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Kate Whitehead

The 1980s and 90s were the heyday for Hong Kong action movies, and I was exposed to a lot of that on television as a kid. My parents are from Hong Kong and I was born in 1990 in Texas, in the United States, where most of my mum’s family live. My dad was a civil engineer and we moved to Hong Kong when I was three. I was a big fan of Power Rangers, a TV show that started off in Japan, about a bunch of people who have the ability to transform and enhance their powers to defend the Earth. My younger brother and I had Power Rangers toys and acted it out.
Jet propulsion
One of my favourite movies was The One (2001), starring Jet Li. It was about parallel universes. There were a lot of really cool moments when he was fighting himself, which got me thinking about how they shot it. CGI wasn’t advanced back then and they had to use stunt doubles and tricky camerawork.

The flip side
I went to Chinese International School (CIS). I started doing martial arts when I was about nine and really got into it in my teens. I switched between doing wushu and taekwondo at CIS. Wushu takes a lot more discipline, which was one of the reasons I stopped for a bit, because I thought it was too restrictive. When YouTube came out, in 2005, I came across a video called Urban Ninja, which showed a guy doing random flips on the street. It moved my focus towards a sport called tricking – it’s all the tricks of martial arts.
Trials and errors
One night my dad walked into my room and saw me watching a video of the tricks and said it looked dangerous and warned me not to do it. I understood he was looking out for me, but I still wanted to do it. After school, I trained with a couple of friends who were also into Chinese martial arts. I started with the front flip, running to get momentum. I like to describe it as if you are falling, but you fail to fall. And then you eat it over and over, hitting the deck. You have to start somewhere.

Confidence boost
It wasn’t a popular sport back then. I was in the first generation of Hong Kong trickers. MySpace and Facebook had started, and we found a local group who held training sessions in Leisure and Cultural Services Department squash courts. We’d drag judo mats into the courts and help each other learn tricks. Everyone was so excited because it was new to us all. I was a quiet kid at school and tricking gave me confidence and an identity. When my parents saw me doing flips, they were shocked, but when they saw I was landing on my feet they eventually encouraged me.
Tricks of the trade
In 2009, I went to a small liberal arts college in Los Angeles, Occidental College, to study biology. Ninety per cent of the videos I’d been watching in Hong Kong were shot in LA. It was a mecca for trickers. We trained at the White Lotus Martial Arts Studio (since rebranded as JAM, Joining All Movement). My science classes were in the morning and I trained for about three hours in the afternoon. The people training there were good, and I got a lot of tips off them.

Reel deal
A lot of the trickers in LA were aspiring stuntmen or already established stunt people in Hollywood. In the college holidays I came back to Hong Kong and showed my friends the new moves I’d learned. Some of them had moved into the film industry. One day, one of them couldn’t make a shoot and asked if I wanted to try it. I met the stunt coordinator at 11pm in Yau Ma Tei. As I came out of the MTR exit, there was a Mercedes waiting. I got in the passenger seat and showed him my reels. A lot of this kind of work is based on reputation and word of mouth. He told me which days he’d need me and how much I’d be paid. It was for a Hollywood film called Blackhat (2015). I was one of the Swat guys chasing the bad guys through Shek O. It was fun – and I could make money from it.
I stay ready, so I don’t have to get ready
Jason Li
Pieces of work
I graduated in 2013 and came back to Hong Kong. The contacts I’d made with the stunt people on Blackhat – international and local guys – led to more work. It’s like any freelance job, if you can work consistently you can make good money from it, the problem is the consistency. To appease my parents – and as a backup plan – I did a master’s in sports medicine and health science at Chinese University.

Making movies
After Blackhat, I worked on Transformers – I was one of the guys running between the explosions and dodging cars. I was lucky to start working on such big films so early in my career. In 2016, I flew to New Zealand to work on The Meg, about a giant shark. It was a pivotal film for me because it was there that I met a coordinator, Tim Wong. He landed a movie in China and asked me to help him out. It was a fantasy period piece and I stunt-doubled the main character. I was in China working on that for eight months. I also translated between the local crew and the international crew. It was important, so no mistakes were made on set. From there I joined a stunt team, Hitz International Stuntmen. Then I went on jobs on movies shooting in Hungary and Romania.
Meet cute
I met my wife on set in 2014. Jane and I were “day players” (featured extras) on a movie called Wild City. We met at a fitting in Kwun Tong and kept seeing each other and hanging out. Jane and I got married in Japan in 2019, just before the pandemic hit. She is an actress, mainly doing films and commercials.

