Iko Uwais

Iko Uwais born on February 12, 1983 in Jakarta, Indonesia, to Maisiyaro and Mustafa Kamaluddin. His grandfather, H. Ahmad Bunawar, was a master of silat, a traditional Indonesian martial art, and founded his own school of silat.

Iko himself began studying silat at the age of 10, at the Tiga Berantai Silat School, where his uncle taught, using the characteristic Betawi (native Jakartan) style. In 2003, Iko won 3rd place in the local Jakarta tournament, and in 2005, first place in the national silat championship in the category “best demonstration performance“. Besides martial arts, he has only one passion - European football. He was a midfielder for an Indonesian B League club, but due to its bankruptcy, Iko had to give up his dream of becoming a football star. Meanwhile, thanks to his silat skills, he was given the opportunity to travel abroad with several exhibition performances in the UK, Russia, Laos, Cambodia and France.

Uwais's talent as a martial artist was discovered by a Welsh film director Gareth Evans, who visited the silat school where he studied for the filming of a documentary in 2007. Natural charm and photogenicity were the deciding factors - Evans asked him to join his production company as a leading actor in his films. After signing a five-year contract, Iko quit his day job as a driver for telecommunications company Esia.

Uwais’s debut film work was written, directed and edited Gareth Hugh Evans, a martial arts movie – “Merantau“. For him, Iko specially studied the Minang style of silat harimau (tiger style) from the master Edwela Datuk Rajo Gampo Alama. Another debutant in this project was another silat master, Yayan Ruhian, who worked on the fight choreography and played the role of Eric. The first screening took place on July 23, 2009 at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (South Korea), on August 6, 2009 it premiered in Indonesian cinemas, and on September 24 in the United States. The debut was a success, and the film received flattering reviews from critics.

The second film of the trinity, Evans-Uwais-Rukhyan, was an action movie “Raid“, which was a breath of fresh air for martial arts fans on screen. Critics and audiences at various festivals have hailed the film as one of the best martial arts films in recent years.

In 2013, Iko appeared in his directorial debut Keanu Reeves, "Tai Chi Master“, and fought in it with a Chinese martial artist, Tiger Chen.

In 2014, the trio from “Merantau” and “Reid” reunited again and released “Raid 2“. Due to excessive violence, the action film was banned in Malaysia, and some scenes were cut in the American and Japanese releases. However, the film received high praise, and received a number of national and international awards and nominations.

The following year, Uwais and Rukhyan starred in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens“, and a year later they continued their wanderings through science fiction films in “Skyline 2“. During the same period, the action movie “Raid: Bullet in the head” with Iko in the title role, however, he did not receive the same enthusiastic reviews as in previous works.

In 2018, the movie was released Peter Berg "22 miles“, in which Uwais played with Mark Wahlberg и Ronda Rousey. In "The night is following us” that same year, he reunited with Joe Taslim, which was in the first “Raid”.

In 2019 he played in the comedy “Ali, steer!” together with Dave Bautista, and in 10 episodes of the series “Assassins of Wu“. Also, this year the previously filmed action movie “triple threat” with a star-studded cast (Iko Uwais, Tony Jaa, Scott Adkins, Tiger Chen, Michael Jai White, Jija Yanin, and Michael Bisping).

In 2021, Iko played the Elder Master in the superhero film Roberta Schwentke "G.I. Joe. Rise of Cobra: Snake Eyes” .

In 2022, the full-length sequel “Assassins of Wu” was released - “Fists of Vengeance” And fourth part "Expendables” , in which he had a fight scene with Jason Statham.

Should be released in 2025 Part 4 of “Skyline”, in which Iko Uwais will once again star alongside Yayan Ruhjan and Scott Adkins.