Tony Jaa "Filmography"

"Ong Bak" Inspiration" 

The seeds of "Ong Bak’" were first planted in the mind of director Prachya Pinkaew when, as a teenager, he sat in his native village, watching the films of Thai action movie hero Panna Rithikrai. Panna was the Bruce Lee of Thailand. Prachya was most impressed with ‘Born to Fight’, which Panna starred in, directed and produced. What made Panna special was that, in his films, all the fight scenes were performed ‘for real’, without the aid of special effects and camera tricks. This contrasted sharply with the more stylized Hong Kong martial arts movies that were popular in Thailand at the time. The young Prachya vowed that, when he became a filmmaker, he would make a movie that would make the same kind of impact that ‘Born To Fight’ had made on him.

Prachya subsequently moved to Bangkok and became a director. When he finally met
Panna in person, they found they shared a common dream of using film to bring reater
glory to Thai martial arts. “Since I was a youngster, I never did anything by halves,” says Panna. “I invested my own money in my early films. I didn’t really know anything about filmmaking when I made ‘Born To Fight’. I just wanted to find a way to express my life experiences on film.”

As Panna got older, he realized that he needed to find new blood to perform the action
scenes in his films, but none of his discoveries worked out. “In the end, I was left training only one young guy, with no real hope of his ever becoming a movie star.”
Prachya asked to meet Panna’s sole remaining prot?g?, a young man named Tony Jaa.
Tony had been training under Panna, in both martial art and movie stunts, since the age of 10. In him, Panna had found his perfect cinematic alter ego. After seeing Tony Jaa in action, Prachya set about crafting a vehicle that would do justice to both his idol and his young prot?g?.

“For four years, I worked very closely with Panna and Tony,” reveals Prachya. “It
became more than a film to us. We became like family. I realized that I couldn’t approach (‘Ong Bak’) as just another piece of filmmaking. For Panna and Tony, this was the fulfillment of a life-long dream, and I wanted to share their energy and determination with the audience.”

Synopsis

The film’s title, ‘Ong Bak’, refers to a Buddha statue kept in the Nong Pra-du temple in rural Thailand. It dates from the time of the Thai/Burmese war, 200 years ago. The
villagers believe Ong Bak is imbued with magical powers that will keep them safe from harm.

One dark night, a former native of the village, Don (Wannakit Siriput), has his men cut the head of the statute to win favour with ruthless crime boss Khom Tuan. The locals regard the theft as a catastrophe, and seek a champion to retrieve their lost treasure. They find their man in Ting (Tony Jaa), an orphaned youngster raised at the local temple, and schooled by Pra Kru, a kindly monk, in an ancient system of Muay Thai: ‘Nine Body Weapons’.

Ting travels to the mean streets of Bangkok, where he finds that the head of Ong Bak is in the possession of a local gang boss, Khom Tuan. Ting meets another native of Nong Pra-du, George, and a street waif, Muay Lek. He enlists their help in his quest. The ensuing adventures sees our heroes engage in fistfights, running street battles and an intricate chase sequence featuring ‘tuk-tuks’, the famous three-wheeled Thai taxis.
To recover the Buddha head, Ting is forced to compete in illegal street fights, taking on both local and foreign opponents. His superior skills make him a natural champion, and he even agrees to throw a fight with Burmese boxer Saming when he’s promised the return of Ong Bak.

In the end, Khom Tuan betrays Ting, leading to a final encounter in a cave situated on the border between Thailand and Burma. Ting is forced to use every ounce of his courage and stamina in a final martial arts battle of truly epic proportions.

Jaa’s character

Ting

Ting (Tony Jaa) is an orphan, raised by the kind-hearted monk Pra Kru at Nong Pradu
temple. Pra Kru trains Ting in the ancient art of Muay Thai, but insists that Ting promise
never to use his skills to cause anyone harm. Instilled by Par Kru with true Buddhist
teachings, Ting is determined to follow a good path in life. The theft of the Ong Bak
Buddha statue sends Ting on a quest that will test both his physical and spiritual
development to the utmost…

AWARDS 

Best Asian Film, (Premi Orient Express-Casa Asia) Award - Sitges Fantastic FilmFestival 2003

Best Asian Action Film (Action Asia 13th Rue Lotus) - Festival Du Film Asiatique De Deauville, France 2004

Thailand Spotlight Section, Opening Film - Stockholm International Film Festival 2003

Official Selection – Midnight Madness Program - Toronto International Film
Festival 2003, Open Cinema - Pusan International Film Festival 2003, Rotterdam International Film Festival 2004

credit : www.iamtonyjaa.com

Tony Jaa Trivia

Stunt-man turned actor who does not use any wire work or CG effects in his stunts.  Highly Skilled in Muay Thai, Tae Kwon Do, swordplay and gymnastics.  Watching Jackie Chan movies and a Thai movie called Born to Fight (2004) ("Born to Fight") influenced him to do stuntwork and eventually become a action star, but he says his biggest influence is Bruce Lee.  Born in a northeastern province of Thailand called Surin.  Robin Shou's stunt double in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997).  Does 8 hours of gymnastics, Muay Thai, and other sports training a day.  Is actually of Cambodian descent, more known as "Khmer Surin".  He speaks Thai, Khmer

and he is learning English.

