Profile of Loren Avedon

Born: 30th July 1962
Star sign: Leo, Year of the Tiger
Birth place: Los Angeles, California
Height: 1.90m (6ft 3 inches)

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Training background:

• Over 28 years of martial arts experience.
• 5th Dan black belt in Tae Kwon Do.
• 8th Dan black belt in Hap Ki Do.

Influences:

• Loren’s Taekwondo teachers Phillip Ree and Jun Chung, who Loren names as “very important people” in his life.
• Action stars that have had a big influence for Loren include Tony Jaa and Donnie Yen. However, he says his “all-time favourite is the original, the one and only, Bruce Lee.”

The King of the Kickboxers Trailer

Bio:

• Loren’s first acting parts actually came when he was a child, when he starred in a number of retail commercials from the age of five. It wasn’t until he was an adult, however, that he made his first break into film.
• “My mum brought me up,” Loren says, and attributes this to his initial attraction to martial arts, particularly the Taekwondo school he attended as a teen. The lack of a father figure in his life left Loren without anybody to show him “how to act like a man,” but his teachers and the philosophies behind Taekwondo boosted his confidence.
• It was at this same Taekwondo school that Loren was first ‘spotted.’ Film producer Roy Horan was on the hunt for a replacement for Van-Damme in No Retreat, No Surrender II (1987). “The phone rings, and it’s this guy from Seasonal Films from Hong Kong,” Loren remembers in a later interview. Roy Horan was looking for a young man, over six feet tall with good martial arts experience. Loren immediately put himself in for the role. It was a lucky break for Loren, as he was “broke and selling used cars at a Dodge dealership in town at the time.” A week after the audition, Loren signed a three picture deal and was on his way to Thailand.
• Working with Hong Kong filmmakers, according to Loren, was creative and fun, but he admitted to not knowing “most of the time what was going on!” 
• No Retreat, No Surrender II is an action packed film complete with cheesy one liners and good banter between the characters. It was on this film-set that Loren was able to meet his co-star Cynthia Rothrock, who became “a life-long friend.” The final showdown was intense, and for anybody who likes a classic 80’s action film complete with brilliant martial arts choreography, this isn’t one to miss!
• Three years later, Loren returned to the East to film the third No Retreat, No Surrender III: Blood Brothers (1990), and it was in the same year that he completed his three film deal with Seasonal in The King of the Kickboxers, which is arguably his most noted film.
• King of the Kickboxers really gave Loren the opportunity to show off his kicking and martial arts ability. By this point in his acting career, Loren had gained considerable experience working in Asian films, and said that in King of the Kickboxers, he was “able to anticipate what we needed to do.” The action packed scenes led to some critics claiming that King of the Kickboxers held some of the best martial arts choreography ever captured on film!
• After his deal with Seasonal Films ended, Loren acted in several television shows such as Baywatch and Martial Law. He also choreographed the fight scenes in Tiger Claws III (2000).

No Retreat, No Surrender II Trailer

Classic movie quotes

• “Guys, I’m not going to need you after all, I can handle these assholes by myself!” (King of the Kickboxers)
• “Hey man, drugs are a deadly trip, you know?” (No Retreat, No Surrender 2)
• “Two guys at once, eh? Guess it evens the odds a little.” (King of the Kickboxers)
• “The only thing we had in common is dead!” (No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers)
• “Nice chow and no bounty hunters, huh? That’s the last time I’m having dinner with you!” (No Retreat, No Surrender 2)
• “I have to face him, and I have to win.” (King of the Kickboxers)

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Selected Filmography