Lau clutches elusive award, and fresh start
Sean Lau Ching-wan is a veteran of more than 80 movies, but he was a newcomer to the best actor title at the Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) last Sunday.
'I don't think being nominated eight times [for the best actor award] is a long wait, and I'm just looking at it as a new start for me,' the 43-year-old said. 'When my name was announced, I was stunned for a second, but quickly came back to reality.
'I was speechless when I went up to the stage because I didn't expect to win,' he said.
Lau (left) beat A-list film stars Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Aaron Kwok Fu-shing and Jet Li Lianjie to the award.
Gordon Chan Ka-sheung, the vice-chairman of the award's Association Board of Directors, praised the veteran's persistence.
'When I first got the list, I was, like, 'Oh, not again. [Lau] is competing against all these big stars like Chow Yun-fat and Aaron Kwok',' Chan said.
'I was thrilled that he won, and it proves that winning the award doesn't have to [come from] a big-budget film,' he said.
Lau's award-winning role was as Poon Ka-fai, a veteran actor in decline, in Lawrence Ah Mon's My Name is Fame.
Born in Guangdong, Lau started his career as an acting student at TVB in 1983, but his tanned complexion cost him so many prince-charming roles that wags said he was 'the dark horse' at many film awards.
Lau first gained fame in 1992 in The Greed of Man, a popular television drama series about a tragic family in a public housing estate, in which he played opposite his wife, Amy Kwok Oi-ming, the 1991 Miss Hong Kong.
Of the many roles Lau played after the series, his most memorable was of a down and out musician, opposite Anita Yuen Wing-yee, in director Yee Tung-shing's C'est la Vie, Mon Cheri in 1993.
This, and his part in Thou Shalt Not Swear, earned him an HKFA best actor nomination the next year, but Anthony Wong Chau-sang scooped the award for playing a real-life serial killer in Untold Story.
Lau won the best actor prize at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards in 1997 and 2001, and at the Golden Bauhinia Awards in 1999, but Sunday night's award was special.
'When I was presented the best actor award, I saw [my wife's] tears. I know how happy she was for me,' Lau said.
The versatile actor is unsure if he'll play more roles in low-budget movies. 'It's difficult to say,' Lau said. 'We didn't know C'est la Vie, Mon Cheri would sell. It's difficult to tell how I feel for every role I take.'
