--- name: "John Lone" canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-lone" fi1m_id: "john-lone" imdb_id: "nm0518821" tmdb_id: 11389 wikidata_id: "Q530957" roles: ["Actor"] born: "13 October 1952" reviewed_on_fi1m: 2 average_fi1m_score: 70 average_as: "actor" average_over: 2 updated: "2026-10-05T02:16:34.760042+00:00" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # John Lone ## Identity John Lone - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/john-lone - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** john-lone - **IMDb ID:** nm0518821 - **TMDB ID:** 11389 - **Wikidata ID:** Q530957 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lone, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q530957, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0518821/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/11389 Actor. Born 13 October 1952 in Hong Kong, British Crown Colony. ## Details - **Work:** Actor - **Born:** 13 October 1952, Hong Kong, British Crown Colony - **Active:** 1987–2001 - **Also known as:** 吴国良, ジョン・ローン, Ng Kwok-Leung - **Average Fi1m score:** 70, as actor, over 2 titles - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 80 (1), 2000s 61 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Lone, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q530957, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0518821/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/11389 ## Streaming the US now - **Apple TV:** [*The Last Emperor*](https://film.one/film/the-last-emperor.md) (80) - **Paramount+:** [*Rush Hour 2*](https://film.one/film/rush-hour-2.md) (61) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on John Lone > John Lone makes controlled, guarded men convincing through physical precision. We admire his restraint in *The Last Emperor*, though there are stretches when it keeps us too far from the person we are meant to understand. In *The Last Emperor* (1987), John Lone plays the adult Pu Yi as someone accustomed to being watched. The reserve is persuasive, even when it makes him difficult to get close to. Bernardo Bertolucci gives us imperial ceremony that is fascinating and painfully lonely, and Lone belongs within its formality. We felt the loneliness of that household, where James Acheson’s costumes make looking properly dressed seem like another obligation. The earlier films show other uses for that control. In *Iceman* (1984), his first major film role, he plays Charlie, a Neanderthal, in a physically demanding, largely non-verbal performance. He followed it with Joey Tai, the Chinatown gang leader in *Year of the Dragon* (1985). These parts offer useful comparisons with Pu Yi: Lone can make a character legible without much speech, but he can also make the expectation of respect convincing. *The Last Emperor* brought Lone wider recognition, but its central performance also shows where his restraint can become a problem. We do not need Pu Yi to explain himself at every opportunity; the performance suits someone whose household has taught him to expect respect. But there are stretches when Lone gives us too little sense of what Pu Yi wants from another person. That is a real limitation in a film we warmly recommend. The music helps. Su Cong, Ryuichi Sakamoto and David Byrne’s score supplies warmth without demanding that Lone make every thought visible. Bertolucci’s patience also gives us time to see how the imperial household determines Pu Yi’s expectations of others. These collaborators matter because Lone’s reserve works better when the film gives us other ways to feel close to him. The opera singer Song Liling in *M. Butterfly* (1993) gave him another use for his Peking Opera background. His later credits include the triad figure Ricky Tan in *Rush Hour 2* (2001), a reminder of how often he was cast as an authority figure. Start with *The Last Emperor*, provided you can tolerate a leading man who does not always let you in. ## Biography John Lone is a Chinese-American actor born on 13 October 1952 in Hong Kong. He trained from the age of seven at Hong Kong's Chin Chiu Academy in the Peking Opera style, studying singing, dance, acrobatics and classical Chinese theatre techniques for around a decade. After moving to the United States, Lone studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and performed with the East West Players. He gained recognition for roles including Joey Tai in *Year of the Dragon* (1985) and the title character in *Iceman* (1984). Lone is best known for portraying the adult Puyi in Bernardo Bertolucci's *The Last Emperor* (1987), for which he received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor. Other notable film credits include *M. Butterfly* (1993), *The Shadow* (1994), *Rush Hour 2* (2001) and *War* (2007). He is a retired actor. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.* ## On Fi1m (2) - *Rush Hour 2* (2001), Fi1m 61, as Ricky Tan — [page](https://film.one/film/rush-hour-2.md) - *The Last Emperor* (1987), Fi1m 80, as Pu Yi (Adult) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-last-emperor.md) ## Complete filmography (23) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Disclosure* (2020), as Song Liling (archive footage) - *War* (2007), as Chang - *Paper Moon Affair* (2005), as Keiko's Husband - *Master of Everything* (2004), as Mi Jihong - *乾隆与香妃* (2004), series, as Qianlong Emperor - *Rush Hour 2* (2001), as Ricky Tan — Fi1m 61, [page](https://film.one/film/rush-hour-2.md) - *Task Force* (1997), Actor - *Kangxi Incognito Travel* (1997), series, Actor - *The Hunted* (1995), as Kinjo - *The Shadow* (1994), as Shiwan Khan - *M. Butterfly* (1993), as Song Liling, Songs - *Shanghai 1920* (1991), Actor - *Rabbit Ears - Five Chinese Brothers* (1991), as Narrator (voice) - *Shadow of China* (1990), as Henry - *Shadows of the Peacock* (1988), as Raka - *The Moderns* (1988), as Bertram Stone - *The Last Emperor* (1987), as Pu Yi (Adult) — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/the-last-emperor.md) - *Year of the Dragon* (1985), as Joey Tai - *Iceman* (1984), as Charlie - *American Playhouse* (1982), series, Director - *Americathon* (1979), as Chinese - *Kate Bliss and the Ticker Tape Kid* (1978), as Houseman - *King Kong* (1976), as Chinese Cook ## Gallery - ![Actor John Lone at the Fairmont Hotel promoting his film, "Iceman," in 1983. Photo by Nancy Wong (2013)](https://film.one/media/person/119088/gallery-762d7589130b.jpg) Actor John Lone at the Fairmont Hotel promoting his film, "Iceman," in 1983. Photo by Nancy Wong (2013) — Nancy Wong, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/JOHNLONE1984-2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Actor John Lone in San Francisco, 1984, promoting his film, "Iceman." (2013)](https://film.one/media/person/119088/gallery-9e754c19e122.jpg) Actor John Lone in San Francisco, 1984, promoting his film, "Iceman." (2013) — Nancy Wong, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/JOHNLONE1984SF.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) - ![Actor John Lone in San Francisco, California 1984. Photo by Nancy Wong](https://film.one/media/person/119088/gallery-988467d42adf.jpg) Actor John Lone in San Francisco, California 1984. Photo by Nancy Wong — Nancy Wong, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/77/JOHNLONE21984SFphotobyNancyWong.jpg/1280px-JOHNLONE21984SFphotobyNancyWong.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![titled: John Lone, actor, "Year of the Dragon" (1985)](https://film.one/media/person/119088/gallery-0e7622af3d1a.jpg) titled: John Lone, actor, "Year of the Dragon" (1985) — Bernard Gotfryd, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d1/John_Lone_LOC.jpg/1280px-John_Lone_LOC.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![John Lone](https://film.one/media/person/119088/gallery-7b6aedb8e857.jpg) John Lone — Image via TMDB --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-lone