“I’m very, very fortunate. I work with the best people in the game. And they push me – they push me hard.”
Daniel Bernhardt is a true renaissance man; a martial artist from Switzerland who went from being a professional model in Paris to a Hollywood action star. In the 1990s, he was a leading man in low-budget martial arts films – the star of slicker-than-your-average straight-to-video hits like the Bloodsport sequels, True Vengeance and Perfect Target, working alongside fellow martial artists and aspiring filmmakers like Chad Stahelski, David Leitch, Brad Martin, Jonathan Eusebio and J.J. Perry. When the video market crashed in the early 2000s, Daniel took a different route; moving into the stunt world to become what Chad Stahelski calls an “action actor”, someone who can act, fight, perform the stunts, and train the actors. When Chad and David launched 87eleven Action Design, Daniel was right beside them, working on all their major hits from The Matrix Reloaded (2003) to Parker (2013), Logan (2017), all three John Wick films, Atomic Blonde (2017), Hobbs and Shaw (2019), Birds of Prey (2020), and Nobody (2021). For the latter, Daniel also worked as the film’s fight trainer, turning the fifty-something comedy writer Bob Odenkirk into a convincing action hero. He puts his multifaceted, hugely successful career down to “pure coincidence”, but he is being modest. In hindsight, maybe becoming an action star was always his destiny? After all, his first fight scene was with Jean-Claude Van Damme during a fashion shoot in the early 1990s. It was Van Damme’s encouragement which would provide Daniel with the confidence he needed to try his hand at acting and – as they say – the rest is history. Daniel Bernhardt’s new film, Hell Hath No Fury (2021) – directed by Jesse V. Johnson – is out now in cinemas in North America and released on digital from 9 November, courtesy of Well Go USA. And, on 22 December, Daniel will return to The Matrix franchise, reprising his role as Agent Johnson in The Matrix Resurrections. For all the latest Daniel Bernhardt news, visit his IMDb page, and follow him on Instagram.
Daniel Bernhardt in Hell Hath No Fury (2021)
Daniel Bernhardt and Bob Odenkirk in Berlin, via @mrbobodenkirk on Twitter.
Daniel Bernhardt as Agent Johnson in The Matrix Reloaded (2003).
Daniel Bernhardt, Kristanna Loken and Paolo Montalbán in a promotional shot for the TV series, Mortal Kombat: Conquest (1998).
Daniel Bernhardt and Pat Morita, stars of Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite (1996).
Daniel Bernhardt in Bloodsport II: The Next Kumite (1996).
