Andy Lau Success Story

Early Life

He was born in Tai Po, Hong Kong on the 27^th of September 1961. His father was a fireman and they lived in a very modest dwelling that was not even equipped with proper plumbing facilities.

As a child he often had to go and get water for use at home almost eight times a day. He attended a Band One secondary school and later moved on to complete his education in Ho Lap College in Kowloon.

Career

His acting career began in 1981 after he signed up for an artist training program initiated by TVB. He gained popularity by playing the lead in the TVB series The Emissary.

He went on to act as ‘Yang Guo’ in another TVB series called The Return of the Condor Heroes. After a quarrel regarding contracts he left TVB and switched his acting focus towards films.

He was first offered a minor role in the movie Once Upon a Rainbow. This was his first step in film acting. He was then offered a role in Boat People.

It was only in 1983 that he was given his first leading film role in On the Wrong Track. He is popular for playing the recurring role of a “Heroic Gangster” in films like As Tears Go By and A Moment of Romance.

He has proved his acting brilliance in a number of his films and his first big win came for his role in A Fighter’s Blues. He won the Golden Bauhinia Award, the first of many, for Best Actor.

Soon he had also bagged the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Running Out of Time.

In the west his most notable performance is in the House of Flying Daggers.

Career Highlights

He owns a film company, which he set up in 1991, called Focus Group Holding Limited. In 2006 he won the Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award for his numerous contributions to the Asian film industry as well for his scouting out and promotion of fresh new talent.

Award winging films produced by him are Made in Hong Kong and Crazy Stone.

He also nurtured his musical aspirations and strived to gain the same success as he had with films.

He launched his first album, Only Know that I Still Love You, in 1985 but did not gain the desired popularity. He remained undaunted despite having a voice not generally associated with pop music. His hard work paid off and his currently one of the most popular Cantopop musicians.

He was won numerous musical awards namely the 1990 RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards and th Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards.

His songs quickly topped the charts not only in Hong Kong but also in Mainland China, Taiwan and other parts of Asia as well.He shared the stage with Jackie Chan during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Achievements

Andy Lau has entered the Guinness Book of World Records for having won the most number of awards as a male Cantopop artist. By 2000 he had won an astonishing 292 awards.In the film industry he has won 17 awards out of 36 nominations.

Andy Lau Interview