Daniel Neh-Tsu Wu (; born September 30, 1974) is a Hong Kong-American actor.Multiple sources: He is known as a "flexible and distinctive" leading actor in the Chinese-language film industry. Since his film debut in 1998, he has been featured in over 60 films. A three-time Golden Horse Award nominee, he also starred in the AMC martial arts drama series Into the Badlands and the Disney+ wuxia action comedy American Born Chinese.
Early life Daniel Wu was born in Berkeley, California, and raised in Orinda, California, and is the third-generation Chinese-American living in the US. Both of his parents' families are originally from Shanghai. During the era of chaos caused by wars, his grandparents took their respective families to Taiwan and Hong Kong and both families immigrated to the United States in the 1950s. Both his parents are highly educated. His mother, Diana Wu (née Liu), is a university professor and holds a doctorate, and his father, George Wu, is an engineer who obtained a master’s degree in Oklahoma. George met Diana in New York when Diana was a student at New York University. After marrying, they settled in California. Wu has two older sisters, Gloria and Greta, and an older brother named Douglas, who died in an accident when he was two.
When he was a child, his grandfather used to take him to watch movies in Chinatown. Wu developed an interest in martial arts when he saw Jet Li in The Shaolin Temple and Donnie Yen in Iron Monkey, and consequently began studying wushu at age 11. His childhood role model was Jackie Chan, who now considers Wu "like a son". Wu attended the Head-Royce School in Oakland, California and later majored in architecture at the University of Oregon. Wu also attended SCI-Arc for a summer program in architecture and worked for architect Michael Rotondi. While in Oregon, he founded the University of Oregon Wushu Club in 1994 and served as the team's first coach. During this time, Wu took film classes and frequented local theaters, and came to enjoy the works of filmmakers like Akira Kurosawa and Luc Besson, whom he describes as "men of vision".
Following graduation, Wu traveled in 1997 to Hong Kong to witness the handover of Hong Kong, with no intention of taking on a film career. At the suggestion by his sister, Wu began modeling. A month later, film director Yonfan, after seeing Wu featured in a clothing ad, approached Wu about starring in an upcoming film. With no acting experience and lacking the ability to speak Chinese, Wu initially turned down director Yonfan. However, persuaded by the director's persistence, he finally took the role and thus embarked on his acting career.
Career Despite his inability at the time to speak Cantonese or read Chinese, Wu successfully completed his first film, Yonfan's Bishonen in 1998. As of this day, when Wu receives a Cantonese script, his assistant reads the entire piece, while he makes notes on the pronunciation. The day after Bishonen wrapped, Wu was offered the leading role in Mabel Cheung's City of Glass (for which Wu was nominated as best new actor at the 18th Hong Kong Film Awards) and later, a supporting part in Young and Dangerous: The Prequel, from Andrew Lau's gangster film series. Around this time, Wu met Jackie Chan at a restaurant opening and was quickly signed to Chan's JC Group with agent Willie Chan.
Wu's breakthrough performance came in 1999 with his role in Benny Chan's Gen-X Cops. He followed this success with roles in a variety of films including big-budget thriller Purple Storm, arthouse production Peony Pavilion and the successful Love Undercover. In 2001, Wu received criticism from the Hong Kong media for sexual scenes with Suki Kwan in Cop on a Mission, but Wu says that same criticism attracted the attention of directors and the film represented a turning point in the types of roles he chose in the future.
Wu's first experience in film production came with his starring role in Julian Lee's 2003 film Night Corridor. Due to budgetary constraints, Wu participated in the search for funding for and distribution of, the film and recruited Jun Kung to create the soundtrack. Though Night Corridor dealt with "risky" themes, Wu felt he had less reliance on image than many of his pop-star actor peers, and he was nominated for best actor at Taiwan's 40th Golden Horse Film Awards for his effort. During 2003, Wu took part as producer and creative director on MTV's Whatever Things!, a Jackass-styled program aired in Asia, also featuring Sam Lee, Josie Ho, Terence Yin, and other celebrities. During 2003, Wu took part in a stage production of The Happy Prince at the Edward Lam Dance Theater as part of the Hong Kong Arts Festival, during which he recited a 16-minute monologue in Cantonese, learned entirely from pinyin. In 2005, Wu was nominated as best actor at the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards for his role in Derek Yee's One Nite in Mongkok, and as best supporting actor for New Police Story. At the 41st Golden Horse Film Awards, Wu won the award for best supporting actor for New Police Story. The win came as a surprise to him, because he "didn't think that much" of his performance in the film.
