Scott Edward Adkins (born 17 June 1976) is a British actor, film producer, screenwriter, gymnast, and martial artist. HeĀ is best known for his role as the Russian prison fighter Yuri Boyka in the Undisputed franchise. He has played Yuri Boyka in the (2006) film Undisputed II: Last Man Standing and its two sequels, Undisputed III: Redemption (2010) and Boyka: Undisputed (2017); Casey Bowman in the (2009) film Ninja and its (2013) sequel Ninja: Shadow of a Tear; French in the (2018) film The Debt Collector and its (2020) sequel Debt Collectors (starring alongside Louis Mandylor).
He worked in four films with his idol Jean-Claude Van Damme: The Shepherd: Border Patrol, Assassination Games, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning and The Expendables 2. He also had starring roles in The Legend of Hercules, Wolf Warrior and Ip Man 4: The Finale playing the main antagonist in all three films, and also appeared in The Bourne Ultimatum, Zero Dark Thirty, and the Marvel projects Mutant X, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and Doctor Strange. In 2022, he starred in Day Shift with Jamie Foxx and Dave Franco, and will appear in John Wick: Chapter 4 alongside Keanu Reeves in 2023.
Scott Edward Adkins was born in Sutton Coldfield, a town within Birmingham, England on 17 June 1976 into a family of butchers. He first became interested in martial arts at the age of ten, when he visited a local Judo club with his father and older brother. After being robbed at age 13, his interest in martial arts grew even more. That same year, he began to practice Taekwondo. Since the age of 16, Scott also started to practice Kickboxing with Anthony Jones, eventually becoming a kickboxing instructor for the Professional Karate Association. He ran classes at the Fitness First at Bearwood, Smethwick once a week. He also has experience in Ninjutsu, Krav Maga, Karate, Wushu, Aikido, Jujutsu, MMA, Capoeira and Gymnastics.