Scott Adkins

Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June, 1976) is a British actor, film producer and martial artist. He is best known for his role as the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the Undisputed franchise. He has played Yuri Boyka in Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006) and its two sequels, Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2017); Casey Bowman in Ninja (2009) and its sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013). He also starred as French in The Debt Collector (2018) and its 2020 sequel Debt Collectors (starring alongside Louis Mandylor). He worked in four films with his idol Jean-Claude Van Damme: The Shepherd: Border Patrol, Assassination Games, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning and The Expendables 2. He also had starring roles in The Legend of Hercules, Wolf Warrior and Ip Man 4: The Finale playing the main antagonist in all three films, and also appeared in The Bourne Ultimatum, Zero Dark Thirty, and the Marvel projects Mutant X, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Doctor Strange. In 2022, he starred in Day Shift with Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco, and in John Wick: Chapter 4 alongside Keanu Reeves in 2023. Early life Scott Edward Adkins was born in Sutton Coldfield, a town within Birmingham, England 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. 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 Wei 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.