of Luxury's Stuffiest Boys' Clubs
Dimepiece founder Brynn Wallner hosts a round table of leaders in the watch world to unpack the ascendant power of the female collector.
Can The Saudis Buy Soccerr?
Saudi Arabia is spending an unfathomable fortune to lure the biggest stars of global football (Ronaldo! Benzema! Neymar!) to its upstart league. So GQ ventured to the kingdom to discover what the gambit represents. Is this the future of the world's most popular sport? The vanguard of sportswashing? Or something way bigger?
CRACKING THE PERO CODE
Delhi-based label Péro is available in over 350 stores across the world. Shweta Shiware meets the reclusive founder and creative mastermind Aneeth Arora, arguably the Indian fashion industry's best storyteller.
Captain Mbappé
We met him as a teenage prodigy. Now, with his PSG teammates Messi and Neymar gone, and a new job as French national team captain, Kylian Mbappé is reckoning with the responsibilities and privileges that come with being the man.
The Full Ricky
Twenty-five years after becoming one of the most staggeringly famous men on the planet, a wiser, more assured Ricky Martin is taking another run at being a star. While also being himself, this time.
THE BOND
What does it mean to be a parent in this day and age? In GQ's annual series dedicated to fatherhood, we take a peek at the intimate relationships that some of the coolest dads share with their kids.
THE RATIONAL ACTOR
With a stream of critical and commercial successes under his belt, Vicky Kaushal is buoyant about what lies ahead in terms of work. Yet it is in his personal life that he has experienced the most transformation.
Standing TALL
Comedian and actor Vir Das speaks to GQ about winning an International Emmy for his Netflix special, codirecting his first movie, and the future of stand-up comedy in India.
Das Holistic
New York's desi rap star Heems's new album re-imagines the diasporic experience not as a site of endless ambivalence, but a place to be whole.
The Return of the Opulent '80s
The all-gold Piaget Polo, Hublot Classic Original, and Rolex GMT were kings during the '80s. Now they're coming back for their crown.