Darren Shahlavi, sometimes referred to as Shahlavi, was an English actor, martial artist and stuntman. His surname is of Persian origin. The most famous on-screen character is Taylor Mylos from the 2010 movie Ip Man 2.
Darren Shalawi's acting roles are primarily bad guy roles in martial arts films such as "Blood Moon" and "Tai Chi Master 2". He has starred in the Hong Kong TV series Techno Warriors, American films Cataclysm, Reluctant Hero, Legion of the Living Dead, and the cult classic horror film Beyond Time by German director Olaf Ittenbach.
In recent years, Darren has appeared in big-budget blockbusters such as 300 and Watchmen, in the independent project Final Cut with Robin Williams, and as an actor and stuntman in a number of films by Uwe Boll (including "Bloodrain" and "In the Name of the King: A History of the Siege"dungeons").
Early years
Darren Shalawi was born on August 5, 1972 in a family of Iranian immigrants in the town of Stockport in the English county of Cheshire. At the age of 7, Darren began studying judo and taking acting classes. He sought to achieve success in this as quickly as possible, because after getting acquainted with the films of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, Darren's main dream was shooting in action films. Later, at the age of 14, he began training at the Shotokan Karate school under sensei Dave Morris and Horace Harvey, and then also took up boxing, kickboxing and Muay Thai at Master Toddy's gym in Manchester.
First professional experience
At the age of 16, Darren Shalawi began his film career and in the 1990s caught the attention of Hong Kong film producer Bey Logan. Bey Logan's own commentary on the DVD release of Tai Chi Master 2 states that Darren spent a lot of time at the producer's house watching, studying and copying martial arts films from his personal collection. In an interview with the Persian Mirror, Darren Shalawi mentioned that Logan wrote the script for him, after which he went to Malaysia. However, upon arrival, it turned out that there was no money for filming, and Logan's partner Mark Houghton hired Shalavi to work as a stuntman. Darren later moved to Hong Kong to pursue his acting career.
Beginning of acting career
In the mid-1990s, after moving to Hong Kong to pursue a film career, Darren Shalawi was spotted by celebrity action choreographer and director Yuan Heping, who cast him as the bad guy opposing Jackie Wu's character in " Tai Chi Master 2". At that time, Darren worked as a nightclub bouncer and bodyguard for visiting celebrities such as Patrick Stewart and Bruce Willis.
For quite a long time, Darren had to play bandits and murderers, as well as perform stunt tricks. In addition, in 1995 he tried his hand at the production field, being an assistant producer on the set of the film "Fiery Angel". Darren also had a chance to work in advertising: together with the famous Jackie Chan, he advertised beer in a video for a Taiwanese company.
After "Master Tai Chi 2" was released in Hong Kong theaters, Seasonal Films CEO Ng Xiyuen and director Tony Leung Siu Hung saw potential in the young actor and signed him to star in a joint American film. - Hong Kong film "Blood Moon" (1997). Whatever the shortcomings of this action movie are more than made up for with action scenes with Shalawi as the villain and the presence of stars such as Gary Daniels and Chuck Jeffries, therefore, it is considered a cult among fans of martial arts films.
Work in films of other genres
Toward the end of his career, Darren Shalawi, whose photo appeared more than once on the covers of magazines, moved into the horror genre,starting a collaboration with the cult and controversial German director Olaf Ittenbach, whose films are often banned due to their extreme violence scenes of violence. Shalavi acted in and participated in stunts in the films "Legion of the Living Dead" and "Beyond Time". Full director's cuts of these films are very hard to find.
In 2004, Darren starred in "Final Cut", a film directed by young filmmaker Omar Naeem about the problems of keeping personal secrets in the future world.
Shalavy has done stunt work for films such as The Chronicles of Riddick, Night at the Museum, 300, and has frequently appeared onscreen in joking cameo roles such as a sleeping and unable to fight guard in the film " In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Story, where he stood in for Ray Liotta in action scenes with Jason Statham directed by Cheng Xiaodong. In an interview, Darren Shalawi, whose biography by that time already allowed him to rightfully be considered a star of the first magnitude, said that he wanted to return to making films about martial arts after their collaboration with action star Mark Dacascos ended. At the same time, he appeared in some episodes of the series "Artificial Intelligence", as well as a guest star in the series "The Reaper".
Ip Man 2
In 2010, Shalawi landed a big role as the villain Taylor "Twister" Milos in the film"Ip Man 2" starring Donnie Yen, Sammo Hung, Lynn Hung and Huang Xiaoming. Although Darren only appears in the second part of the film, his boxing matches with Sammo Hung and the eventual defeat in the battle with Donnie Yen are the climaxes of the film, with Shalavi's character acting as the main villain. A little later, Darren appeared in the psychological thriller Little Red Riding Hood, and also played the role of Kano in the television series Mortal Kombat: Legacy.
Darren Shalawi played the role of Devon in the thriller "The Package", released in 2013, which also starred such famous actors as Dolph Lundgren and Steve Austin. In the 2013 film Marine: Home Front, Darren plays the role of Kaisel. The film also stars Neal McDonough and WWE star Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.
The last years of the actor's life
Shalawi's latest film is 2015's Kickboxer, a remake of the famous 1989 action movie of the same name. Darren played Eric Sloan in this film. In addition to him, MMA fighter Alain Moussy, former WWE superstar Dave Bautista, as well as Jean-Claude Van Damme, who starred in the original film, also took part in the filming.
Private life
Darren Shalawi has a younger sister named Elizabeth (born October 15, 1986) and a brother, Robert Shalawi. On February 28, 2000, Darren married Canadian kickboxer Luraina Andershut (born August 20, 1978). The couple separated in 2003year, they had no children.
Darren Shalawi: cause of death
The sudden death of action star Darren Shalawi, aged just 42, shocked the entire Hollywood show business.
The famous actor and stuntman died on January 14, 2015 at his home in Los Angeles. His body was discovered by neighbors.
Los Angeles cops could not immediately give the exact cause of Darren's death and assumed that an overdose of narcotic or other medications could have provoked it.
In many media, there was information that intolerance to the drugs prescribed by doctors was to blame for the death of the actor. It was said that Darren Shalawi, whose films became cult, was suffering from an old injury in the hip area, so the doctors prescribed him a new painkiller. The cause of death of the actor was called a toxic reaction caused by drug intolerance. However, according to official figures, death was the result of a heart attack caused by atherosclerosis.
