Yuen Wah: Changing his life thanks to being Bruce Lee's stunt double, struggling to make a living in his old age

Nguyen Hoa is a name associated with skillful martial arts on screen. His life is like a fast-forward film, from the peak of fame to the difficulties of old age, leaving many people to ponder.

Yuen Wah, born Dung Chi (English name: Yuen Wah, Sam Yuen) is an actor, stuntman, martial artist and action director. He was born on September 2, 1950 in Hong Kong and has been active in the arts since 1962.

Yuen Wah is known to the audience as one of the outstanding members of the Peking Opera School in Hong Kong in the 1960s, also known as the first generation of the Seven Little Fortunes group, as well as a multi-talented actor who appeared in more than 20 television series and 160 films.

It is known that master Vu Chiem Nguyen accepted Nguyen Hoa as his second disciple when he was young, together with fellow disciples such as Nguyen Thu, Thanh Long, Hong Kim Bao,... formed the group That Tieu Phuc, famous for their performance techniques and martial arts.

Yuen Wah began his acting career in the 1970s, as a stunt double for Bruce Lee in classics such as Enter the Dragon and Fist of Fury.

Under the strict training of Master Vu, Nguyen Hoa quickly mastered martial arts that required high skills, such as Wing Chun and Tai Chi. Thanks to that, he was invited to join the Thieu Thi Film Company with the stage name Vien Hoa or Dung Ke Chi, but the name Nguyen Hoa is still the most loved by the audience.

The film "Kung Fu Hustle" brought Yuen Wah the Best Supporting Actor award at two prestigious Hong Kong film awards, the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Bauhinia Awards in 2004 - 2005.

The film stars Stephen Chow in the lead role, while Yuen Wah plays a martial arts master who lives on the streets. Although it is only a supporting role, his performance left a deep impression on the audience.

Although Nguyen Hoa did not earn much money from his involvement in martial arts roles of various colors, because of his passion for the profession, he refused to participate in controversial films countless times, regardless of the fact that it could bring him a better life. It was also for that reason that the talented actor's life later encountered many difficulties when he gradually received fewer new offers from directors.

In the group of Seven Little Fortunes, Jackie Chan and Yuen Wah can be considered as fellow disciples under the guidance of Master Yu. Although they have the same starting point, Jackie Chan is more successful than Yuen Wah in the film industry, although the two are not inferior in martial arts performance skills.

Later, Nguyen Hoa decided to switch to working in the television industry and also achieved many remarkable achievements. However, in terms of popularity or resources, he still cannot compare to Thanh Long.

In 2019, when Jackie Chan was preparing for the movie "The Great Yin and Yang War", the martial arts superstar sent an invitation to Nguyen Hoa with a huge salary of up to 4 million Yuan (14.4 billion VND) but was flatly refused by the other party.

At this time, many netizens suspected that the two actors were having conflicts with each other. Moreover, after refusing the invitation from Jackie Chan, the 1952 actor accepted to appear in the movie "Detective Chinatown 2" by Tran Tu Thanh but the salary was only 450 thousand Yuan (more than 1.6 billion VND).

Faced with many rumors of "shutting up" with her junior, in an interview, Nguyen Hoa spoke up to explain: "The reason I refused Jackie Chan was because I was too old to do difficult action scenes and was worried that his work would be ruined.

Second, I played a cameo role but he offered too much.

If I accept, people will think that with my high salary, who will invite me to act in movies in the future? In Tran Tu Thanh's movie, I played a guest role for about five minutes, and he paid me a normal salary. I think that's enough."

Notably, Nguyen Hoa's acting career was not as "sweet" as his outstanding talent. During many years working for TVB, the 5x actor only received a "modest" salary of about 2,000 Hong Kong dollars (about 6 million VND) per month, while still having to perform dangerous action scenes, despite his increasing age.

Dissatisfied with his low salary, Yuen Wah decided to move to HKTV in the hope of finding a better environment and a stable income. However, his career was hampered when the station was not licensed and was shut down, forcing him to live on social welfare in a market town.

According to a local newspaper, Nguyen Hoa revealed that his health is no longer the same as before, with frequent pain in his shoulders, neck, nape, wrists, ankles, almost all over his body. In addition, the 40-year-old actor also has difficulty performing high-speed action scenes due to heart disease. Although he has tried stretching exercises, physical therapy, and acupuncture, most of them have had no significant effect.

However, Nguyen Hoa's acting career has not stopped, because his love for the profession is still very strong. The actor once shared that if there was a next life, he would still choose the path of an actor.

In 2021, audiences were surprised to see Nguyen Hoa play a supporting role in the movie "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" produced by Marvel Studio. Revealing the reason why after a long absence, he now takes on a supporting role in the popular movie, he said: "I originally didn't want to take the movie, but my son is a Marvel fan, so he insisted that I participate."

Although his career did not yield as much "sweet fruit" as expected, Nguyen Hoa's family life is admired by many people. After more than 30 years of marriage, he is still happy with his wife and children. According to some sources, the actor has now moved abroad with his children and has a more stable life than before.

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