In 2005, Chinese media began to report that Wu had formed a boy band, Alive, with Terence Yin, Andrew Lin, and Conroy Chan. Wu and his bandmates posted information, updates, personal thoughts (including slamming Hong Kong Disneyland, for which they were spokespersons), and the band's music, at their official website. In 2006, Wu made his writing and directorial debut with The Heavenly Kings, which chronicles Alive's formation and exploits. After the film's release, however, it was revealed that The Heavenly Kings was actually a mockumentary of the Hong Kong pop music industry, and Alive was constructed purely as a vehicle to make the film; the film's characters represented only 10–15% of their real-life counterparts and much of the footage blurred the line between fiction and reality. Wu admitted his own singing voice "sucked really bad", and the band had their voices digitally enhanced for its music, to prove that "it's easy to fake it". Despite some backlash from the media over being intentionally fed false information in the film about illegal downloads of the band's music, Wu won the best new director award at the 26th Hong Kong Film Awards, an achievement he called "a group effort".
In 2011, Wu starred alongside Kevin Spacey in director Dayyan Eng's bilingual film Inseparable. It premiered at the Busan International Film Festival and was released in cinemas in China and other territories worldwide, making it Wu's first English-language film performance.
From 2015 to 2019, he starred as Sunny on the AMC action series Into the Badlands, for which he also served as executive producer.
In 2016, he portrayed via motion capture and voiced Gul'dan, the central antagonist of the action fantasy film Warcraft, based upon the Warcraft video game series by Blizzard Entertainment. In 2018, he appeared in Tomb Raider, based upon the video game series of the same name, as Lara Croft's sidekick, Captain Lu Ren. In 2021, he appeared in Reminiscence, director Lisa Joy's feature film debut.
Other ventures
In April 2007, Wu re-launched his band's old website, AliveNotDead.com, with Terence Yin and RottenTomatoes.com founders Patrick Lee and Stephen Wang, as a place for filmmakers, musicians, and other artists to collaborate, receive exposure, network, and interact with fans. He was a spokesperson for Seiko and L'Oréal. Wu posed for the charity photography album SuperStars by Leslie Kee, and performed on rapper Jin's song "HK Superstar." Wu is an investor in Racks MDB Shanghai, which opened in 2008.
Personal life Wu maintains residences in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, and Oakland, California. He continues to train in wushu as well as other martial arts.
On April 6, 2010, Wu married Lisa S. in South Africa. Their daughter was born in May 2013.
Following the passing of his mother due to illness in 2014, he relocated his family from Hong Kong back to California, United States, with the aim of providing care for his elderly father and attending to his daughter's educational needs.
In 2019, Wu denied rumors of supporting Hong Kong independence and has explicitly stated his opposition to it.
