Scott Adkins

Scott Adkins
Adkins in December 2023
Born	(1976-06-17) 17 June 1976 Sutton Coldfield, England
Occupations	Actor screenwriter producer martial artist
Years active	1998–present
Children	2
Website	scottadkins.com

Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is a British actor and martial artist. He gained prominence with his villainous portrayal of the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the American martial arts film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing (2006), a role he reprised in its sequels Undisputed III: Redemption (2010), which won him an Action on Film Award for Breakout Action Star, and Boyka: Undisputed (2017), which won him a Jackie Chan Action Movie Award for Best Action Movie Actor.

Born in Sutton Coldfield, Adkins began practicing martial arts at age 13, taking up taekwondo and earning his black belt at age 19. His early acting credits include minor roles in the Hong Kong films The Accidental Spy (2001), Black Mask 2: City of Masks (2002), and The Medallion (2003), and the American films Special Forces (2003), Unleashed (2005), and The Pink Panther (2006). His first lead role was as Casey Bowman in the American martial arts film Ninja (2009), a role he reprised in the sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013).

Adkins is known for his collaborations with Jean-Claude Van Damme, starring in The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008), Assassination Games (2011), Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning and The Expendables 2 (both 2012). He also collaborated with Wu Jing in Wolf Warrior (2015), Donnie Yen in Ip Man 4: The Finale (2019), Tony Jaa and Iko Uwais in Triple Threat (2019), and Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023).

Early life

Scott Edward Adkins was born into a family of butchers in Sutton Coldfield on 17 June 1976. 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. At age 16, he started to practice kickboxing and eventually became a kickboxing instructor for the Professional Karate Association. He also ran weekly classes at the Fitness First in Bearwood. He has since gained experience in aikido, capoeira, gymnastics, jujutsu, karate, Krav Maga, MMA, ninjutsu, and wushu.

Adkins was inspired by Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jean-Claude Van Damme. He said in 2012, "I wanted to be an actor first because I grew up idolising action stars. The first one for me was Bruce Lee, and then there was Stallone and Arnold, and then Van Damme came along in '88 and really inspired me."

Career

Adkins secured a role in a Hong Kong martial arts film called Dei Seung Chui Keung (2001), known in English as Extreme Challenge. He was spotted by Head of the Hong Kong Stuntmen Association and director Stephen Tung and British-born Hong Kong movie expert Bey Logan. 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. He was soon offered a guest role in the BBC series Doctors (2000) and appeared in a few episodes of the BBC series City Central (1999) and EastEnders (2003), and a lead role in the Sky One comedy-drama Mile High (2003), followed by a regular role in BBC's Holby City (2006).

Starring roles in feature films soon followed with Adkins' 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 Yuri Boyka. After this, he 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 The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008). He shared the role of Weapon XI with Ryan Reynolds in X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009). His first lead role was as Casey Bowman in the American martial arts film Ninja (2009), a role he reprised in the sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013).

In 2012, Adkins was cast to star in Métal Hurlant Chronicles, a television adaptation of the popular French comic book Metal Hurlant. He has worked in four films with his idol Jean-Claude Van Damme: The Shepherd: Border Patrol (2008), Assassination Games (2011), Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, and The Expendables 2 (both in 2012). In 2014, he played King Amphitryon in The Legend of Hercules. He 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. According to Adkins, Yen personally requested him to star in the film. He also starred in Day Shift (2022) and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023).

