Darren Shahlavi

Darren Shahlavi
Born	August 5, 1972 (1972-08-05) (age 39) Stockport, Greater Manchester

Darren Majian Shahlavi (born August 5, 1972), sometimes credited as Shahlavi, is an Iranian-British actor and martial artist.

A native of Stockport, Greater Manchester, Shahlavi is known primarily for playing bad guys in martial arts films such as Bloodmoon and Yuen Woo-ping's Tai Chi Boxer along with Jacky Wu. Shahlavi has starred in the Asian film series The Techno Warriors, and American films Hostile Environment, Sometimes a Hero, Legion of the Dead and the cult classic Beyond the Limits, for German Horror master Olaf Ittenbach. Recently Shahlavi appeared opposite Eddie Murphy in Columbia pictures big screen remake of I-Spy directed by Betty Thomas, and independent features The Final Cut with Robin Williams and the notorious Uwe Boll's film BloodRayne with Kristanna Loken and Sir Ben Kingsley. The name Shahlavi is a name of Persian origin ( names ending in 'avi', 'evi' are typically Iranian, such as Pahlavi ) .

Early life

At the age of 7 Shahlavi started studying Judo in a rented acting theatre, and would arrive early to peek at the actors performing, after discovering Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan films he dreamed of being in action films and continued to train in Karate under Sensei Dave Morris and Horace Harvey, and Kick boxing and Muay Thai at Master Toddy's gym in Manchester. When he was 16 Shahlavi started to pursue a career in film and got the attention Hong Kong action cinema expert Bey Logan in the early nineties, and according to Bey Logan's commentary on the Tai Chi Boxer DVD,^[1] Shahlavi would spend time at Logan's home watching and studying and copying martial art films from Logan's personal collection. In an interview with the Persian mirror,^[2] Shahlavi mentions Logan wrote a script for him to star in and off he went to Malaysia but upon arrival it became apparent there was no money in place, and Logan's partner British Hung Gar Kung Fu expert and film star Mark Houghton put Shahlavi to work as a stuntman, he later moved to Hong Kong to pursue his career.

Film career

After moving to Hong Kong in the mid Nineties to pursue a career in action cinema Shahlavi was discovered by Famed martial arts choreographer and Director Yuen Woo Ping, who signed him to play the bad guy opposite Wu Jing in Tai Chi 2, at the time he was working as a nightclub bouncer and a bodyguard for visiting celebrities. After Tai Chi 2 was released in Hong Kong cinemas, Seasonal Films Corporation boss Ng See Yuen and director Tony Leung Siu-Hung saw potential in Shahlavi and signed him for their Hong Kong/US film Bloodmoon (1997), what the movie lacks it more than makes up for in the action scenes with Shahlavi as the villain and stars Gary Daniels and Chuck Jeffreys, and remains a favorite with hardcore martial arts movie fans.

Recently Shahlavi has moved into the Horror genre working with cult German gore master and splatter filmmaker Olaf Ittenbach who's movies are often banned for their extreme and graphic violence, Shahlavi stars in and choreographed fights in the films Legion of the Dead and Beyond the Limits. Unfortunately these films are hard to get in their uncut form. Occasionally Shahlavi has done stunts in studio films such as Universal Studios The Chronicles of Riddick, 20th Century Fox's Night at the Museum and Warner Bro's 300 often making an onscreen cameo as an inside joke such as the sleeping guard who can't fight in In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale in which he was the Stunt double for Ray Liotta for the fighting scenes with Jason Statham which were choreographed by Ching Siu-Tung. In a recent interview^{[dead link]} with Shero Rauf Shahlavi has expressed his desire to get back to making martial arts films and just completed work on a film with action star Mark Dacascos, and also appears in the Canadian TV show Intelligence and as a Guest Star on the ABC Studios US Prime-time series Reaper.

In 2010, Darren landed a major role in the film Ip Man 2 starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Lynn Hung, and Huang Xiaoming as the villain Taylor "The Twister" Milos. Although he only appeared in the latter part of the film, his boxing fights with Hung (as Hung Ga Master) and eventually defeat by Donnie (as Ip Man) form the climax of the film. Shahlavi stars in the psychological dark tale thriller film The Girl with the Red Riding Hood. Shahlavi appears in Mortal Kombat: Legacy as Kano.