"Tony Jaa Special Quotes"  : 

"Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Bruce Lee are my masters; they're the inspiration for my work. Bruce Lee was a heavy fighter who threw hard punches. Jackie moves very fast and uses a lot of comedy, and Jet Li is very fluid. I've tried to combine all of their styles and added some things of my own."  "I want a strong foundation in Thailand. Hollywood? Maybe in the future."

Tony Jaa "The Next Project"

"

"Sahamongkol Film International" in Thailand advertised that Tony Jaa's third film would be called Sword or Dab Atamas, about the art of Thai two-sword fighting, with a script by Prapas Chonsalanont. But due to a falling out between Prachya Pinklaw and Tony Jaa, which neither have publicly commented on, Sword has been cancelled. On March 2006 it was reported that there would be a sequel to Ong-Bak, Ong-Bak 2. With Jaa both directing and starring, it started pre-production in fall 2006 and was released in December of 2008.While Jaa was working on Ong-Bak 2, director Prachya Pinkaew and action choreographer Panna Rittikrai were working on Chocolate, starring a female martial artist, Nicharee Vismistananda, and released February 6, 2008. Jaa had been cast in a small role in a third installment of the King Naresuan film series directed by Chatrichalerm Yukol,although the film was ultimately cancelled
Other developments  Tony Jaa's  films captured the attention of his hero, Jackie Chan, who asked director Brett Ratner to cast Jaa in "Rush Hour 3" "I gave the director videos of Tony Jaa because I think Tony Jaa is the most well-rounded of all action stars," Chan told the Associated Press. "The director liked him a lot," Chan said.However, Jaa said he'd be unable to participate because of scheduling conflicts with the shooting of Ong Bak 2.Additionally, veteran Hong Kong martial arts coordinator Lau Kar-leung has mentioned Jaa as someone he'd like to work with. 

Tony Jaa Career

Stunt work

Tony Jaa initially worked as a stuntman on Panna Rittikrai's team Muay Thai Stunt, appearing in many of Panna's films. He doubled for Sammo Hung when the martial-arts actor made a commercial for an energy drink that required him to grasp an elephant's tusks and somersault onto the elephant's back.He was also a stunt double in the Thai television series "อินทรีย์แดง" ,in english is "Insee Daeng " or (Red Eagle).

Acting  

Panna Rittikrai and "Tony Jaa"  developed the "Muay Thai Boran", an ancient style of Muay Thai and worked and trained for 1 year at the art with the intention of developing a film around it. Eventually they were able to put together a short film showing what Jaa could do. One of the people they showed it to was producer-director Prachya Pinkaew, who was duly impressed.  This led to Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior in 2003, Jaa's break-out role as a leading man. Tony Jaa did all the stunts without mechanical assistance or computer-generated effects and it showcased his style of extreme acrobatics and speedy, dance-like moves. Injuries suffered in the filming included a ligament injury and a sprained ankle. One scene in the film involved fighting with another actor while his own trousers were on fire. "I actually got burned," he said in a 2005 interview. "I really had to concentrate because once my pants were on fire the flames spread upwards very fast and burnt my eyebrows, my eyelashes and my nose. Then we had to do a couple more takes to get it right."

His second project major movie was "Tom-Yum-Goong" or "The Protector" in the US named after a type of Thai soup and including a style of Muay Thai that imitates elephants.  In August 2006, he was in New York to promote the USA release of The Protector, including an appearance at the Museum of the Moving Image

Tony Jaa Biography

Tony Jaa "Ong-Bak"biography

"ทัชชกร ยีรัมย์" or formerly "Panom Yeerum" or everybody call "Tony Jaa" He was born on February 5, 1976 in Surin province, Thailand, His parents were elephant herders. Tony Jaa  watched the martial arts films as a young boy and began to emulate some of his idols, from Bruce Lee to Jackie Chan and Jet Li. After seeing the Thai action film Born to Fight (2004) ("Born to Fight"), Tony Jaa met and studied martial arts and stunt work as a teen under the director of that film, Panna Rittikrai. At age 15 he requested to become a protege of stuntman and action-film director Panna Rittikrai. Panna had instructed Jaa to attend Maha Sarakham College of Physical Education in Maha Sarakham Province. He has trained for an unspecified time in Taekwondo although there are no details regarding if this was in ITF or WTF style and if he has received formal Taekwondo training or as part of his stunt team member apprenticeship. Likewise, he is highly skilled in Muay Thai but there is no evidence at present to suggest a formal training history or competitive career. It was not long before Tony would get work, doubling for Robin Shou and James Remar in Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (1997), and when his demo reel was seen by director Prachya Pinkaew, the film Ong-bak (2003) was created for Panom, who is now going by the name "Panom Yeerum" to "Tony Jaa" in hopes of bringing his style of action to international audiences.is a Thai monk.Prior to assuming his vows, he was a martial artist, actor, choreographer, stuntman, and director. His films include Ong-Bak-Muay Thai Warrior, Tom-Yum-Goong (also called Warrior King ) and Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning.