Tony Leung Ka-fai
Biography
Tony Leung Ka-fai is a Hong Kong actor born on 1 February 1958, raised in the North Point Estate in Hong Kong. His father was a clerk and his mother worked as a ticket seller at a luxury cinema. Leung was a champion in Hong Kong's short-distance running during his school years and initially sought to become a professional athlete but was advised that his physique was not suited for sprinting. He attended Rose Hill Primary School and La Salle Primary School, then studied graphic design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic (now Hong Kong Polytechnic University). In 1980, he accompanied a friend to audition for TVB's artist training programme and was accepted into the 10th intake. During training, he was one of the most frequently appearing extras alongside Andy Lau, appearing in "The Shell Game" as a henchman for Chow Yun-fat. He was expelled after less than a year for not following rules and started his own magazine, handling all tasks from editing to photography and advertising himself. While working on the magazine, he met the daughter of director Li Han-hsiang and was introduced to the director, who invited him to Beijing to play Emperor Xianfeng in "The Burning of Yuanmingyuan" and "Reign Behind a Curtain" in 1983. In 1984, he won the Best Actor award at the 3rd Hong Kong Film Awards for "Reign Behind a Curtain" at age 26, becoming the youngest winner in the award's history. He later admitted he did not truly understand acting at the time and simply followed the director's instructions. Due to his participation in filming in mainland China, he was boycotted by Taiwan's Government Information Office, leading to his works being banned there and Hong Kong production companies avoiding him. He worked as an unlicensed street vendor in Shek O and Causeway Bay selling leather accessories. After the ban in Taiwan was lifted in 1987, he resumed his acting career and appeared in over a hundred works over 31 years. He is the only actor to win the Best Actor award in every decade from the 1980s to the 2020s, known for his versatility across artistic and commercial films.