People

Movie Stars of China: Andy Lau

By David Friesen

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From Jet Li(李连杰) and Jackie Chan(成龙) to Bruce Lee(李小龙), Zhang Ziyi(章子怡) and Gong Li(巩俐), the stars of Chinese cinema have never been bigger than they are right now. And for the first in this article series on movie stars of China, we will look at perhaps the biggest of them all right now – Andy Lau(刘德华). Born in Hong Kong in 1961 named Lau Fok Wing(刘福荣), Andy Lau is now a megastar, both inside and outside of China. Having appeared in more than 100 movies, as well as dozens of music albums and TV series, Andy Lau is perhaps the most versatile and marketable actor around in China right now.

For those of you that don't know Andy Lau, in Chinese terms he is somewhat equivalent to Tom Cruise. He is the actor you pick for your movie, no matter what genre, if you want it to be a success. Although only recently breaking out into the wider market of Hollywood and international cinema, he is an undoubted phenomenon in Asia. With his youthful looks and instant appeal he has achieved unrivalled fame and success in China, particularly in the Cantonese speaking world. He has won an incredible 292 music awards as of the year 2000, and was awarded the ‘number 1 box office actor in Hong Kong 1985-2005 award' after racking up a massive HKD 1,733,275,816 in box office takings from the 108 movies he appeared in during this time.

Lau began his career in TV, and was well-known in the early eighties as being one of the 'five tigers' of TVB along with Tony Leung Chiu Wai(梁朝伟), Wong Yat-Wah(黄日华), Miu Kiu-Wai(苗侨伟) and Ton Chun-Yip(汤镇业). He then moved into music, and became one of the biggest stars in the entire Hong Kong pop scene, rivalling other huge names like Aaron Kwok(郭富城) and Jacky Cheung(张学友). He also appeared in four early movies as a sidekick to Yun-Fat Chow(周润发), including Ying hung ho hon 《英雄好汉》( 1987), Gong woo ching《江湖情》 (1987), Du shen《赌神》(1989) and Dou hap《赌侠》(1991).

He continued his success in both music and film throughout the 80's and 90's, but it wasn't until the turn of the millennium that his audience became truly international. His breakthrough role was probably in movie Infernal Affairs as Inspector Lau Kin Ming(刘建明). The film is a classic of Hong Kong Cinema, and has garnered even further respect after its cinema legend Martin Scorsese won best director Oscar for its remake entitled 'The Departed'.

Since 2000 Lau's career has taken off internationally, with appearances in mainstream successes such as Shi mian mai fu《十面埋伏》 (House of Flying Daggers) and Tian xia wu zei《天下无贼》 (A World Without Thieves). He has also successfully worked behind the camera, with highlights including producing Fengkuang de shitou《疯狂的石头》 (Crazy Stone) and Tsoi suet yuk chi ngo oi nei《再说一次我爱你》 (All About Love).

Apart from his clear appeal with the opposite sex and his natural charm, what makes Andy Lau so successful is his versatility. From singing Canto-pop tunes to high kicking kung fu movies, as well as deeper acting roles, romance and comedy, Lau has appeared and had success in just about every genre in the movie business.

Despite already being a veteran of the industry at 45 years old, he shows no sign of slowing down. Big budget joint Asian productions in the works with the likes of Jet Li(李连杰), Maggie Q and Takeshi Kaneshiro(金城武) are coming up in the next year for Lau, and he looks set to continue to dominate the Asian movie market like no other actor.

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