Q&A: Teddy Robin

It's been 15 years since Teddy Robin Kwan, better known as Teddy Robin, appeared in a film. Now the 65-year-old is back on the silver screen in Gallants, an upcoming movie by young directors Clement Cheng Sze-kit and Derek Kwok Chi-kin. The comic tribute to the stars of Shaw Brothers early kung fu movies features Kwan as a kung fu master who wakes up after being in a coma for 30 years.

A pioneer on the local pop scene, he founded Teddy Robin and the Playboys, one of Hong Kong's most popular bands of the 60s and 70s and ventured into film in 1970. Since then, he has appeared in a series of local classics such as the Tsui Hark comedy All the Wrong Clues (1981) and Jacob Cheung Chi-leung's social drama, Cageman (1992).

Kwan later turned director and created hits such as All The Wrong Spies (1983), The Legend of Wisely (1987) and Shanghai, Shanghai (1990), and was producer on new-wave movies Cops and Robbers (1979) and Imaginary Suspects (1988).

A prolific composer, Kwan has written music for more than 20 movies including Wong Kar-wai's directorial debut As Tears Go By (1988) and Eric Tsang Chi-wai's Aces Go Places series.

We haven't seen you in any movies since your own production Hong Kong Graffiti in 1995. What have you been up to all these years?

I've turned down a lot of film roles over the years because many were more or less the same as the characters I'd played in previous movies. I don't want to keep repeating myself. I'm pretty stubborn when it comes to my work.