Ilrom Choi. Biography and show reel

06.06.2010EvilDollaR

Those who have already watched “Undisputed 3” should have remembered an interesting Korean fighter, one of the participants in the prison tournament. I suggest reading the biography of Ilrom Choi, written by himself, and also watching a video clip of his roles in various films.

Hello.

My name is Ilram Choi (pronounced ill-rom-choy). I was conceived in Korea by my loving parents Hwang Il Choi (Dad) and Kab Duk Choi (Mom), but was later born in Washington, DC. After 9 months, we decided to move to Louisville, Kentucky, where I grew up with my two younger sisters. There I learned to crawl, walk, kick, and then somersault. Martial arts and acrobatics were my passion.

I have been practicing taekwondo since I can remember. I trained at the Korean parish church and really hated it. I couldn't get used to the constant grueling training and forms and cheated, mostly by watching more experienced students, and then moving on to more difficult and cool movements. This went on for 9 years. It became a weekly ritual and social event, and it was free. The classes were informal, but we had our own uniform and due respect for the teacher. During the training, we changed four instructors, and there was only one yellow belt exam. When I was 11 years old, my father showed me a forward somersault using my hands. WOW! And now, instead of jumping and simple kicks, I decided to do somersaults. That's all my father could do at the time, but it was enough to inspire me. He had a damn good athletic build. I didn't have money to pay for lessons, so I taught myself. Shortly after that, our church stopped holding classes, and I went to a real taekwondo school, and later to a gym. Of course, all this cost money, but now I was old enough to work and could afford it. The new taekwondo school turned out to be quite nice, and that's where I first learned about competitions. To my surprise, I won first place in all of them. At gymnastics, they taught me how to do a back somersault correctly, supporting myself on my hands, after seeing how, after one of the attempts, I fell head first on the floor. Self-learning has its contradictions. Studying at school continued for another month, and I decided not to spend money and study on my own again. I guess I'm pretty damn impatient.

I soon broke through to TV screens with home videos. My friends and I created short films with comedy and fighting. It was a lot of fun. I also started taking art seriously. While I was in school, I started winning competitions and made it my goal to attend Savannah College of Art and Design. My parents were concerned about this career move. They wanted me to become either a doctor or an engineer, but being loving parents, they supported my decision one hundred percent. I moved to Savannah, Georgia, undecided about what discipline to pursue. After choosing video and computers, I continued to practice martial arts and acrobatics. During my six years in college, I tried to imitate stunts from movies, from the Street Fighter video games to Jackie Chan movies. During that period, I met many fighters and studied under their guidance. He studied aikido, judo, kung fu, wushu, tai chi, Thai boxing, Wing Chun, ninjutsu, Chinese boxing and capoeira. It may seem like I learned a lot, but that's only what I could remember. Finally, in the last semester I created my first serious project, a short film called “Eternal” (SEMPITERNAL). It was successful and won Best Picture, but unfortunately I was unable to attend the awards ceremony because I was traveling to Dallas, Texas for my first job out of college at The Stokes Group.

The Stokes Group is a post-production company with digital hardware and software to complete any project. Later it was renamed Postasylum. As the weeks passed, I continued to practice martial arts and acrobatics, going to the gym with friends and practicing old and new moves. My friends and I made even more short films and presented them at hundreds of film festivals. Some of them won first place. I am also involved in local independent films and plays. After five and a half years of working in Dallas, I needed to head to Los Angeles, California. I enjoy producing, directing, drawing, designing effects, editing films and doing stunts. Where is the best place to do this? Of course, in Los Angeles.

So in 2003 I moved to Los Angeles. Now only time will tell what the future holds for Ilrom Choi.

Author: Ilrom Choi
Translation: EvilDollaR