Michel Qissi

Michel Qissi ميشيل قيسي
Born	Mohammed Qissi (1962-09-12) 12 September 1962 Oujda, Morocco
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Jeanette Qissi (divorced)
Relatives	Abdel Qissi (brother)

Michel Qissi (Template:Lang-ar; born Mohammed Qissi on 12 September 1962) is a Belgian Moroccan actor, best known for his role as Tong Po in the 1989 martial arts film Kickboxer.

Biography

Qissi was born in Oujda, Morocco, and moved to Brussels, Belgium, at the age of 2. He began training in boxing at seven years old, and became an amateur champion in his weight class at 17. He also went on to study Shōtōkan Karate, Muay Thai and Kickboxing. He befriended Jean-Claude van Damme at an early age and they grew up together with the same love for action films and training in martial arts.

In 1982, Qissi and Van Damme moved to the United States in the hope of becoming action stars. In 1984 they both were cast as extras in the film Breakin', before landing their big break in 1986. After obtaining an interview with Menahem Golan of Cannon Films, they secured a three-picture deal, the first of which was the highly successful Bloodsport, in which Van Damme starred and Qissi had a small role as a tournament fighter named Suan Paredes. In 1989, Qissi and Van Damme teamed up again for the film Kickboxer, in which Van Damme was the protagonist once more and Qissi the film's main villain, Tong Po. 1990 saw the pair make the film Lionheart, in which Qissi's brother, Abdel, played the villain. This was to be the last film Van Damme and Qissi made together for 16 years, but Qissi did go on to reprise his role as Tong Po in Kickboxer 2. He and Van Damme briefly appeared together in Kickboxer: Vengeance.

In 2014, Qissi made the movie Bara with Salar Zarza, in which he played a double role as Bara and Hamza.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1984	Breakin'	Passerby in First Dance Sequence	Uncredited
1988	Bloodsport	Suan Paredes
1989	Kickboxer	Tong Po	Credited as Tong Po
1990	Lionheart	Moustafa
1991	Kickboxer 2	Tong Po
	Bloodmatch	Davey O'Brien
1993	To the Death	Denard
	Terminator Woman	Alex Gatelee	Also director
2001	Extreme Force	Kong Li	Also director
2001	The Falkland Man	DeFuego
2014	Bara	Bara / Hamza	Also director
2015	Heart of a Lion		Also director
2016	Kickboxer: Vengeance	Man in Cell	Uncredited
2019	Garra Mortal	Tong Po
2022	Out for Vengeance	Tarek El-Yuzdi
2024	The Last Kumite	Wolf