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	The Accidental Spy	Lee's bodyguard / Turkish leader	Credited as Scott Edward Adkins
	Extreme Challenge	Isac Borman	Direct-to-video
	Pure Vengeance	Dany	Short film
2002	Black Mask 2: City of Masks	Dr. Lang
2003	Special Forces	Talbot	Direct-to-video
	The Medallion	Snakehead's Henchman
2005	Danny the Dog	Swimming Pool Fighter
	Pit Fighter	Nathan	Direct-to-video
2006	The Pink Panther	Jacquard / Footballer
	Undisputed II: Last Man Standing	Yuri Boyka	Direct-to-video
2007	The Bourne Ultimatum	Agent Kiley
2008	The Shepherd: Border Patrol	Karp	Direct-to-video
	Stag Night	Carl
2009	X-Men Origins: Wolverine	Weapon XI	Shared role with Ryan Reynolds
	The Tournament	Yuri Petrov
	Ninja	Casey Bowman	Direct-to-video
2010	Undisputed III: Redemption	Yuri Boyka
2011	Assassination Games	Roland Flint
2012	El Gringo	The Man
	The Expendables 2	Hector
	Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning	John	Direct-to-video
	Zero Dark Thirty	John Simmons
2013	Legendary	Travis Preston	Direct-to-video
	Green Street 3: Never Back Down	Danny Harvey
	Ninja: Shadow of a Tear	Casey Bowman
2014	The Legend of Hercules	King Amphitryon
2015	Zero Tolerance	Steven	Direct-to-video
	Wolf Warrior	Tom Cat
	Close Range	Colton MacReady	Direct-to-video
	Re-Kill	Parker
2016	Home Invasion	Heflin
	Jarhead 3: The Siege	Gunny Raines
	Grimsby	Pavel Lukashenko
	Criminal	Pete Greensleeves
	Hard Target 2	Wes Baylor	Direct-to-video
	Doctor Strange	Lucian / Strong Zealot
	Eliminators	Martin Parker / Thomas Mackenzie	Direct-to-video
2017	Savage Dog	Martin Tillman
	Boyka: Undisputed	Yuri Boyka
	American Assassin	Victor
2018	Accident Man	Mike Fallon	Direct-to-video; also producer and screenwriter
	Deadpool 2	Weapon XI	Archive footage; shared role with Ryan Reynolds
	The Debt Collector	French	Direct-to-video
	Incoming	Reiser
	No Surrender	The Crazy One
2019	Abduction	Quinn
	Triple Threat	Collins
	Avengement	Cain Burgess	Direct-to-video
	Ip Man 4: The Finale	Barton Geddes
2020	Debt Collectors	French	Direct-to-video
	Legacy of Lies	Martin Baxter
	Seized	Nero
	Dead Reckoning	Marco
	The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud	Max Cloud
2021	One Shot	Jake Harris
	Castle Falls	Mike Wade
2022	Day Shift	Diran Nazarian
	Section Eight	Leonard Locke	Direct-to-video
	Accident Man: Hitman's Holiday	Mike Fallon	Direct-to-video; also producer, screenwriter and fight choreographer
2023	John Wick: Chapter 4	Killa Harkan
	Wherever You Go	Joseph
2024	One More Shot	Jake Harris	direct-to-video
	Lights Out	Don 'The Reaper' Richter
	The Killer's Game	Angus Mackenzie
	Take Cover	Sam Lorde	Direct-to-video
2025	Skyline: Warpath†	Eric Corley	Post-production; Direct-to-video
	Diablo †	Kris Chaney	Post-production; direct-to-video; also producer
TBA	Death March†	James Wright	Post-production, direct-to-video; also screenwriter
	RIP †		Filming

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Adkins in 2011

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Dangerfield		Episode: "Paths"
1999	City Central	Jake Clanton	Episode: "Life Liberty and Pursuit"
2000	Doctors	Ross	3 episodes
2001	The Big Breakfast	Himself	1 episode
2002	Mutant X	Marko	Episode: "Sign from Above"; uncredited
2003	EastEnders	Joel	6 episodes
2005	Mile High	Ed Russell	12 episodes
	Hollyoaks: Let Loose	Ryan	2 episodes
2006	Holby City	Bradley Hume	9 episodes
2012, 2014	Métal Hurlant Chronicles	Guillame / Joe Manda	3 episodes

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Award	Category	Results
2010	Undisputed III: Redemption	Action on Film Award	Breakout Action Star	Won
2017	Boyka: Undisputed	Jackie Chan Action Movie Awards	Best Fight	Won
2017	Boyka: Undisputed	Jackie Chan Action Movie Awards	Best Action Movie Actor	Won

External links

• Official website
• Scott Adkins at IMDb