D.Y.'s martial arts experience and talent allowed him to transition to the Hollywood film industry as a stuntman and martial arts expert coaching lead actor Simu Liu for Marvel's Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021), while sharpening his acting skills in a number of projects including a lead role in Fast Vengeance (2021) with DMX and Bai Ling, a starring role in the awarding winning film How War Ends (2012) and acting among legends such as Jamie Lee Curtis and Michelle Yeoh in Everything, Everywhere All at Once (2022). *History* Born in Battambang, Cambodia and raised in Long Beach, California, D.Y.'s martial arts journey began by imitating the works of Bruce Lee and Donnie Yen on his dinky living room carpet. He went on to absorb an array of styles from American Kickboxing and Cambodian Bokator to Chinese Kung Fu and Chinese Traditional weaponry. In 2003, D.Y. both graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and made the U.S. National Wushu Kung Fu Team representing America at World Games Macau, China. Thereafter, a stream of martial arts and film opportunities came his way from meeting Jet Li and Jackie Chan to becoming a disciple of the world-famous Shaolin Temple.
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Biography from IMDb.
- October 3, 1979 (47)
- Cambodia
- Actor, also producer
- 7 on MovieCove · 10 credits in all
What are D.Y. Sao's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Survival and Morality.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 6
Light 0 · Serious 4 · Dark 2
Grounded 5 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
Gentle 0 · Charged 2 · Intense 4
Steady 2 · Shifting 4 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 6 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
A split, not a type: Slow burn 2 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 3
Casual 3 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0
A split, not a type: Easy watch 4 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 1
Resolved 5 · Open-ended 0 · Ambiguous 1
Roles they play
Usually the Hero: 2 of 3 analyzed roles.
- Allyas Kyo in Champion Road: Arena (2010)
- Heroas Shannon in Fast Vengeance (2021)
- Heroas An Voaen in Shadow Master (2022)
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet3
- Ambiguous3
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch D.Y. Sao's films?
As of October 24, 2026, all 7 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Prime Video (6).
Subscription and free streaming for D.Y. Sao's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
10 credits, 7 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Child of the Rouge (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
Gladiator Underground(2025)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films
Shaolin Avengers (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2025)
Bangkok Dog(2024)
Midcredits score: 20th percentile of all films
Til Death Do Us Part(2023)
Midcredits score: 37th percentile of all films
Shadow Master(2022)
Midcredits score: 23rd percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
Fast Vengeance(2021)
Midcredits score: 4th percentile of all films
Champion Road: Arena(2010)
Midcredits score: 21st percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
War Machine (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Career shape
Star power in the 86th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 10 titles from 2010 to 2026.
Film career
Top draw in 1 MovieCove title.
- 2022Screen debut· Shadow Master
- 2022First top-billed film· Shadow Master
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do D.Y. Sao's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 23rd percentile, the median of all 7; across their 6 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 23rd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up1
- 25th to 49th2
- Below 25th4
Shape of the crowd
3 of their 7 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved1
- Divisive2
- Cult Classic1
- Mixed3
Reviewers score the acting 28/100 in their films, across 5 reviewed titles; fans 55, detractors 20. The element that speaks to their work as an actor.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does D.Y. Sao work with?
People who share at least 2 of D.Y. Sao's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Chaya Supannarat shares the most, 4.
Directors
- Chaya SupannaratShared titles: Gladiator Underground (2025), Bangkok Dog (2024), Shadow Master (2022), Fast Vengeance (2021)See all 4 shared titles with Chaya Supannarat
- Pearry Reginald TeoShared titles: Shadow Master (2022), Fast Vengeance (2021)See all 2 shared titles with Pearry Reginald Teo
Actors
- Brian LeShared titles: Gladiator Underground (2025), Bangkok Dog (2024), Shadow Master (2022)See all 3 shared titles with Brian Le
- Natalie BurnShared titles: Til Death Do Us Part (2023), Fast Vengeance (2021)See all 2 shared titles with Natalie Burn
Composers
- Scott GlasgowShared titles: Bangkok Dog (2024), Shadow Master (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Scott Glasgow
Producers
- Charles H. LaHaieShared titles: Gladiator Underground (2025), Bangkok Dog (2024), Shadow Master (2022), Fast Vengeance (2021)See all 4 shared titles with Charles H. LaHaie
- Ariel BleibergShared titles: Gladiator Underground (2025), Bangkok Dog (2024), Shadow Master (2022)See all 3 shared titles with Ariel Bleiberg
- Ehud BleibergShared titles: Gladiator Underground (2025), Bangkok Dog (2024), Shadow Master (2022)See all 3 shared titles with Ehud Bleiberg
- Nicholas C. BennettShared titles: Bangkok Dog (2024), Shadow Master (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Nicholas C. Bennett