Scott Adkins

Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is an English actor, producer, screenwriter, gymnast, and martial artist mostly known for his roles in direct-to-video action films. He has played Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the 2006 film ' and its two sequels, ' (2010) and ' (2017); Casey Bowman in the 2009 film "Ninja" and its 2013 sequel '; French in the 2018 film "The Debt Collector" and its 2020 sequel "Debt Collectors" (starring alongside Louis Mandylor). He worked in four films with his idol Jean-Claude Van Damme: ', "Assassination Games", ' and "The Expendables 2". He also had starring roles in "The Legend of Hercules", "Wolf Warrior" and ' playing the main antagonist in all three movies, and also appeared in "The Bourne Ultimatum", "Zero Dark Thirty" and the Marvel projects "Mutant X", ' and "Doctor Strange".
Early life.
Scott Edward Adkins was born in Sutton Coldfield, a town within Birmingham, England 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 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 also has experience in Ninjutsu, Krav Maga, Karate, Wushu, Jiujitsu, Muay Thai, Capoeira and Gymnastics.
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, 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 ' (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 "The Bourne Ultimatum" (2007) and "The Tournament" (2009), and played Jean-Claude Van Damme's main adversary in Sony Pictures ' (2008). He shared the role of Weapon XI with Ryan Reynolds in "" (2009). Adkins appears 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".
Adkins was reunited with action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping in 2019 when he starred alongside Donnie Yen in "" as the main antagonist Barton Geddes, a Marine gunnery sergeant. According to Adkins, Yen personally requested him to star in the film.