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TONY JAA (Phanom Yeerum)
Muay Thai Action Star
Tony Jaa (Phanom Yeerum) was born in northeastern
Thailand, and dreamed of becoming
an action star as a young boy of twelve.
His father, a stuntman, allowed Tony
to visit him in between school semesters
to train in stuntwork. Tony also trained
in Tae Kwon Do, Muay Thai, swordplay and gymnastics.
At the age of 15, Tony trained
under Panna Rittikrai, one of the top
stuntmen in Thailand. Eventually
Phanom was picked up and peformed stunts
in movies and shows, most notably, as
Robin Shou's double in Mortal Kombat:
Annihilation. Most of today's
stuntmen use wires and CG effects to
enhance the movies action but Tony
doesn't need any of these things as he
is a natural stuntman. Tony's big
break came with the movie, "Ong-Bak:
Muay Thai Warrior", where he plays the lead, a young man
from a village whose Bhudda statue's
head is stolen and he must search for
it. The movie was a hit in Hong Kong and
is currently being seen in the US.
Tony is
presently working on the sequel to
"Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior", sure to be another great
hit.
TONY'S FILMS
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997) (S)
Ong Bak (2003) (A/AC)
The Bodyguard (2004)
Tom Yum Goong (2004)
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