Tony Leung yearns for ‘simpler life’ as he gets older
My first interview with Tony Leung Chiu Wai took place on a chilly spring day in Hong Kong in 1992, when he was shooting The Days Of Being Dumb.
“Wow, that’s more than 30 years ago,” says Leung in Cantonese in an interview with The Straits Times. Now 61, the Hong Kong movie star was in town on Dec 21 to promote his latest film, The Goldfinger, a corporate fraud sizzler directed by Hong King film-maker Felix Chong. It opens in Singapore cinemas on Dec 30.
Although a rising star, Leung was not quite the cinematic icon he is today. One of his goals, he said then in Wanchai, was to make his mark as an outstanding actor in the next three years. “I may not succeed, but at least I will have the satisfaction of knowing I tried.”
He has succeeded, many times over. The first actor to have completed a sweep of the top acting honours in Asia, he has won Best Actor three times at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards and five times at the Hong Kong Film Awards for performances in films including gay drama Happy Together (1997) and crime saga Infernal Affairs (2002). In November, he took home his first Best Actor accolade at China’s Golden Rooster Awards for the espionage thriller Hidden Blade (2023).
His international triumphs include bagging Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000 for romance drama In The Mood For Love and becoming the first Chinese actor to receive the Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award at the Venice Film Festival in September.
His achievements over the last three decades have also gone a long way in helping him get rid of the inferiority complex and hang-ups which used to plague him because of a traumatic childhood. He dropped out of school at 15 after his father abandoned the family, leaving his mother to raise him and his younger sister alone.
Growing up, his ambition was not to be an actor, but a lawyer. Any resentment that his family circumstances put paid to that dream has long vanished.
“I feel I have been answerable to myself and done something that people appreciate,” says Leung, who worked as a shop assistant and electric appliance salesman before joining Hong Kong broadcasting company TVB in 1992.
In retrospect, he reckons it does not matter what one chooses to do in life.
“What’s more important is that after you’ve made your choice, you work hard and do the best you can and it will lead to a good outcome.”
Acting, he says, has changed his life.
“It has given me a lot of opportunities to work with a lot of very talented people and to lead some ‘very different lives’,” he says, lapsing into English. “I am very lucky.”
Another reason he loves acting is how it makes him learn new things.
“Each time I do a new role, I learn something new and acquire new perspectives which make me look at the world differently,” says Leung.
Since making his Hollywood debut in the superhero flick Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings in 2021, he has received many American television and movie offers. He is, however, not in any hurry to head for Tinseltown.
“I”m 61. I don’t know for how long more I can make movies. I just want to work with people from different regions to explore other possibilities.”
Age has mellowed him, he says.
“I feel I’m more zen. Also, I’m starting to yearn for a simpler life. Simplicity is happiness,” says Leung, who now spends a lot of time in Japan when he is not working.
An avid sailor and snow skier, he says he loves doing things normal people do.
“I exercise each morning after I wake up. Then I’ll take a bike ride, shop for ingredients at the market and cook for myself. I eat simply: salads and buckwheat noodles. Then I’ll read and watch movies,” he says.
“Other than making movies, I like this simple life. When you don’t have that many things crowding your brain, you become more relaxed.”
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