Profile Text
Birth Name: Wu Yu-seng (吳宇森)
Place of Birth: Guangzhou, China
Date of Birth: 1 May, 1946
Ethnicity: Chinese
John Woo is a Chinese/Hong Kong director, filmmaker, and actor. A pioneer of Hong Kong action cinema, especially “heroic bloodshed” and “gun fu,” he later transitioned to Hollywood films. In the west, he directed the films Hard Target , Broken Arrow (1996), Face/Off , Mission: Impossible 2 , Windtalkers , Paycheck , Silent Night (2023), and The Killer (2024); a segment of The Hire ; and the made-for-tv movies Once a Thief (1996) and Blackjack (1998). In the east, he directed and wrote the films The Dragon Tamers , Hand of Death (1976), Money Crazy , Last Hurrah for Chivalry , From Riches to Rags , Laughing Times , Heroes Shed No Tears (1986), The Time You Need a Friend , and The Killer (1989); directed and co-wrote the films The Young Dragons , Princess Chang Ping , Follow the Star , which he also starred in; To Hell with the Devil , Plain Jane to the Rescue , A Better Tomorrow (1986), A Better Tomorrow II , Bullet in the Head , Once a Thief (1991), Hard Boiled , Red Cliff , The Crossing (2014), and Manhunt (2017); directed the film Run, Tiger, Run ; co-directed and co-wrote the film Hello, Late Homecomers ; co-directed the films Just Heroes and Reign of Assassins ; and co-wrote the film A Better Tomorrow (2010).
His father was a teacher. His mother was a manual labourer. His family were Protestant Christians, and faced persecution from the Mao regime. John’s family moved to Hong Kong, where he was raised in the slums of Shek Kip Mei. He is married to Anne Chun-Lung Niu, with whom he has three children.