Tony Jaa

Tony Jaa is a martial art stunt-man turned film actor, choreographer and director. He is highly skilled in Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, and various forms of gymnastics. Jaa does not use any wire work or computer generated (CG) effects in his stunts.

Tony Jaa was born Panom Worawit in Thailand. His parents were elephant herders in the rural area where he was raised. Jaa would watch martial arts movies by the likes of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan and began imitating what he saw while doing chores and taking care of the family elephants.

Jaa originally worked as a stuntman in movies, including Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. He began to practice a form of Muay Thai called Muay Boran. His skill in the art earned him a leading role in Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior in 2003.

Jackie Chan was impressed with Jaa and requested that he appear in Rush Hour 3. However, Jaa was unable to participate since he was in the middle of filming Ong Bak 2.