Damian Lau

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Damian Lau
Liu Song Ren .jpg
Damian in 2015.
Born (1949-10-14) 14 October 1949 (age 74)
Hong Kong
Occupation(s)Actor, executive producer, Film director
Years active1971 – present
Awards TVB Anniversary AwardsAll-Time Most Memorable Male Leading Roles
1999 Luk Siu Fung

Chinese name
Traditional Chinese 劉松仁
Simplified Chinese 刘松仁
Musical career
Also known asChung-tsai (松仔)
Website lauchungyan.com

Damian Lau Chung-yan (born 14 October 1949) is a Hong Kong film and television actor, executive producer and film director. Lau has starred in many television drama series of various genres, produced by Hong Kong's TVB and ATV.

Contents

Biography

Early career

Lau enrolled into the actors' training class of RTV (now ATV) in 1971, where he started his early acting career. In 1976, he joined TVB on a contract and began to gain recognition for acting in television drama series produced by the TV station. In 1976, Lau rose to fame for his portrayal of the titular character in Luk Siu-fung , an adaptation of Wuxia writer Gu Long's novel series of the same title. His performance in Yesterday's Glitter also made him famous.

Partnership with Michelle Yim

Lau returned to ATV in 1980. He worked with Michelle Yim, as the male and female leading actor/actress respectively, in a number of TV series in the 1980s, including Fatherland, Chronicles of the Shadow Swordsman and Rise of the Great Wall .

Film career

Following the rise in popularity of Hong Kong cinema in the 1980s and 1990s, Lau also started working on films in addition to television series. He was often cast as a typical silent, handsome, heroic swordsman in many Wuxia films of the 1980s and 1990s. [1] One of his first major roles was in John Woo's Last Hurrah for Chivalry (1979), in which he played an assassin. In Duel to the Death , Lau's character faced Norman Chui‘s character in a final duel, said to be one of the best sword duels ever in Wuxia film history.

In 2006, Lau starred in The Tokyo Trial , a highly controversial film that was nominated at the Cannes Film Festival and won the 2007 Golden Rooster Awards for Best Screenplay. In the film, Lau played the historic judge Mei Ju-ao, who was able to convince ten other national judges to prosecute Japanese war criminals for their crimes against peace and humanity. The film also saw Lau delivering most of his lines in English for the first time in his acting career.

When interviewed about his role as Mei Ju-ao, Lau said,

"Mei Ju-ao is a person with a strong sense of ethics and national pride. He represented his country at a significant international affair. He had to shoulder great responsibility as well as a lot of pressure. If he did not harbor strong emotions and a patriotic heart within his bosom, he could hardly successfully overcome the many difficulties before him and fulfill the mission given by the country. He was cool-headed and witty throughout the trial. I tried to master his inner world through these aspects. I really respect him." [2]

Return to TVB

Lau returned to TVB in 1992 and achieved success for his performance in The Greed of Man , in which he played an honest and cultured leader of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, who was later murdered by his childhood friend, Ting Hai (played by Adam Cheng), over a love rivalry.

In 2003, Lau starred as Chow Ming-hin in the family drama Point of No Return . [3] The following year, Lau worked on Hard Fate , a controversial TV series that received many complaints from viewers for its suicide scenes. In the series, Lau played Leung Pak-yin, an originally morally upright and ambitious company boss who became a desperate, deranged and almost insane man after experiencing many fateful incidents. [4] In 2007, Lau played a family patriarch in The Drive of Life , a 60 episodes grand production by TVB and mainland China's CCTV.

Personal life

In the 1990s, Lau married a flight attendant from Cathay Pacific, whom he met earlier on a flight to Canada. Lau is also a devout Catholic.

Filmography

Films

YearTitleRoleNotes
1979 Last Hurrah for Chivalry Tsing Yi / Greeno
1980The Enigmatic CaseLo Tin-kwan
Beidou Xingdirector and actor
1983 Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain Abbot Hsiao-yu
Duel to the Death Ching-wan
1984 Profile in Anger Wong Kin-hang
1986The Brave and the Cowarddirector
1988 School on Fire Wan
1990The Story of My SonLi Tzu-liang
1991 Inspector Pink Dragon Teng Kuo-chiao
1992The Thief of Time
Shanghai Heroic StoryNgai Ting-yim
She Starts the Firecameo
Royal Tramp Chan Kan-nam
Royal Tramp 2 Chan Kan-nam
1993MurderYau Lung
Holy Weapon Mo Kake "Heaven's Sword"
The Magic Crane Yat Yeung-tze
Executioners Inspector Lau
The Heroic Trio Inspector Lau
1994 Tian Di Tai Chai-man
What Price Survival / One Armed SwordsmanWu An-kuo
The New Legend of Shaolin Chan Kan-nam
Urban Copexecutive producer
1995 My Father Is a Hero Yat-wah's boss
Sea EaglesLiu Qingzong
1996Best of the BestCalvin Chan Lik-yeung
First Option Senior Superintendent Lau
Ah KamLawyer
1997 Lifeline Cheng Fu-shing
Till Death Do Us Part
2005New Born Living StrongProfessor Vincent Yu
2006 The Tokyo Trial Mei Ju-ao [5]

Nominated – Golden Rooster Awards for Best Actor

2008 Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon Cao Cao cameo
2010 14 Blades Zhao Shenyanguest star

