Iko Uwais

Iko Uwais is an Indonesian actor, martial artist, stunt performer and fight choreographer best known for his explosive performances in The Raid films. He was born Uwais Qorny on 12 February 1983 in Jakarta, Indonesia, and became internationally recognised for bringing the Indonesian martial art of pencak silat to modern action cinema.

Uwais began studying silat at a young age, training at a school his grandfather founded. His martial arts background would eventually lead directly to his movie career when filmmaker Gareth Evans encountered Uwais while working on a documentary about pencak silat.

Evans cast him as Merantau (2009), in which Uwais played a young silat practitioner named Yuda. The film introduced international audiences to his combination of speed, athleticism and highly technical fight choreography.

His breakthrough came with The Raid (2011), also known as The Raid: Redemption. Uwais starred as Rama, a rookie member of an Indonesian tactical police unit trapped inside a high-rise building controlled by a ruthless crime lord. The film's relentless close-quarters combat and brutal martial arts sequences made it an international action sensation.

Uwais returned as Rama in The Raid 2 (2014). The sequel expanded the story's scale while delivering another collection of elaborate fight sequences, including battles in a prison yard, moving vehicles, a nightclub, and the film's celebrated kitchen confrontation.

The international success of The Raid films opened the door to Hollywood productions. Uwais appeared in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) before taking prominent action roles in movies including Mile 22 (2018), Stuber (2019), Snake Eyes (2021) and The Expendables 4 (2023).

He also starred alongside fellow martial arts performers Tony Jaa and Tiger Chen in Triple Threat (2019), bringing together several major names from modern Asian action cinema.

Uwais has often contributed more than just his acting. His extensive experience as a martial artist has allowed him to work on fight choreography and action design, helping create the fast, physical and often brutally realistic combat sequences associated with his films.

Through Merantau, The Raid and The Raid 2, Iko Uwais helped introduce pencak silat to a huge international audience and established himself as one of the defining martial arts movie performers of the 21st century.