Even so, clips from his most recent films suggest he is as nimble in martial arts sequences as his slimmer contemporaries such as Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao.

Hung's kung fu prowess continues to impress in his latest film, Fatal Move. His mainland co-star Wu Jing, 34, says he was awed by the fact that Hung could move faster than him, and their savage cinematic showdown is said by set publicists to be one of the highlights of the 'ultra violent' Category III film charting the mixed fortunes of a triad society.

Directed by Dennis Law Sau-yiu, Hung plays a triad boss in Fatal Move. He had a similar gangster role in S.P.L.: Sha Po Lang (2005), but there's more to this latest part than blood and guts, Hung says. 'I don't want to do it in a conventional way. To begin with, I neither look nor feel like a triad boss. I am not trying to paint a realistic picture of how triads work but bring to life the relationships between brothers, husbands and wives. It's all about how you feel inside, so I interpret the role viscerally. Acting has always been instinctive to me.'

Hung says he wants to be recognised for his acting rather than his fighting. 'But I won't force it,' he says. A recent spate of more serious roles suggest Hung's moved on from the kung fu comedy that he pioneered and that made him a Hong Kong cinema mainstay in Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1980) and Mr Vampire (1985). After 40 years in show business he says he has no wish to be a character actor. Besides, 'comedies have changed' and it's time to stop provoking 'silly laughs', Hung says.

'There comes a point in life where you don't want to make those films any more because you've made too many. I still love comedy, but it's a lot harder to write and I am still figuring it out.'

Meanwhile, Hung's relishing more serious roles. He stars opposite Maggie Q and Andy Lau Tak-wah in Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon, a historical drama that has just finished production, and he enjoyed the reunion with 'old friends' and co-stars Simon Yam Tak-wah and Danny Lee Sau-yin in Fatal Move. 'Everyone's so busy now and it's good to joke around with them for nine hours a day.'

Hung says he enjoys being a director the most, even though his last job in the big chair was Once upon a Time in China VI (1997). 'It's just beautiful to just be there on the set. I know I am bad-tempered and unruly, so I like calling the shots. I'll operate the camera when I am not acting.'

Hung admits he's been tempted several times to quit movies since the early 1990s, but he always came back.

'After two years [of breeding horses in retirement] in New York, it suddenly hit me that nothing could replace movies in my life,' he says. 'You can't buy that kind of joy.'

He's also low key about his contribution to Hong Kong's film industry as an actor and director. 'But I've been away for too long and nobody will listen to me,' Hung says. 'I am nothing to the local film industry, and I don't mind if nobody respects or acknowledges me for what I did.'

The heyday of kung fu films might be over, but Hung believes martial arts actors such as Thailand's Tony Jaa, who shot to fame in the 2003 hit Ong Bak, can lure audiences back to local cinema. 'His acting might be terrible, but he's got the real stuff, and he's hungry like me,' he says.

Hung was also 'hungry' in the early 60s when he learned martial arts under the tutelage of Yu Jim-yuen at the China Drama Academy, a Peking opera school in Hong Kong. He soon became the most outstanding member of the Seven Little Fortunes, a martial arts ensemble including Chan and Yuen who are respectively two and five years his junior.

'It was a very tough time and we learned kung fu because my family had no time for me and I didn't go to school,' Hung says. 'We were too young to think but I fell in love with kung fu as soon as I learned it.'

Rising from stuntman at 16 and actor to action choreographer, writer and, ultimately, director and producer, Hung has exhibited versatility and energy on set, even though he admits he 'never really knew much about screenwriting'.

'But I've learned that being well-mannered and respectful is the most important of all. It doesn't matter how much you already know. It's about showing humility and a willingness to learn; not just in movies, but in life in general.'

Hung says he doesn't feel overshadowed by Chan's superstardom and the Hollywood success of other contemporaries such as Yuen Woo-ping and Jet Li Lianjie. 'I don't feel bad because I never really tried hard at [Hollywood],' he says. 'Who can you blame?'

Beyond action choreography for A View at the Top and Medallion (both 2003) and a cameo in Around the World in 80 Days (2004), Hung's sole major foray into Hollywood was Martial Law, a short-lived TV series he made between 1998 and 2000. Some critics say the series was a missed opportunity; others say the actor's leap at overseas fame was hampered by his bulk.

'I wanted to conquer Hollywood,' Hung says. 'But I took one shot and that's it for me. I remember how bothersome it is to meet all these so-and-so's in the US.' Besides, Hung says, he wanted to spend more time with his four children, one of whom, Timmy Hung Tin-ming, is a TVB actor.

'I've been coming and going all these years,' Hung says. 'I never strive to get anything. I'll just let it be. Now I do whatever I like. I am not the kind of person to bitch about why I can't get this or that. You have to make an effort to get wonton noodles if you want to eat them!'

And he takes another mouthful of cake.

Fatal Move opens on Thursday