Iko Uwais born Uwais Qorny; February 12, 1983 is an Indonesian actor, stuntman, fight choreographer, and martial artist. He is best known for starring in the action films Merantau (2009), The Raid (2011), The Raid 2 (2014), Headshot (2016), Mile 22 (2018), The Night Comes for Us (2018), Stuber (2019) and the Netflix series Wu Assassins (2019–present).
Early life
Uwais was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, and is the son of Maisyaroh and Mustapha Kamaluddin. His grandfather, H. Achmad Bunawar, was a silat master and founded a silat school.
Career
In 2007, Uwais was discovered by director Gareth Evans, who was filming a documentary about silat in Uwais’s training hall. Uwais’s natural charisma and great camera presence encouraged Evans to cast him as the leading role for his first martial art movie, Merantau. After signing a five-year contract with Gareth Evans and his production company, Uwais resigned from his daytime job as an operational driver at Esia, an Indonesian telecom company.
In his first acting experience in Merantau, Uwais played the role of a young Minang (West-Sumatran), which led him to learn the Minang style of silat harimau (tiger style) from Master Edwel Datuk Rajo Gampo Alam. Merantau was released in Indonesia on 6 August 2009. The film was featured in Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea and Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas with highly positive reviews. Merantau won the Best Film award at ActionFest 2010.
Uwais’s second collaboration with Gareth Evans was The Raid (known as The Raid: Redemption in the United States), which began filming in mid-March 2011 and was released in mid-2012. The movie has been hailed by critics and audiences in various festivals as one of the best martial art movies in years.
Uwais collaborated on a third movie with Evans, The Raid 2. Uwais also appeared briefly in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), alongside The Raid 2 co-star Yayan Ruhian.
In 2016, he appeared in the martial arts film Headshot, which received generally positive reviews.
In 2017, he filmed the international martial arts film Triple Threat, together with Tony Jaa, Tiger Chen, and Scott Adkins—the film was released in early 2019. In 2018, Uwais starred in the films, Mile 22 and The Night Comes for Us. In the same year, it was announced that Uwais was cast in the lead role of Kai Jin on the Netflix series, Wu Assassins. The series premiered on 8 August 2019. Uwais will reprise his role in the upcoming sequel film, Wu Assassins: Fistful of Vengeance.
In 2019, Uwais starred in the action comedy film Stuber alongside Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista. In the same year, it was announced that Uwais will appear in a film called China Town Express playing a man who must fight through the gangland of New York to save his family after the disappearance of his son during a gang’s killing spree. Uwais is also attached to star in The Bellhop, one of the first five films in development by Balboa Productions, the new production company co-founded by Sylvester Stallone in 2018.
Uwais will star next in the upcoming action thriller, Chinatown Express and as Hard Master in Snake Eyes, a spin-off from the G.I. Joe movie franchise. The latter title is expected to be released sometime in 2021.
Personal life
On June 25, 2012, Uwais married singer Audy Item at the Hotel Gran Mahakam in Jakarta. The couple have two daughters, Atreya Syahla Putri Uwais and Aneska Layla Putri Uwais. Uwais is a Muslim.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Director(s) | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Merantau (Wander) | Yuda | Gareth Evans | ||
| 2011 | The Raid | Rama | Also action choreographer | ||
| 2013 | Man of Tai Chi | Gilang Sanjaya | Keanu Reeves | ||
| 2014 | The Raid 2 | Rama/Yuda | Gareth Evans | Also fight choreographer | |
| 2015 | Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Razoo Qin-Fee | J. J. Abrams | ||
| 2016 | Headshot | Ishmael/Abdi | The Mo Brothers | ||
| 2017 | Beyond Skyline | Sua | Liam O’Donnell | Also action choreographer | |
| 2018 | Mile 22 | Li Noor | Peter Berg | Also co-fight choreographer | |
| 2018 | The Night Comes for Us | Arian | Timo Tjahjanto | Also action coordinator | |
| 2019 | Stuber | Oka Tedjo | Michael Dowse | Also action choreographer | |
| 2019 | Triple Threat | Jaka | Jesse V. Johnson | ||
| 2021 | Snake Eyes | Hard Master | Robert Schwentke | Post-Production | |
| TBA | The Bellhop | ||||
| Chinatown Express | |||||
| Wu Assassins: Fistful of Vengeance | Kai Jin | Roel Reiné | Filming |
Television series
| Year | Title | Role | Network | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Wu Assassins | Kai Jin | Netflix | Main role; also as producer and lead fight choreographer |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Organisation | Award | Work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Indonesian Movie Awards | Best Newcomer Actor | Merantau | Nominated | |
| Indonesian Movie Awards | Favorite Newcomer Actor | Merantau | Nominated | ||
| 2013 | Indonesian Movie Awards | Best Chemistry (shared with Donny Alamsyah) |
The Raid | Nominated | |
| 2014 | Indonesian Choice Awards | Actor of the Year | Himself | Nominated | |
| Indonesian Yahoo! Celebrity Awards | Most Wanted Male | Himself | Nominated | ||
| 2016 | Infotainment Awards | Indonesian Celebrity of World Achievement | Himself | Won |