Shou Wan Por

Robin Shou
Robin Chou (in Death Cage only)

仇雲波 (traditional)
仇云波 (simplified)

Autograph

Robin Shou was born on July 17th, 1960 in Hong Kong. He was the fourth of five children of a Shanghai tailor and a homemaker. He and his family moved to the United States in 1971. Robin Shou went to high school at Palm Springs High (California).

Robin did not start attending martial arts classes until he was 19. He took Kenpo (Karate) while attending Cal State. He soon realized that Kenpo did nothing for him so he decided to quit. A year and a half later, he saw a demonstration by a group of Wu Shu practitioners from Beijing. He said, "This is Chinese!" He was so inspired to train in this discipline that in 1981, just before starting his senior year at Cal State, he sold his car and used the money to spend a quarter studying Wu Shu in China.

Robin returned to Cal State and obtained his B.S. in civil engineering. He spent a year and a half in this field and he was convinced he needed a different career. He was unhappy and the only thing that kept him going was martial arts.

When Robin is not making films he takes ceramic classes, paints, welds and does woodworking. He likes to do anything that involves working with his hands.

Film career

Robin Shou, has made a name for himself in the American movie industry.

His film debut was in The Big Heat (Hong Kong) in 1987. The first real dramatic role was in Forbidden Nights (USA) in 1990, where he played opposite Melissa Gilbert. Though only a TV film, this was his American debut and surely a catapult for Hollywood.

However, Robin went back to Hong Kong and continued making movies there. By this time, he was more choosy about the roles he would play. He wanted other roles besides that of a bodyguard or a stuntman. He began turning down roles and after nine years he was bored and ready to quit acting.

In 1994, Robin returned to Los Angeles to start an import/export business. Then he got the call from his agent, ranting about a perfect role for him in a movie called Mortal Kombat. Robin was uninterested, assuming he would be playing a villain who gets killed in the end. His agent begged him to audition. He did, along with other top contenders; Jason Scott Lee, Russell Wong and Dustin Nguyen. Seven auditions later he was Mortal Kombat's star Liu Kang. The role of Liu Kang in Mortal Kombat was a unique one for Robin.

Further nine years ago, in 2003 Robin Shou has his director debut with the documentary film Red Trousers - The Life of the Hong Kong Stuntmen.

2008 we can Robin Shou see in the movie "Death Race". Robin Shou has the role as rival racer. The Cinema released in the USA would be October (?), 2008 and in Germany on November 27, 2008.

Currently he works on a new project Street Fighter: The Legend of Chin-Li. Robin Shou will be playing the character of Gen. The movie is sheduled for 2009.

by Phoenix

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1978 Palm Springs ...................... April 16th, 2004
High School yearbook.............................................