Tony Jaa made his silver screen debut in the 1992 action film ‘Singh Siam’ directed by Panna Rittikrai. He next starred in films like ‘Hard Gun’ (1996), ‘Mission Hunter 2’ (1996), ‘Mortal Kombat: Annihilation’ (1997), and ‘Nuk leng klong yao’ (2001). In 2003, he portrayed ‘Ting’ in the Thai martial arts film ‘Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior’ directed by Prachya Pinkaew. The film earned praise from critics and was a box office success. Jaa also won the ‘Star Entertainment Award’ for his performance in the film. After making a cameo appearance in the 2004 wire-fu action comedy film ‘The Bodyguard,’ he starred as ‘Kham’ in the 2005 Thai martial arts action film ‘Tom-Yum-Goong’ directed by Prachya Pinkaew. The film was a decent commercial success and grossed over $27 million on a budget of $5 million. He next appeared in films like ‘The Bodyguard 2’ (2007), ‘Ong Bak 2’ (2008), ‘Ong Bak 3’ (2010), ‘Tom Yum Goong 2’ (2013), and ‘Skin Trade’ (2014).
In 2015, he played the role of ‘Kiet’ in the American action film ‘Furious 7’ directed by James Wan. The film was warmly received by critics and was a massive box office success, grossing over $1.516 billion on a budget of $250 million. The same year, he also starred as ‘Chai’ in the Cheang Pou-soi-directed Hong Kong-Chinese martial arts action film ‘SPL II: A Time for Consequences.’ The film received positive reviews from critics and performed well at the box office, grossing over $90.27 million on a $23 million budget. He continued to star in films like ‘Never Back Down: No Surrender’ (2016), ‘XXX: Return of Xander Cage’ (2017), ‘Paradox’ (2017), ‘Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy’ (2018), ‘Triple Threat’ (2019), ‘Jiu Jitsu’ (2020), and ‘Monster Hunter’ (2020). Jaa was last seen in the 2021 Chinese comedy-mystery buddy film ‘Detective Chinatown 3’ directed by Chen Sicheng. The film received mostly positive reviews from critics and grossed over $686 million on a budget of $117 million. He will be next seen in the upcoming American action film ‘The Expendables 4.’