Filmography

Actor in film

• The Turbulent Affair (1991)
• Hero's Blood (1991)
• Guns & Roses (1993)
• All New Human Skin Lanterns (1993) as Baggio
• Deadly Target (1994)
• Angel on Fire (1995)
• Only the Strong Survive (1995)
• Sixty Million Dollar Man (1995) as Bodyguard
• Guardian Angels (1995) as Gangster 2
• Tai Chi Boxer (1996) as Smith
• Bloodmoon (1997) as The Killer
• Techno Warriors (1998) as Twister
• Lethal Combat (1999) as Twister
• Hostile Environment (1999) as Rocky
• G.O.D. (2001) as Hitman #3
• Le6ion of the Dead (2001) as Peter
• Xtreme Warriors (2001)
• I Spy (2002) as Cedric Mills
• Sometimes a Hero (2003) as Russ Fortus
• Beyond the Limits (2003) as Dennis
• Summer Storm (2004) as Jimmy Ward
• The Final Cut (2004) as Karim
• The Survivors Club (2004) as Eddie Como
• Meltdown (2004) as Waleed / Frank
• Jiminy Glick in Lalawood (2004) as Johnny Stompanato
• Alone in the Dark (2005) as John Dillon
• BloodRayne (2005) as Priest
• Slither (2006) as Brenda's Husband
• 300 (2007) as Persian
• In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007) as Gatekeeper
• Alien Agent (2007) as Kaylor
• Watchmen (2009) as NY SWAT
• Ip Man 2 (2010) as Taylor "The Twister" Milos
• Born to Raise Hell (2010) as Costel
• Red Riding Hood (2011) as Sabre Man
• The Last Jinn (2011) as Aladdin
• Hangar 14 (2011) as Storato
• Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
• Mortal Kombat: Legacy (2011) as Kano
• Tactical Force (2011) as Storato
• El Gringo (2012)

Actor in TV

• 1-800-Missing as Intelligence Officer in the episode We Are Coming Home in 2005
• Merlin's Apprentice as Chester in 2006
• Reaper as Dash Ariell in Magic in 2007
• Bionic Woman as Machete in the episode Faceoff in 2007
• Intelligence as Sam in 2 episodes in 2007
• Sanctuary as Ennis Camden in the episode Warriors in 2008 and Jason in the episode Pavor Nocturnus in 2009
• Human Target as Eladio Lopez in the episode A Problem Like Maria
• Metal Hurlant Chronicles (2011) as Adam in the episode King's Crown

Video Games

• Medal of Honor (2010) as Tier 1 Operator

Stunt work

• The Turbulent Affair (1991)
• Hero's Blood (1991)
• Angel on Fire (1995)
• Sometimes a Hero (2003) as stunt coordinator
• Beyond the Limits (2003) as stunt coordinator
• The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) as stunt double for Colm Feore
• Blade: Trinity (2004)
• 300 (2007) as utility stunts
• Night at the Museum (2007) as a Roman Stunt actor
• In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale (2007) as stunt double for Ray Liotta
• Postal (2007) as a stunt player
• Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009) as a Roman Centurion stunt actor
• Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball (2010)
• Repo Men (2010)
• The Stranger (2010) as a Stunt actor for Mexican Cop #3

Miscellaneous Crew

• Guns & Roses (1993) as an assistant to producer
• Hostile Environment (1999) as a fight choreographer in his own scenes
• Le6ion of the Dead (2001) as a fight choreographer
• Beyond the Limits (2003) as a stunt coordinator
• G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009) as a motion capture actor
• Dragon Age: Origins (2009) as a motion capture actor
• EA Sports MMA (2010) as a motion capture actor

References

1. ^ http://www.dvdoutsider.co.uk/dvd/reviews/t/tai_chi_boxer.html
2. ^ http://www.persianmirror.com/Article_det.cfm?id=1276&getArticleCategory=79&getArticleSubCategory=233

External links

• Official Website
• Darren Shahlavi at the Internet Movie Database
• http://www.wu-jing.org/happenings/archives/392-Darren-Shalavi-Interview-Tai-Chi-2.html
• http://www.geocities.com/sherorauf/Interview_with_Darren_Shahlavi^{[dead link]}
• http://www.payvand.com/news/07/apr/1220.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ip_Man_2

Persondata
Name	Shahlavi, Darren
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	August 5, 1976
Place of birth	Stockport, Greater Manchester
Date of death
Place of death