Rick Yune has been involved with the entertainment industry in a number of ways. However, he tends to be best-known because of his acting, seeing as how he has been in a number of well-known movies such as The Fast and the Furious and Olympus Has Fallen. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Rick Yune:
1. Brother of Karl Yune
Yune has a brother named Karl Yune. Said sibling is also an actor who has appeared in productions such as Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid and Memoirs of a Geisha. Having said that, Karl Yune tends to be best-known because of his role as Arrow’s Maseo Yamashiro, the titular character’s friend who went on to become the second-in-command of the League of Assassins.
2. Spent a Lot of His Childhood Getting into Fights
It is interesting to note that Yune grew up as the one East Asian child in a black neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Due to this, he had a hard time fitting in, which resulted in him getting into a lot of fights. It seems safe to say that this is one of the reasons that Yune winded up becoming a martial artist.
3. Practices Taekwondo
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Yune practices taekwondo, which tends to be the first martial art that comes to mind for someone with Korean heritage. After all, while taekwondo wasn’t developed until the 1940s and 1950s from a fusion of Korean, Chinese, and Japanese martial arts, it has managed to become the single most famous Korean martial art in the entire world, not least because of its international popularity. As for Yune’s skill with taekwondo, it has been claimed that he was good enough to be a serious contender for the U.S. Olympic team for the martial art.
4. Used to Be in Finance
Education-wise, Yune went to the Wharton Business School where he studied finance. Eventually, he started working as a trader on Wall Street, which was when he was discovered by an agent while he was in an elevator. Due to this, Yune went on to become the first East Asian model for both Versace and Polo before proceeding to become an actor as well.
5. First Movie Was Snow Falling on Cedars
Yune’s first movie was Snow Falling on Cedars, which was based on a novel bearing the same name. In it, he played the role of Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese-American veteran of the Second World War who is accused of murdering a white fisherman named Carl Heine because of anti-Japanese sentiment in the aftermath of said conflict. Having said that, the protagonist of Snow Falling on Cedars wasn’t Kabuo but rather the newspaper editor Ishmael Chambers who loves Kabuo’s wife Hatsue.
6. Has Played a Number of Antagonists
Over the course of his career, Yune has played a number of antagonists in a number of movies. For example, he played a Vietnamese gang leader named Johnny Tran who served as a rival to Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto in The Fast and the Furious. Likewise, he played a North Korean named Zao in Die Another Day, which was the last James Bond movie when Pierce Brosnan still held the role. For that matter, Yune was the one who played Takeshi in Ninja Assassin, the main character’s older brother of sorts who was the penultimate fight in the movie.
7. Had a Main Role in The Man with the Iron Fist
In 2012, Yune played Zen-Yi, who was one of the main characters in RZA’s The Man with the Iron Fists. It is interesting to note that while RZA was writing the script for the movie, he had specific individuals in mind for certain roles but not for the rest. For example, he wanted Yune to play Zen-Yi from about Page 20 of the script, meaning that the role was very much written with Yune in mind. In contrast, RZA didn’t settle on Dave Bautista for the character Brass Body until he was impressed by Bautista’s speed while stick fighting.
8. Was in Olympus Has Fallen
Yune had the role of Kang Yeonsak in Olympus Has Fallen, who was popular enough to receive not one but two follow-ups. For those who are unfamiliar, the movie is focused on a disgraced Secret Service agent played by Gerard Butler who fights to save the President of the United States from North Korean captors under the command of Kang Yeonsak. Plot-wise, the movie was pretty nonsensical, but to be fair, it was always meant for action movie fans who were willing shrug their shoulders at the plot in preference for focusing on the suspense as well as Butler’s performance in the lead role.
9. Played Kaidu on Marco Polo
Besides movies, Yune has been known to play roles in shows as well. For instance, he was on the show Marco Polo, in which he played a character named Kaidu. With that said, it should be mentioned that the character was based on a historical person of the same name. In short, Kaidu was the leader of the House of Ogedei, which is a term of convenience for the members of the Mongol imperial family descended from Genghis Khan’s third son Ogedei Khan. For a lot of people, Kaidu tends to be known for a couple of things. One, he was a fierce opponent of his cousin Kublai Khan who founded the Yuan Dynasty over in China. Two, Kaidu’s favorite child was his daughter Khutulun, a skilled wrestler who required her would-be spouses to face her in wrestling matches.
10. Has Been Humble About His Martial Arts Skills
It is interesting to note that Yune has been pretty humble about his martial arts skills. In the past, he has outright stated that he doesn’t see himself as a martial arts expert but rather as just someone who can do certain things with martial arts without making a complete mess in the process.
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