Andy Lau
Andy Lau Tak-Wah has been called the hardest working man in Hong Kong. With over 100 films to his credit plus a highly successful music career he is one of the most successful entertainers in Hong Kong.
Andy started out at the TVB training school like so many of his contemporaries. He starred in several famous shows on the television network, including the wuxia epic "The Return of the Condor Heroes".
After his contract with TVB was up, Andy turned to films and took roles in as many films as he could. In his early days he would often shoot several films simultaneously and was so busy it was rumored that he slept in his car instead of going home at night.
Many of his early roles were variations on the "Bad Boy/Gangster" role and Andy has said that he just had to find a different way to smoke a cigarette or move his head at a different angel to distinguish one role from another.
He was not taken as a serious actor until director Johnnie To cast him in his 1999 film "Running Out of Time". Andy played a dying criminal playing a cat-and-mouse game with a cop played by Lau Ching-Wan. Andy won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor that year for his role.
Since then, Andy has had more complex roles including his roles in the blockbuster hit "Infernal Affairs" opposite Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, "The Duel" with Nick Cheung and Ekin Cheng, and "The Warlords" with Jet Li.
In the 1990's, Andy started a singing career (it is not uncommon for actors in Hong Kong to have a singing career as well as a film career) and eventually was dubbed one of the "Four Heavenly Kings" of Canto-Pop (the other "Kings" are Aaron Kwok, Leon Lai, and Jacky Cheung). He regularly produces new albums and tours in support of them.
Andy is slated to be one of the Olympic Torch runners along with Jackie Chan when the torch arrives in Hong Kong on its way to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Visit Andy's official website - there's an English version now! Plus, turn on your speakers since they usually play one of Andy's songs!