Daniel Wu

Daniel Wu, born on September 30, 1974, in San Francisco, California, USA. Coming from a scholarly family, both of his parents are from Shanghai; his father is an engineer, and his mother is a university psychology professor. Daniel has shown a strong interest in martial arts from a young age, beginning to practice martial arts at the age of 11.

He entered the University of Oregon in 1992, majoring in architecture. In his second year, he was awarded a minor scholarship in architecture and won the championship in the international kung fu competition organized by Wan King Oil International Company. Subsequently, he achieved second place in martial arts competitions on the West Coast of the United States and studied in Beijing with the Beijing Wushu Team, ranking sixth in the Beijing International Wushu and Tai Chi Competition. After graduating from the University of Oregon's architecture program in 1997, he briefly worked in architecture but resigned due to difficulty adapting to the industry and then traveled to Asia. During this period, he worked part-time as a model in Hong Kong. Concurrently, he signed with Jackie Chan's group, becoming their artist.

After entering the entertainment industry, Daniel Wu made his film debut in 1998 with the movie "Lover's Discourse," playing the police officer Sam, thus beginning his acting career. That same year, he received a nomination for Best New Actor at the 18th Hong Kong Film Awards for his art film "City of Glass." He then participated in numerous film and television works, including the comedy "The Blade" (1999) with Jackie Chan, the action film "Gen-X Cops" (1999), and "Storm in a Teacup." In 2001, he played a musician in the youth romance film "Beijing, Love and Road," which depicted the dreams of young rock musicians drifting in Beijing.

In 2004, Daniel Wu portrayed a wayward assassin in the action film "Mong Kok Black Night," directed by Peter Chan, earning nominations for the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards, marking a new phase in his career. The same year, he played the twisted villain "Azu" in the crime-action film "New Police Story," for which he won the Best Supporting Actor at the 41st Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan. Subsequently, he starred in numerous films, including "Everlasting Regret" and "Banquet."

In 2007, Daniel Wu won the Best New Director at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Best Director at the Chinese Film Media Awards for his directorial debut "The Heavenly Kings." In 2008, he co-founded Revolution Talent Management Ltd. with Eddie Chan, signing several artists. In 2011, he and Tony Leung Ka-fai established the "Breakthrough Cinema" production company, focusing on producing youth-oriented Chinese-language films.

In recent years, Daniel Wu has starred in numerous international TV series and films, including serving as lead actor and martial arts adviser in the 2015 American TV series "Fargo," and appearing in movies such as "Warcraft," "The Vigilante," and "Recalled." In 2022, he starred in the fourth season of the HBO Max series "Westworld." In 2023, his Asian-themed series "Journey to the West ABC" premiered on Disney+, in which he plays Sun Wukong. He continues to explore diverse avenues in entertainment and business, including brand endorsements, investments, and content creation.