Star Wars: Donnie Yen Honored at TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood

Donnie Yen’s hand and footprints were immortalized at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, CA yesterday. The actor, who plays Chirrut Îmwe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, has an extensive filmography that includes several martial arts centric roles, including playing the title role of Ip Man, the story of the martial arts master that trained Bruce Lee in a trilogy of films. In addition to Rogue One, he has four films currently scheduled for 2017 release, including the next xXx movie with Vin Diesel.

The 53 year-old action star hasn’t slown down, and was honored to be celebrated at the Chinese Theatre, something very few Asian actors have been.

“It’s only recently that Asian actors have been recognized for their artistic contributions,” Yen told Variety of the honor. “So this is a great honor. It’s been a long time coming for Asian actors.”

Yen’s children, big Star Wars fans, encouraged him to take the role in the film despite it meaning five months of shooting in England, away from their home in Hong Kong. His daughter dressed as a First Order stormtrooper for Halloween this year, while his son dressed as his character Chirrut in a custom-made costume.

The actor can’t say much about Îmwe and his role in the film, but reiterated his connection to the Force while not being a Jedi.

“I play one of the characters who is connected with the Force. He’s not a Jedi. His line is, ‘I am the Force.’ Obviously, it’s a big deal, being the first Chinese actor asked to play a prominent role in a Star Wars film. That means a lot.

Yen also offered up a video on the official Star Wars twitter from TCL Chinese Theatre thanking fans for their support at the occasion of this “big moment,” one he hopes is dwarfed by the bigger moment of the film’s release.

h/t Jedi News

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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits US theaters December 16, 2016. Directed by Gareth Edwards, it’s the first of the new standalone features from Lucasfilm and Disney, which take place outside the core “Skywalker Saga” of films noted by an Episode number. Rogue Onetells the story of the small band of rebels that were tasked with stealing the plans to the first Death Star. The story spins directly off the opening crawl from the original Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. In that crawl, it read: “Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.”