By Jean Lukitsh
If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to live in one of those classic kung fu movies – you know, the kind where everyone around you, up to and including your Grandma is an ace martial artist? Then ask Chris Yen. Daughter of legendary master Bow Sim Mark and kid sister of Asia’s superstar Donnie Yen, Chris grew up in her mom’s kung fu school in Boston, getting the kind of total immersion training that is seldom seen anymore outside of the movies!
Chris Yen trains with her mother and brother in Boston (file photo).
Born in Canton, China– Chris started training in traditional Chinese martial arts at the tender age of 4 years old under the strict tutelage of her mother. As one of the very few Chinese kids in her school, Chris attracted a lot of attention especially when word got out about her background in “kung fu”. Everyday after school, Chris was expected to train for hours at her mother’s school, the Chinese Wushu Research Institute. (The fact that the word “Wushu,” meaning Chinese martial arts but used mostly by people from the Chinese Mainland, was unfamiliar and vaguely suspicious to Americans at the time only made it more difficult for her to fit in with her peers.) Kung fu schools are a big deal in Chinatown, and martial arts demos are always in demand on holidays. As her mother’s fame spread, the school’s performance team became a mainstay at community events in the Boston area. Chris got plenty of experience performing as a member of the CWRI team. While other kids were taking swim classes and playing soccer, she was performing for local TV stations and winning medals in international tournaments.
After winning an All-Round Bronze medal at the first international Wushu tournament in China as the youngest competitor, Chris was immediately casted as lead actress in a film by legendary action director, Yuen Woo-Ping (“Matrix” series, “Crouching Tiger”, “Kill Bill”). At the time, early stardom came calling for young Chris, but school was a priority and she knew she would eventually follow in her big brother’s footsteps if this were truly her calling.
Sure enough, the day arrived when Chris joined her star brother on his movie adventures, traveling from set to set and capturing the inner workings of the industry from a very unique choreography and action filmmaking perspective. As she continued to gain more invaluable insight and experiences, Chris was determined to lead her own creative path within the world of films.
During one of her travels to Asia, Chris wowed a prolific Hong Kong producer who was captivated by her charm and immediately casted her in a Hong Kong action film. Just two weeks before principal photography, a stand out character was written into the script to showcase Chris’ on-screen fighting skills. When the film hit no.1 in the local box office, Chris was invited to appear as special guest on the popular globe-spanning adventure, “Where In the World Is Matt Lauer?” on NBC’s The Today Show. The live interview with popular American journalist Matt Lauer was watched by over 6 million viewers, and Chris received an invitation from Sony Pictures’ casting director and VP of Casting for Universal Pictures to audition in Los Angeles and begin her journey as an on screen artist.
Music was a big part of her childhood too. Chris’ father, Klysler Yen, now a retired journalist from the Sing Dao daily newspaper, is an accomplished professional musician who specializes in the “er-hu,” a two-stringed instrument similar to a violin. He was the first traditional Chinese musician to perform with the Boston Civic Symphony. Chris Yen began her music studies very young, appearing in her first piano recital at age 5.
“My mom always emphasized the importance of my martial arts training, particularly Wushu, as a health exercise, a sport, an art…I learned to look at this form of martial arts in a very traditional, creative, and artistic sense from early on,” Chris commented during an interview. “At a time when mainlanders were complete foreigners in America, my mother was the only woman amongst a male-dominant society to promote and preserve the tradition and art of Chinese martial arts to the West, and barely speaking a word of English while at it. She was fearless in facing every challenge that came her way and she succeeded with such grace, humbleness and strength… I just owe everything to my family’s sacrifice and courage”.
With her ambitious, energetic, creative and entrepreneurial spirit behind everything she embarks on, Chris has several of her own projects in the pipeline. She is developing, writing, acting and producing and is determined to bring these projects to fruition one day.
When Chris is not busy auditioning, working on projects or in scene studies, she devotes her time to her husband and their two rescue dogs, Rex and Yogi– or heads to the pool table for a game of 9-ball or straight pool, a sport she used to play competitively. She also loves driving and occasionally goes to the track to hone her “drifting” skills, coached by none other than her husband and professional race car driver, Mr. H.