Tony Jaa and in Thailand as Jaa Phanom is a Thai martial artist, actor, action choreographer, stuntman, director, and traceur.
Prior to becoming a leading actor, Jaa worked as a stuntman for Muay Thai Stunt for 14 years, appearing in many of his mentor Panna Rittikrai’s films. His martial arts films are credited with helping to showcase the Thai combat systems of Muay Thai, Muay Boran, and “Muay Kotchasaan” (a fighting style Jaa and Rittikrai developed in 2005). His Thai films include Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003), which earned him a Star
Entertainment Award, Tom-Yum-Goong (2005), which earned him a Suphannahong National Film Award, Ong Bak 2: The Beginning (2008), Ong Bak 3 (2010), and Tom Yum Goong 2 (2013).
After leaving the Thai movie company Sahamongkol Film International in 2013, Jaa signed with Universal Studios, and focused more on an international fan base. Since then, Jaa has appeared in films such as Furious 7 (2015), SPL II: A Time for Consequences (2015), Master Z: Ip Man Legacy (2018), and Expend4bles (2023).
Tony Jaa was born and raised in a rural area in Surin Province to Rin Saipetch and Thongdee Yeerum. In his youth, he watched films by Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan at temple fairs, which inspired him to learn martial arts. He practiced the techniques in his father’s rice paddy. “What they [Lee and Chan] did was so beautiful, so heroic that I wanted to do it too,” Jaa told Time in a 2004 interview. “I practiced until I could do the move exactly as I had seen the masters do it.” Jaa was also inspired by Jet Li.