Anthony Wong Biography
Anthony Wong Chau-sang (born Anthony William Perry; 2 September 1961) is a Hong Kong film actor and singer. He has worked with many significant directors of Hong Kong cinema since his debut in 1985, including John Woo, Andrew Lau, Ringo Lam and Johnnie To, and is known for his intense portrayals of often-amoral characters. He has won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor three times: for The Untold Story (1993), Beast Cops (1998) and Still Human (2018).
He is best known to international audiences for his roles as Triad gangster Johnny Wong in Hard Boiled (1992), police Superintendent Wong Chi-shing Infernal Affairs trilogy (2002-03) and General Yang in the Hollywood film The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008).
Early life
Wong was born Anthony William Perry on 2 September 1961 to a Hong Kong Chinese mother Wong Juen-yee, and an English father, Frederick William Perry, who served with the Royal Air Force during World War II and later as a colonial officer. Frederick Perry walked out on the family when Wong was four, so he lived with his mother "in the staircase of a pre-war building in Wan Chai" until he was sent to live with various relatives for two years while his mother "held down three jobs." He kept in touch with his father through letters until they lost contact when he was 12 years old, and he knew that he had three older half-siblings from his father's marriage. He met his half-brothers in 2018.
In his acting career, Wong's established a reputation for openly critiquing the Hong Kong film industry and its practices, actors' performances and pop culture in interviews and his personal microblog. In some of those critiques, he revealed his experiences of being bullied and discriminated against—for being a "mixed race foreigner" and "during the 1960s, English-Chinese mixed race people like me were regarded as *s" and for being born outside Hong Kong—while growing up in Hong Kong and during the early years of his acting career.
During his late teens, Wong moved to the United Kingdom to attend a college of further education. He returned to Hong Kong to attend a training course in hairdressing until he quit to join Asia Television's (ATV) training programme when he was 21.
Career
After completing ATV's training programme, he continued his training at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. He had stated in an interview that his mixed ethnicity initially caused him to be typecast as a villain, due to ins*utionalised racism in the Hong Kong film industry during this period. He, however, won a Hong Kong Film Award for his performance as the real-life serial killer Huang Zhiheng, who made meat buns from his victims' flesh, in The Untold Story in 1993.
In the following years, Wong appeared in a wide range of genre films including Rock n' Roll Cop, Hard Boiled, The Heroic Trio, Infernal Affairs, The Mission and The Medallion. He had also several appearances in the popular Young and Dangerous film series as Tai Fei; a rival Triad gangster to Ekin Cheng's character Chan Ho-nam, an ambitious Triad gangster, whom Tai Fei eventually befriends.
Wong had also appeared in a number of international English-language films including The Painted Veil and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.
In 1995, Wong made his directorial debut with The New Tenant.
In 2014, Wong made his culinary debut in Dinner Confidential, where he would prepare one dish out of a table d'hote candle-lit dinner menu for guests.
In 2015, Wong became the first Hong Kong actor to have won the best lead actor role award in TV and movies when he won 2015 TVB Anniversary Awards for Best Actor and Best Drama for Lord of Shanghai, marking his triumphant return to TVB. He also became the first Hong Kong actor to have won Best Actor awards in films, stage theatre and TV. He also became the first Hong Kong actor to ever win TVB's Best Actor award on his first nomination.
In May 2020, Wong travelled to Taiwan for his role in the Public Television Service (PTS) drama Heaven on the Fourth Floor.
Personal life
Wong married Jane Ng Wai-zing in 1996 and they have two sons, Wong Yat-yat (born 1996) and Ulysses Wong (born 1998). Wong is taking care of his mother who now has dementia, while his sons now live outside of Hong Kong. In June 2018, it was revealed that he had a son named William (born 1998), with a woman known only as "Joyce" who is the niece of veteran actor and producer John Shum.
In March 2018, Wong met his half-brothers, twins John William and David Frederick Perry, after a BBC story on Wong's search for his family was published. He also has a half-sister, Vera Ann. His father died in 1988 in Australia, where he and his first family settled after they left Hong Kong. His half-siblings did not know of Wong's existence until the BBC story was produced.
In a 2005 interview with Star eCentral, Wong stated that amongst his prolific output during the 1980s and the 1990s, a considerable number of films he appeared in were "terrible." However, he does not regret making those films, as he needed the money to support his family.
Wong is a supporter of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, a series of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. This has reportedly led to limited acting opportunities for him in mainland China. He has also voiced support for the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests.
Wong travelled to Taiwan in May 2020, which fuelled speculation that he was moving to the island. However, Wong later revealed he was there for a filming commitment, nonetheless describing Taiwan's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as "excellent" and expressing interest in staying long term. On 18 April 2021, Wong was approved for an Employment Gold Card, allowing him to work in Taiwan without needing to apply in advance. It also allows him to receive tax incentives and National Health Insurance.
Filmography
Wong at the 2008 Toronto International Film FestivalFilm
Television series
- War of The Dragon 还我本色 (1989), Cheung King-to (张景图)
- The Justice of Life 他來自江湖 (1989), Johnson Man Chung-sun (文忠信)
- When Things Get Tough 午夜太陽 (1990), Tsing Kwan (程軍)
- The Witness of Time 天若有情 (1990), Hua Jing-sheng (程华京生)
- ICAC Investigators 2004 廉政行動2004 (2004), ICAC Chief Investigator Antonio Wong
- Kung Fu Soccer 功夫足球 (2004), Lam Chung-fu
- Eight Heroes 八大豪侠 (2005), Yan Tiexin
- Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain 雪山飞狐 (2006), Hu Yidao
- The Legend of the Condor Heroes 射鵰英雄傳 (2008), Huang Yaoshi
- Memoirs of Madam Jin 金大班 (2009), Chen Rongfa
- The Legend of Yang Guifei 杨贵妃秘史 (2010), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
- Chu Han Zhengxiong 楚汉争雄 (2012), Liu Bang
- Lord of Shanghai 梟雄 (2015), Kiu Ngo-tin (喬傲天)
- Margaret & David - Ex 瑪嘉烈與大衛系列 前度 (2017), Sham Joi-san
- Strangers (2018), David Chen
- Stained 心冤 (2018; aired in early 2019), Wayne Lau (劉偉義)
- The Republic 理想国 (2019), Sim Lap-ki (单立奇)
- Heaven on the Fourth Floor (Taiwanese TV series) 四楼的天堂 (2021), Tien Yi (天意)
Theater
- Equus (May 2014)
- Le Dieu Du Carnage (August 2015)
- Le Dieu Du Carnage (Re-run - January 2016)
- Le Dieu Du Carnage (Huayi - Chinese Festival of Arts - February 2016)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (September 2016)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts - February 2017)
- Speed-the-Plow (September 2017)
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anthony Wong.- Anthony Wong at IMDb
- Anthony Wong bio
- Anthony Wong (sound & video) Archived 31 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- 13 Stupid Questions for Anthony Wong
