Tony Leung Chiu Wai

Television career

After quitting his studies, Leung worked in a variety of jobs, first as a grocer 's runner at his uncle's shop, then a showroom salesman in a Hong Kong shopping centre. He met actor and comedian Stephen Chow who influenced his decision to become an actor and remains a good friend.

In 1982 he passed the training courses of television channel TVB . Due to his boyish looks, TVB cast him as host of a children's programme,430 Space Shuttle. Leung enjoyed comedies during his television years; it was for these he became well known. So, in the 1980s, he was named as one of "TVB's Five Tigers " (their five up-and-coming male TV stars) along with Andy Lau , Felix Wong , Michael Miu and Kent Tong . Leung starred in the highly successfulPolice CadetTV serial in 1984 (later namedPolice Cadet 84to distinguish it from subsequent sequels). He played an outgoing young man who decides to become a police officer; Maggie Cheung , who also started her career at the same time, played a shy bookworm, Leung's upstairs neighbour and love interest. Since then they have worked together onThe Yang's Saga(1985),Days of Being Wild(1991),Ashes of Time(1994),In the Mood for Love(2000),Hero(2002), and2046(2005). Interviewed by Wong Kar Wai, Leung said that he considered Maggie to be his alter ego. "Maggie is a truly formidable partner - one to waltz with. We do not spend a lot of time with each other, as we like to keep some mystery between us. Whenever I see her, I discover something new about her".

Early life

Leung is a Toisanese - Chinese born in Hong Kong, though his family came from Taishan, Guangdong , China . Leung's early childhood was punctuated with parents' quarrels and arguments about money. A mischievous boy in his early years, Leung's personality changed when his father, a chronic gambler , left the family when he was eight; he and his younger sister were brought up single-handedly by their mother.

Leung became a reticent, quiet child. He has said that his childhood experiences paved the way for his acting career, which allows him to openly express his feelings: "You don't know what happened, just one day your pop disappears. And from that day on I try not to communicate with anyone. I'm so afraid to talk to my classmates, afraid that if someone says something about family I won't know what to do. So I became very isolated. So that's why I love acting, because I can express all my feelings the way I couldn't for so long." ."I'm a quiet person. And then when I went to TV it all came out; I cried and I wasn't ashamed. The audience thinks it's the character's feelings, but really it's my feelings, all coming out in a rush."

Leung's mother worked hard to keep him attending a private school, but even so, Leung had to quit school at the age of 15 due to financial difficulties. As an adolescent he behaved himself and remained very close to his mother. During a DVD interview on the making ofHero, he says that he sees his mother as his definition of a "hero[ine]" for having brought up two children alone.

• Raining Night(1986)
• Who Wants(1988)
• Love Day by Day(1993)
• One Life One Heart(1994)
• Trapped by Love(1994)
• Day and Night(1994)
• Cannot ForgetCollection (1995)
• The Past and the Future(1995)
• Too Affectionate(1995)
• Tony Leung Greatest Hits(June 2000)
• In the Mood for Love(November 2000)
• Wind Sand(2004) (reissued January 2006)

After quitting his studies, Leung worked in a variety of jobs, first as a grocer 's runner at his uncle's shop, then a showroom salesman in a Hong Kong shopping centre. He met actor and comedian Stephen Chow who influenced his decision to become an actor and remains a good friend.

In 1982 he passed the training courses of television channel TVB . Due to his boyish looks, TVB cast him as host of a children's programme,430 Space Shuttle. Leung enjoyed comedies during his television years; it was for these he became well known. So, in the 1980s, he was named as one of "TVB's Five Tigers " (their five up-and-coming male TV stars) along with Andy Lau , Felix Wong , Michael Miu and Kent Tong . Leung starred in the highly successfulPolice CadetTV serial in 1984 (later namedPolice Cadet 84to distinguish it from subsequent sequels). He played an outgoing young man who decides to become a police officer; Maggie Cheung , who also started her career at the same time, played a shy bookworm, Leung's upstairs neighbour and love interest. Since then they have worked together onThe Yang's Saga(1985),Days of Being Wild(1991),Ashes of Time(1994),In the Mood for Love(2000),Hero(2002), and2046(2005). Interviewed by Wong Kar Wai, Leung said that he considered Maggie to be his alter ego. "Maggie is a truly formidable partner - one to waltz with. We do not spend a lot of time with each other, as we like to keep some mystery between us. Whenever I see her, I discover something new about her".

2. ^^{a b}
Wise, Damon (18 October 2007)."Why Tony Leung is in the mood for lust" .The Times(London). . Retrieved 25 May 2010. Karen Durbin (7 August 2005)."Still in the Mood for a Collaboration" .New York Times. .  [ ] "Festival de Cannes: In the Mood for Love" .festival-cannes.com. . Retrieved 10 October 2009.
3. ^ China View, 21 April 2005. Retrieved 26 December 2006.
4. ^ ChinaDaily.com, 10 August 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2006.
5. ^ CRI English.com, 18 August 2005. Retrieved 23 December 2006.
6. ^ HK Entertainment Review, 19 December 2002. Retrieved 23 December 2006.
7. ^ International Herald Tribune. " ."Actors' wedding leads to Hong Kong media frenzy.Retrieved on 22 July 2008.
8. ^
9. ^ at the Internet Movie Database
"Tony Leung Chiu-Wai" . imdb.com. . Retrieved 8 April 2010. "Tony Leung Chiu-Wai" . chinesemov.com. . Retrieved 8 April 2010.