Filmography Film Year English title Original title Role Notes/ 1998 Bishonen 美少年之恋 Sam Fai City of Glass 玻璃之城 Daniel Credited as Daniel NgYoung and Dangerous: The Prequel 新古惑仔之少年激鬥篇 Big Head 1999 Gorgeous 玻璃樽 Photographer's assistant Gen-X Cops 特警新人類 Daniel Purple Storm 紫雨風暴 Todd Nguyen 2000 2000 AD 公元2000 Benny Undercover Blues 刑 「殺之法」 Joe Wong 2001 Headlines 頭號人物 Peter Wong Hit Team 重裝警察 Inspector Chung Chai Cop on a Mission 知法犯法 Mike Born Wild 野獸之瞳 Tide Ho Beijing Rocks 北京樂與路 Michael Wu Peony Pavilion 遊園驚夢 Xing Zhi-gang 2002 Beauty and the Breast 豐胸秘Cup Harper Love Undercover 新紮師妹 Au Hoi-man Princess D 想飛 Joker Devil Face, Angel Heart 變臉迷情 Long The Peeping 偷窺無罪 Calvin Naked Weapon 赤裸特工 Jack Chen 2003 Night Corridor 妖夜迴廊 Sam Yuen/Hung Also producerLove Undercover 2: Love Mission 新紮師妹2: 美麗任務 Au Hoi-man Hidden Track 尋找周杰倫 Police officer Miss Du Shi Niang Miss 杜十娘 Ken Li 2004 Magic Kitchen 魔幻厨房 Kevin Chiseen 黐線 DVD version ofsome segments of MTV's Whatever ThingsEnter the Phoenix 大佬愛美麗 Georgie Hung One Nite in Mongkok 旺角黑夜 Lai Fu Around the World in 80 Days Bak MeiThe Twins Effect II 千機變II: 花都大戰 Wei Liao Beyond Our Ken 公主復仇記 Ken New Police Story 新警察故事 Joe Kwan 2005 DragonBlade: The Legend of Lang 龍刀奇緣 Hung Lang VoiceoverHouse of Fury 精武家庭 Jason Divergence 三岔口 Coke Drink-Drank-Drunk 千杯不醉 Michael Everlasting Regret 長恨歌 Kang Mingxun 2006 Rob-B-Hood 寶貝計劃 Brokeback Security agent Daniel McDull, the Alumni 春田花花同學會 Hostage-taker The Banquet 夜宴 Prince Wu Luan The Heavenly Kings 四大天王 Daniel Wu Also writer, director and producer 2007 Protégé 門徒 Nick Ming Ming 明明 A D Blood Brothers 天堂口 Ah Fung 2009 Shinjuku Incident 新宿事件 Jie/Joe Overheard 竊聽風雲 Max Lam Like a Dream 如夢 Max Also associate producerJump 跳出去 Doctor 2010 Hot Summer Days 全城熱戀 Sushi master Triple Tap 鎗王之王 Chong Tze-wai 2011 Don't Go Breaking My Heart 單身男女 Kevin Fong The Founding of a Party 建黨偉業Hu Shih Overheard 2 竊聽風雲2 Joe Szema Inseparable 形影不離 Li 2012 The Great Magician 大魔術師 Captain Tsai Cameo Tai Chi 0 太极 Mad Monk Also producer Tai Chi Hero 太極2 英雄崛起 Mad Monk Also producer The Man with the Iron Fists Poison Dagger The Last Supper 王的盛宴 Xiang Yu CZ12 十二生肖 Hospital Doctor Cameo2013 Europa Report William Xu Control 控制 Mark Also producer2014 That Demon Within 魔警 Dave Wong Overheard 3 竊聽風雲3 Joe Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2 單身男女2 Kevin Fong 2015 I Am Somebody 我是路人甲 Cameo Go Away Mr. Tumor 滾蛋吧！腫瘤君 Dr. Liang2016 Warcraft Gul'dan Sky on Fire 沖天火 Zong Tianbao 2017 Geostorm Cheng Long Wished 反轉人生 Daniel Li Cameo 2018 Tomb Raider Lu Ren 2020 Caught in Time 除暴 Zhang Sen 2021 Reminiscence Saint Joe 2024 Decoded 解密 Xiaolili 2025 Love Hurts Knuckles Gable 2026 Cold War 1994 寒戰1994 Peter Choi
Television Year Title Role Notes/ 2015–2019 Into the Badlands Sunny Also executive producer 2016 Skylanders Academy King Pen Voice 2022WestworldJayRecurring role (season 4) 2023 American Born Chinese Sun Wukong "The Monkey King" Main role 2026 Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 Kiril Yang Voice
Daniel Wu at douban.comDaniel Wu at chinesemov.com
Awards and nominations