Scott Adkins

Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is a British actor, producer, screenwriter and martial artist. He has played Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the 2006 film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing and its two sequels, Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2016); Casey Bowman in the 2009 film Ninja and its 2013 sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear; and has appeared in Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, Doctor Strange, The Bourne Ultimatum, The Expendables 2 and Zero Dark Thirty.

Scott Edward Adkins was born in Sutton Coldfield, a town within Birmingham, England on 17 June 1976 into a family of butchers. He is of English descent, but his great-great-grandmother was of Spanish descent. 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, receiving his black belt at the age of 19. Since the age of 16, Scott also started to practice Kickboxing with Anthony Jones, eventually becoming a kickboxing instructor for the Professional Karate Association (PKA). Scott Adkins also has experience in Ninjutsu, Krav Maga, Karate, Wushu, Jiujitsu, Muay Thai, Capoeira and Acrobatic Gymnastics.

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 (1985) and City Central (1998), and a lead role in Sky One comedy drama Mile High (2003) followed by a regular role in BBC's Holby City (1999) 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 Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (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 The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008). He shared the role of Weapon XI with Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (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 Ip Man 4: The Finale as the main antagonist Barton Geddes, an army sergeant. According to Adkins, Yen personally requested him to star in the film.