Television series

YearTitleRoleNotes
1976 Luk Siu-fung I: Mystery of the Golden Bird Luk Siu-fung
Luk Siu-fung II: Before and After the DuelLuk Siu-fung
Luk Siu-fung III: The Battle of WudangLuk Siu-fung
Bansheng YuanCheung Yue-kan
1977The Butterfly LoversLeung San-bak
1978Da HengChu Lok-man
Vanity Fair
1979Princess Cheung PingChow Sai-hin
God of SabreDing Pang
1980This Land is Mine
Yesterday's GlitterKam Jan-sai
1983Swordsman Li Bai Li Bai
1984Dadi Enqing Zhi Gudu JingleiChow Kai-wah
1985Chronicles of the Shadow SwordsmanZhang Dan-fung
1986Hero of the TimeYuen Tsang-lok
Rise of the Great Wall King Or
Condor in SeptemberYip Hoi
1987 Return the Pearl to Thee Chun Tin-bo
1988August ScentWu Suet-yim
Lay and OrderAi Bok-man
1989Spring Comes and GoesCheung Loi-fuk
安乐茶饭 Anle Tea
1990Lovers at the End of an EraTung Sing-fan
1991Bihai QingtianTin Yang
Jianghu ZaijianChow Sing-lung
1992The Thief of Time
The Greed of Man Fong Chun-sun
1994The Great GeneralDik Ching
ICAC Investigators 1994Lee Tin
The Chevaliers Zhan Zhao
1995The UnexpectedCheung Wai-chung
1996Women's StoryKwan King-sang
The SwordsmanYin Buk-fei / Yin Ku-hung
King of GamblersLi Yik
1997InterpolWong Ho-sui
1998Wen Yi DuoWen Yiduo
1999Silver Rat
Bond of FriendshipZhuang Xueren
2000ICAC Investigators 2000Lee Tin
Monk at Thirty Lin Chong
The Immortal FugitiveRong Renjie
The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber Cheung Tsui-san
Ups and DownsHong Dalong
2001 The Awakening Story Suen Hok-kei
Dare to StrikeLi DechaoMediaCorp, Singapore
To Where He BelongsKo Hou-wan
2003Scent of LoveJin Zhizhong
Point of No Return Chow Ming-hinWon – Astro Award for My Favourite On-screen Father
Nominated – Astro Award for Best Actor (Top 10)
Nominated – Astro Award for My Favourite Character (Top 20)
Find the Light Chan Do-yeung
True LoveFok Wai-pong
2004Only YouWang Haoran
Hard Fate Leung Pak-yin
2005 The Royal Swordsmen Tiedan Shenhou
2006 The Conquest King Goujian of Yue Ming Pao Magazine Best Actor award for TV series (2007)
Men in Pain Hong Tin-yamNominated – TVB Award for Best Actor
Nominated – TVB Award for My Favourite Male Character
Nominated – Astro Award for My Favourite On-screen Look (Top 5)
Eight Heroes Guan Yulou
2007 The Drive of Life Wah Man-honNominated – TVB Award for Best Actor
Nominated – TVB Award for My Favourite Male Character
Nominated – Astro Award for Best Actor (Top 5)
Nominated – Astro Award for My Favourite Character (Top 20)
2008 Catch Me Now Ko Chit, JackNominated – TVB Award for Best Actor
Rose Martial World Jun Wuji
2009 In the Chamber of Bliss Choi Ock Nominated – TVB Award for Best Actor
2010 Growing Through Life Hai LiangNominated – TVB Award for Best Actor
A Weaver on the Horizon Feng Jiujin
2011 The Rippling Blossom Moyung Ching
Lives of Omission Kung Ka-puiNominated – My AOD Favourite Award for Best Supporting Actor (Top 5)
Nominated - TVB Anniversary Award for Best Supporting Actor
Scarlet Heart Kangxi Emperor
2012 Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles Arthur Chung Cheuk-manNominated – TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actor (Top 5)
Nominated – My AOD Favourite Award for Best Actor (Top 12)
Nominated – My AOD Favourite Award for Top 15 Character
2015 Limelight Years Ben Law
2017 WuXin: The Monster Killer Season 2 Mr Su - Su Tao's fatherGuest Star
2018 Infernal Affairs Hu Guan YouGuest Star

MediaCorp TV Channel 8 series

YearDramaRoleNotes
2015 The Dream Makers II Zheng Shouyi
  • Supporting Role

Major Achievements

List of achievements
YearAchievementRepresentative workNotes
1999All-Time Most Memorable Male Leading Roles, 1999 TVB Anniversary Awards Luk Siu-fung
2007Best Actor, Ming Pao Magazine The Conquest
Best Actor nomination, 2007 Golden Rooster Awards The Tokyo Trial
Best Actor nomination, 29th Hundred Flowers Award Tokyo Trial

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References

  1. Brian. "Actor Index". www.brns.com.
  2. ""Tokyo Trial"-A Movie No Chinese Should Miss". english.cri.cn. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007.
  3. "Point of No Return (2003) Review by sehseh - TVB Series - spcnet.tv". www.spcnet.tv.
  4. "Hard Fate (2004) Review by Bridget - TVB Series - spcnet.tv". www.spcnet.tv.
  5. "The Tokyo Trial". hkmdb.com. 1 February 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
Awards and achievements
Power Academy Awards
Preceded by Outstanding Actor in Television
2007
for The Conquest
Succeeded by