Tony Jaa

Tony Jaa, born Tatchakorn Yeerum on February 5, 1976, is an internationally recognized Thai martial artist, actor, action choreographer, stuntman, and movie director. Formerly known as Phanom Yeerum and called Jaa Phanom within Thailand, he gained global renown for his athletic combat performance and high-impact stunt execution. Over the course of his career, features starring Jaa have accumulated more than 2.7 billion dollars at the global box office, solidifying his status as a major international action star who helped introduce Thai combat cinema to a worldwide audience.

Raised in a rural community in Surin Province by his mother Rin Saipetch and his father Thongdee Yeerum, Jaa developed an early passion for martial arts after watching movies featuring Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, and Donnie Yen at local temple fairs. Motivated by their screen heroic portrayals, he regularly rehearsed complex physical maneuvers in his father's rice paddies. By the age of ten, he began formal training in Muay Thai at a local temple, laying the groundwork for his future career in physical performance.

While competing in local temple fair bouts, Jaa was discovered by filmmaker and action director Panna Rittikrai. Following Rittikrai's advice, Jaa enrolled at the Maha Sarakham College of Physical Education, eventually earning his bachelor's degree. During his academic years and early training, he developed expertise in multiple martial disciplines, including Taekwondo, Krabi-Krabong, Muay Boran, and gymnastics. Before transitioning to leading screen roles, Jaa worked as a professional stuntman for Muay Thai Stunt for fourteen years, doubling in television series and commercials.

Jaa made his major feature film acting debut as the character Ting in the 2003 martial arts hit Ong-Bak. Performing all acrobatic sequences and full-contact stunts without mechanical assistance or computer-generated visual effects, his breakthrough performance earned him a Star Entertainment Award. He followed this success with a starring role in the 2005 film Tom-Yum-Goong, playing the character Kham, which he later reprised in a 2013 sequel. Jaa also expanded his creative roles behind the camera by co-directing and starring in both Ong Bak 2 in 2008 and Ong Bak 3 in 2010.

Beginning in the mid-2010s, Jaa expanded his career into global film industries. He delivered his first English-speaking screen role in the 2015 ensemble blockbuster Furious 7 and made his Hong Kong film debut in SPL II: A Time for Consequences that same year. Over the following years, he appeared in a variety of international action productions, including Skin Trade, XXX: Return of Xander Cage, Paradox, Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, Triple Threat, and Detective Chinatown 3.

In addition to his acting career, Jaa played a key role in popularizing traditional Thai martial arts such as Muay Boran internationally, and alongside Rittikrai, he helped create the specialized combat style Muay Kotchasaan in 2005. In 2017, Jaa was inducted into the Martial Arts History Museum Hall of Fame. In his personal life, Jaa married his longtime partner Piyarat Chotiwattananont on May 3, 2012, and the couple has two daughters. In February 2026, media reports revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 3 gallbladder cancer a couple of years prior.