Eric Tsang

Hello All,

This time we shall be talking about another actor.. our actor no #22, Short and plump in stature, but is one of the most popular Hong Kong actors none the less. The name is Eric Tsang. Its Tsang Chi Wai in chinese. Despite his physical limitation, he pushed  forward, finally being among the stars.

Eric Tsang.. the handsome funny guy

One would be surprised to find out that Eric Tsang was originally a professional soccer player. Since he was small, his life was going towards his father’s direction, Tsang Kai. He himself  is also a soccer player. Not untill 23 years of age does young Eric Tsang take a sharp turn in life, forging his own path for the future walking down the path of acting. Its all thanks to Sammo Hung and Lau Kar Leung who gave him a chance in acting. He knew them both when he was still playing soccer.

You know, at that time, HK cinema is dominated by Kung Fu movies, if not the high flying swordsman, then it would be down to earth Triad movies with all the fighting. From Eric stature, one would guess that he wouldn’t be able to cope  too easy, which was half true. When he got the chance in acting, he knew nothing about martial arts. But he has a healthy body as a model, so he played on as a stunt double for female performers. When Lam Ching Ying was doubling for more gracefull, tall & fair ladies, he got to double fat and short aunties.. even so, he persevered

All his efforts proved to be fruitful,  in 1978, Eric got the chance in screen writing for immortal show hit, the 30th chamber of shaolin. Eric spent lots of effort and time researching about Kung Fu philosophy to write for the movie. As a brief intermezzo, its also good for us to know that old kungfu style mimic many an animal that is considered powerful. Some of the more popular stances are :

• Horse Stance - The basic of many other stances in kungfu,
• Mantis Stance - imitating a bug
• Golden Chicken Stance - literal translation means golden chicken standing on one leg. Its one of the stance used in taichi..
• Tiger stance – as the name says.. imitating tiger..
• And many others.

So now, you will be more familiar when you see old famous Hong Kong movies. Who knows you may want to learn one of the movements someday :)

Eric Tsang in Gigolo of Chinese hollywood

Okay.. back to Eric Tsang. Apart from screen writing, most of his acting only involves slapstick, and he’s most often  playing comic relief sidekick. Its only after 1990 did Eric play a more serious role, its also because his daughter Bowie Tsang encouraged him to do so. He finally won his first HK film award as the best actor in Between Hello and Goodbye.

It would appear that being funny is his breath of life… not the serious kung fu type.. thats why he makes more appearances as MC or director than being an actor himself. Oya.. a small info, he is a very religious man. Its often said that he is an avid buddhist, and often raises funds for temples and such. I suppose thats what you get from learning kungfu at shaolin temple..

Here’s his complete profile
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Tsang

And here’s his complete movies
http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=145

Well, again thats all for this actor.. the next one, one step up, is actually Lam Ching Ying.. which has already been posted a while back.. so we will continue with actor no 20 next.. ciao…

No matter what size, shape or disposition, your character is what makes Casting agents and Film directors adore you, Try acting today at London Academy of Media Film and TV.

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Anthony Wong

We return as we step up one actor at a time. The nominee #24 is Anthony Wong, besides earning an 8th title as a good actor, he also has an informal title as “The angriest man in Hong Kong”,  at least its what Simon Yam quoted, a fellow actor who played along side Anthony Wong in many low rated films.  Why… do we wonder, does he earn such a predicate?

Proud Look of Anthony Wong

To know more about this, we have to follow his life story from his childhood. Anthony Wong was born in september 1961 to a chinese mother and a british father. Sadly they both abandoned him when he was just 4 years of age. Not much is known about his childhood. One can only conclude that it was not a smooth and easy life. Its reflected in his behaviour later in life during his career and in many of his movies. He never held back if he felt that he needed to criticize while using harsh words. Even when  facing a big director such as John Woo. He’s more of a perfectionist, and that is why many people consider him hard to work with.

He began his career at the age of 21, when he enrolled on an ATV actor training course, like many other actor wannabes at that time. After this, he also attended Hongkong Academy of Performing Arts,  sharpening his ability in acting, before working as a fully pledged actor at ATV,  making many appearance in many TV series, like The Justice of Life, also starring Stephen Chow.

Anthony Wong in a kungfu movie

Wong is one of the few Hong Kong actors who can play any kind of acting role offered to him. Ranging from teen racing drama (Initial D), Police Inspector (Infernal Affair), Triad Boss (Turning Point), Comic Character (Now you see love, now you dont..), even a maniac canibal thriller (The Untold Story) which was based on a true story.  A diverse type of acting, constant throughout his 20 years of dedication to the Hong Kong film industry, unlike Lam Ching Ying who became a stereotype of a stoic priest in chinese vampire genre. He even recorded a few albums with his punk band. Not known to many, the reason he did all this is because he needed the money to support his family and mother. Talk about a good son.

