5 Times Donnie Yen Was Actually Chirrut Imwe

Happy Star Wars Day, young Padawans! By now you probably know how much love I have for Donnie Yen, considering I watched every Donnie Yen film on Netflix not too long ago, and also got very excited about the teaser poster for Ip Man 4.

It also makes a lot of sense that I love Chirrut Imwe, the blind Guardian from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and earlier this year I wrote about how Chirrut and Baze’s stories were influenced by Chinese myths and legends, as well as Zen practices. It stands to reason that Chirrut and his story do not exist in a Yen-less vacuum, and today I wanted to showcase five times that Donnie Yen was actually Chirrut himself:

1) when he’s kickED butt, just like chirrut.

Whilst it’s cool to see Chirrut taking out a whole load of Stormtroopers throughout the course of Rogue One, those fight scenes really only skim the surface of what Yen (and Chirrut!) are capable of, in terms of butt-kicking. Above you can view a compilation video of Yen’s best fight scenes, from films where you can see him practicing some martial arts mayhem for a whole two or three hours. If you only know Yen from Rogue One, it’s definitely worth checking out some of his other films, as he really does extend the potential of what he (and, of course, Chirrut) is capable of with more screen time. It’s well-documented that Chirrut Imwe is an incredible warrior, so now we only have to ask the question of who would win in a fight: Donnie Yen or Chirrut Imwe?

2) when he describeD the rogue one squad as “sexy”.

At about one minute into this Vanity Fair interview, Yen and co. are asked to describe the Rogue One squad. Felicity Jones and Diego Luna look set to say something noble about bravery and heroism, but Yen chimes in with a simple “Sexy”.

If this isn’t the most Chirrut thing, I don’t know what is. You can just imagine Chirrut saying this to some confused Empire Admiral, whilst Baze sighs heavily in the background. Chirrut’s trademark grin is definitely shared by Yen himself, and they share a rather wicked sense of humour, too. Poor Baze–he puts up with so much.

3) when he nerded out about getting to say “may the force be with you.”

We all know that Chirrut is just about the biggest non-Jedi Force nerd around (he is one with the Force and the Force is with him, after all), but it seems that Yen shares in the monk’s passion for all things Forceful.

When the Rogue One cast was interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel, Yen spoke about how cool he thought his first line was, and how excited he was to speak those iconic words which have so much weight within the Star Wars universe. He seems to recognise the power that the Force has both in the fictional universe and our own, and he appreciates the power of belief just as much as his monk counterpart does.

4) when he talked about “lifting weights”.

I’m like 99% certain there are no weights (as we’d recognise them) within the Star Wars universe. Someone will probably come along and correct me using a footnote from an EU novel, but until they do, I’m sticking with the idea that Chirrut lifts weights the same way Yen does: by accident. Anything can be used for weightlifting if you’re creative enough: Stormtroopers, Kyber crystals, Yoda. You just gotta think outside the box.

5) EVERY TIME HE’S BEEN A GREAT DAD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4H4Q2svlD8

I’m going to be honest with you, I can’t understand a single word of the above video, but I’m going to assume it speaks only of nice things and use it as a reference. (I should just learn to speak Cantonese, shouldn’t I? We’re probably at that point.)

Donnie Yen is a pretty great Dad. He talks about how much he loves his family at every opportunity he gets, and his son even dressed as Chirrut for Halloween:

“But Cassie!” I hear you cry, “Chirrut has no children! You can’t make a comparison here!”

Well. 

Whilst Chirrut doesn’t have any biological children (being married to Baze and all), the Guardians of the Whills actually canonically care for orphaned children within Jedha. The upcoming Guardians of the Whills novel (it’s out now in the US, everywhere else has to wait until next month) actually describes how they help the two sisters who run the orphanage, and how they assist with the children who’ve been made orphans by the Imperial Forces. The Guardians care about children and family just as much as Yen himself does, and if that doesn’t break your heart, I don’t know what will.

If you have any more examples or comparisons of Star Wars actors being just like their on-screen counterparts, pop them in the comments below. I’d love to read them!