Li Lianjie, better known by his stage name Jet Li, is a Chinese-born Singaporean martial artist, former Wushu champion, film actor, film producer, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most iconic Chinese film stars and one of the most renowned martial arts stars of his generation.
He started acting in movies and became very famous in China. His first movie, Shaolin Temple (1982), made him a star in East Asia right away. He acted in many movies that people loved, like Hero (2002), Fist of Legend (1994), and the Once Upon a Time in China series (1991–1993), where he played a famous character called Wong Fei-hung.
Another movie, Fearless (2006), was inspired by a real person named Huo Yuanjia. Li's movies helped bring Wushu back into the spotlight in Hong Kong action films in the 1990s and brought more attention to the Shaolin Temple. He also helped make Wuxia movies popular around the world during his career.
Li acted in his first non-Chinese movie as a bad guy in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). His first big role in a Hollywood movie was as Han Sing in Romeo Must Die (2000). After that, he starred in many action movies around the world.
He was in French movies like Kiss of the Dragon (2001) and Unleashed (2005), which were made by Luc Besson. He also acted with Jason Statham in The One (2001) and War (2007), and with Jackie Chan in The Forbidden Kingdom (2008). He was in the first three Expendables movies with Sylvester Stallone and played the main bad guy in The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008).
After being in movies for a long time, in 2007, Li started doing charity work. He started the One Foundation, a group in China that raises money for different things like helping after natural disasters, protecting the environment, providing medical care, and education, and helping people in poverty.