How to become a martial arts actor?

hi..im almost 18 and I practice martial arts. I would like to do martial arts movies with the same caliber as movies like the Jet li ones ,jackie chan ones like rush hour or the transporter or tony jaa movies ( even tho i would like to have my movies more realistic.)





how do i get into martial arts film? isnt there agents that specifis in martial arts movies only? and if i go to an acting school how do i show that im interested in MA movies? or do i have to find a famous martial arts film producer?





i just dont know what to do, it would be easier if i wanted to be just a normal actor but im looking up for doing martial arts moves. any help?|||It%26#039;s great to have a skill like that, but it%26#039;s even better if it%26#039;s in addition to your regular acting abilities. An agent would LOVE that you have that on your resume. You would very likely have auditioned for Rush Hour 3 for instance, Mortal Kombat, etc. Anytime a film like that comes up you may be called to audition, but you do not want to limit yourself. The other answerer has a good point about learning Chinese as well. Make sure you always have a valid passport because a lot of those films do require travel to Hong Kong. There is no agent that I know of that specializes in that genre but there are agents that specialize unique acts and offbeat people but I don%26#039;t think that%26#039;s you. Why do you want to limit yourself? Are you really only interested in doing MA films? You could always move to Hong Kong... :-)





If you enter the world of acting, like any one else you need to have a legit training and performance background. Acting classes, etc.





check out www.backstage.com %26amp; www.actorsaccess.com for audition info as well. Once you get a few credits you can start looking for an agent. Come back and ask how.





good luck|||Your best bet is to learn Mandarin and move to Hong Kong and just start working your way up the ladder.|||One thing you have to understand right away is that martial arts in real life versus what is seen on the screen are two different beats entirely! There are entire schools that train actors to fight on the screen, especially these days with the wire fighting systems being so prevalant. In the U.S. there are not going to be too many agents that will deal with martial arts movies as their only entity, if any at all. In the Asian market this might be different, but for a U.S. agent you might be better off telling them that you woul like to persue action based films that you can showcase your particular discipline in.





As for becoming strictly a martial arts actor, in the American market, probably not too great of an idea. Unless of course you can bring something UNREAL to the film in terms of style. Now it%26#039;s a little different story if you plan to work in Asia, but the level of competition goes way up as well. Martial arts can be a valuable asset to have on your resume, but I would suggest becoming a strong actor who can do martial arts rather than a strong martial artist who might be able to act.