Calculating risk
The stunt double’s job is to take the risk. We get hit by cars and set on fire. It’s all controlled and there’s technique to every stunt. We know there is a risk, it’s how we minimise the risk factor. We always wear protection – that’s the key to longevity. In the 1980s, a lot of stuntmen would go crazy hard and not wear pads. It was an ego thing. Now they are stuck with painful injuries and their range of motion is not so good.
Behind the camera
In the past few years, when I’m not in costume, sometimes I’ll stick near the coordinator and help. When I stand behind the monitor, I can see if there’s a miss, if a performer reaches too shallow or too deep. It has given me experience and a taste for going behind the camera. It’s always a collaborative effort. In a fight-heavy film series, you have to think about how to design the movement. That is another way to work behind the camera. In 2023, working on Operation Hadal – a Chinese military film – I was an assistant coordinator, which I did while being a stunt double. They found it helpful for me to be with the Chinese-speaking director, relaying to the coordinator.

Stop starts
In this industry, when one thing happens everything starts coming at you, but when it’s dry, it’s really dry. Hong Kong relies a lot on China film productions and for now it’s a dry period locally. But in other parts of the world it’s still good. Luckily for me I have that option. I’ve shot a couple of short films myself. After my next job, when I have some cash, I want to finish the story. It’s an action series. I’ve shot two episodes and want to shoot a third. It’s a work in progress.
Ready to roll
The thing about this industry is you never know what or when the next gig will come. It’s always up in the air. One of the things I live by is that I stay ready, so I don’t have to get ready. I do daily strength training and skill training and some mobility and flexibility. Usually for two or three hours. It can sometimes go on longer if I get into a trance. I’m always ready for an opportunity when it comes.


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Jason Li, from martial arts to Hollywood stunt double and daredevil

Hong Kong-based stunt actor, stunt double, tricker and martial artist Jason Li photographed in Tai Hang, Hong Kong. Photo: Jocelyn Tam

Jason Li (right) and his younger brother pictured in 1996. Photo: courtesy Jason Li

Li on the set of the Creation of the Gods film series. Photo: courtesy Jason Li

Li was a stunt double as well as an assistant coordinator for Chinese military movie Operation Hadal (2025). Photo: courtesy Jason Li

Li (right) stunt doubling for John Cho (centre) on Cowboy Bebop (2021). Photo: courtesy Jason Li

Li (right) stunt doubling for Andrew Koji (left) on the TV series Warrior (2019-2023). Photo: courtesy Jason Li

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(From left) Zhu Xuan, Chen and Kara Wai at the 29th Hong Kong Film Awards presentation ceremony in April 2010. Photo: SCMP

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A still from Dr Wai in the Scripture with No Words, starring Jet Li (centre).

Film director Tony Ching Siu-tung, pictured in 1999. From a film starring Kelly Chen and Donnie Yen to an Indiana Jones rip-off with Jet Li, we look at four less well known films he directed. Photo: SCMP

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Donnie Yen and Kelly Chen in a still from An Empress and the Warriors.

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Children pose for photos on Sunday in front of a poster at the Singapore premiere of the Chinese animated film “Ne Zha 2”, which saw its global box office haul top US$2 billion on Monday. Photo: Xinhua

People walk by an advert in Beijing for the animated blockbuster Ne Zha 2 on February 20. Photo: Kyodo

People attend the Singapore premiere of Chinese animated film Ne Zha 2 on Sunday, ahead of its wider release in the city state on Thursday. Photo: Xinhua

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Ryu Jun-yeol (left) in a still from Revelations. Photo: Netflix

Korean filmmaker Yeon Sang-ho says Revelations was inspired by selective perception in today’s society. He also talks about an upcoming project. Photo: Getty Images

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PostMag

Culture

The professional movie stunt double talks about ‘tricking’, his early Hollywood breaks and taking risks in an inconsistent industry


The professional movie stunt double talks about ‘tricking’, his early Hollywood breaks and taking risks in an inconsistent industry.


Jason Li, from martial arts to Hollywood stunt double and daredevil

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The professional movie stunt double talks about ‘tricking’, his early Hollywood breaks and taking risks in an inconsistent industry

Jet propulsion

The professional movie stunt double talks about ‘tricking’, his early Hollywood breaks and taking risks in an inconsistent industry