Bodyguards and Assassins

Plot

Cast

Main cast

• Donnie Yen as Shen Chongyang, a policeman addicted to gambling. He is eager to do anything for money but decides to join the bodyguards after Yueru persuades him to do so. He engages Yan Xiaoguo's henchman in a vicious fight and defeats his opponent eventually but is gravely wounded. He sacrifices himself to disable Yan's horse.
• Zhang Hanyu as Sun Wen, leader of the revolutionaries. He arrives in Hong Kong for a secret meeting with fellow Tongmenghui members to discuss their plans for revolution.
• Tony Leung Ka-fai as Chen Shaobai, the chief editor of China Daily in Hong Kong. He is kidnapped by the assassins during a raid but manages to escape and rejoin his comrades. He pulls the rickshaw for the decoy Sun Wen in the final scene after Si dies.
• Wang Xueqi as Li Yutang, a businessman and old friend of Chen Shaobai. He initially provides only financial support for the revolutionaries but decides to openly declare his support after being strongly influenced by them. He rallies a group of bodyguards to protect Sun Wen.
• Fan Bingbing as Yueru, Li Yutang's fourth wife and Shen Chongyang's ex-wife. She has a daughter with Shen, and the child was raised as Li's.
• Wang Po-chieh as Li Chongguang, Li Yutang's 17-year-old only son. He goes against his father's will to show his fervent support for the revolution. He sacrifices himself to protect Sun Wen by acting as a decoy to divert the assassins.
• Leon Lai as Liu Yubai, a beggar who comes from a rich family. He is highly skilled in martial arts and fights with an iron fan. He is killed by Yan Xiaoguo while holding off the assassins alone at the residence of Sun Wen's mother.
• Nicholas Tse as Deng Sidi / "Si", a rickshaw puller who serves the Li family faithfully. He pulls the rickshaw carrying the decoy Sun Wen and brings his friends along to help. He sacrifices himself to buy time for the decoy to escape.
• Simon Yam as Fang Tian, a former general living in exile in Hong Kong. He and his men disguise themselves as an opera troupe. He is killed when the assassins raid the theatre.
• Li Yuchun as Fang Hong, Fang Tian's daughter. She knows martial arts and decides to join the bodyguards after her father is murdered. She is killed while preventing the assassins from using explosives to destroy the convoy.
• Mengke Bateer as Wang Fuming, an outcast monk from the Southern Shaolin Monastery who became a stinky tofu vendor. He seeks redemption in order to return to his former monastery. He has a gigantic build and possesses immense strength. He is apparently killed after being stabbed numerous times by the assassins but reappears one last time to destroy a structure to block the assassins' path.
• Eric Tsang as Smith, the police chief. He is initially unwilling to help the bodyguards due to orders from his British superiors but later eventually leads his men to protect the convoy, from assassin marksmen, for part of their journey.
• Hu Jun as Yan Xiaoguo, the massive leader of the assassins, formerly a student of Chen Shaobai. He is fiercely loyal to the Qing government, and fears the chaos that would ensue following a revolution. He manages to kill the decoy Sun Wen before being fatally shot by Chen.
• Zhou Yun as Chun, Si's fiancée
• Lü Zhong as Madame Yang, Sun Wen's mother
• Jacky Cheung as Yeung Ku-wan, a pro-democracy English teacher and President of the revolutionary Furen Literary Society. His death in the film's prologue marks the first political assassination in Hong Kong.
• Michelle Reis as Liu Yubai's lover
• John Shum as Zhang Dayou, a photographer. He is Chun's father.
• Cung Le as Sa Zhenchan, a Qing assassin who was later killed by Shen Chongyang in a fight.
• Philip Ng as Bai Que, a Qing assassin.
• Xing Yu as Hei Man, a Qing assassin.
• Dennis To as Nie Zhongqing, a Qing assassin.

  Accolades