One of the roles that gave him  ”Best Actor” award, is for his performance as a real life serial killer Wong Chi Hang who kills his victims, slicing them to shred, and using them as a bun filling. Hmm that sounds yummy.

He has also tried directing movies on his own,  the movie New Tennant, but the movie was way too bizzare that it didnt catch much attention. Not until later in 2003 does he participate in a more worthy film, such as The Medalion with Jacky Chan. With all his low rated movies, not to mention most of them are … sleazy … He really deserves another title …  The King of cathegory III movies.

Well, so far its all I can write for this person. There are several other actors like him, playing all the cathegory III movies. We’ll discuss them on our next post.

Ciao..

No matter where you are from, acting is for everyone, try acting today

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As some of you may know, there are dozens of Hong kong Artists out there. I may not be able to write about all of them, so I will start with 25 most famous ones first. Not to worry.. I always save the best for last. So stay tune with me as we ascend the staircase of nomination of top 25 Hong Kong artist the world has known. For now, you just have to be content with the uh… not so famous ones first

The first one I will write about, also the bottom dweller of the list (that I made myself) is an actor named Samuel Hui.

Growing Up:

Hui Koon Kit Black and White picture

Sam Hui, (whose chinese name is Hui Koon Kit) was actually born in Canton, China on September 1948.  However since a very young age, his family moved to Hong Kong, where  he grew up. Sam has 2 bigger brothers named Michael and Ricky. Later in life, the three joined forces to collaborate in  making comedy movies. However a fall out  with his eldest brother Michael soon led to a bust up and they stopped working together after their success in 1985. There is nothing much written about his parents.  I can only conclude that Sam had a singing  hobby, as he was already a very popular singer back in school. With his school friends, he formed the Lotus (singing group) in 1966 and signed his first contract with RTHK in 1968.

Leaving Home:

Sam have several portfolios for his educational background. He graduated from the Arts Faculty of the University of Hong Kong, Ying Wa College and St. Francis Xavier’s College in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Whats interesting, he also attended University of Hong Kong to study psychology. I suppose the last one he didn’t follow all the way through.. At that time, he is considered  among the first HK actors to receive a tertiary education. (which means most HK actors at that time were undereducated.. right?)

Because of his preference in music, Sam started off his career path as a host in TVB, a local TV station on a youth music channel. However he also gave acting a shot, and work together with his brother Michael Hui in The Hui’s Brothers Show. Its his music that was quite well known at that time. Many people love his music since its very light hearted and also down to earth. One of the favourable music he played was Could Not Care Less About 1997, which tells his listener to not worry too much about the handover of  Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China on 1 July 1997.

Acting Career:

Samuel Hui making funny face

Despite his popularity in singing, Samuel Hui also participated in some comedy movies (which was quite popular when I was a small kid). One of my favourite movies starring Sam was the Aces Go Places series :

• 1st series : (1982)
• 2nd series (1983)
• 3rd series (1984)
• 4th series (1986)
• 5th series (1990)

- Cinema City productions. Along with his Co-Star Karl Maka, he could really make his audience laugh with his typical situational comedy. The movie is a remake of the popular movie James Bond; with an exception instead of having a cool handsome and talented protagonist, we have him playing as a swindler named King Kong who faces many obstacles with gadgets that he  possess. He works together with a detective named Kadojak, played by Karl Maka. This movie was very popular in the  eighties. Sam made very few other noticeable movies. This is why he is in the last post of the list. His last noticeable movie appearance was in Tsui Hark’s Swordsman (1990). Despite all the movies he starred, his acting was not very exceptional. Sam was known hard to convince to keep on acting if his contract is due, and the production is late. Later on, he was seldom found on the silver screen.

Personal Relationship:

In his life, Sam only married one woman. Unlike many actors and actresses we know. Sam eventually married Rebecca “Rebu” Fleming, with whom he has two sons, named Ryan and Scott. Ryan is also a singer-songwriter and has released several albums, while Scott has pursued a career in film, directing a few videos for his brother.

The Ending :

Samuel declared an early retirement during the late 1990s. It was actually his parents wish that he stops performing. The cause? becase he was said to have been seriously injured while making the film The Legend of Wisely in Tibet. It was carbon monoxide posioning, but his family superstitiously believed that he was haunted by a spirit. He came back from retirement and made some more performances, but he doesnt make any more impact as an actor there after.

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