Kwan Wai-pang - better known by the alias Teddy Robin - means many things to many people. For those who grew up in Hong Kong in the 1960s, he's the city's first locally produced pop star. For those who frequented cinemas in the '80s, he's the maverick actor-director behind some of the zaniest comedies produced by the new Cinema City studio.
Returning to the forefront of local show business two years ago, he is now best known among a younger generation of film-goers as one of Hong Kong's premier character actors, with critically acclaimed performances in films as varied as a quirky comedy (Gallants), a melancholic drama (Merry-Go-Round) and a bombastic blockbuster (Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame).
But Kwan's contribution to Hong Kong popular culture is much more than just his showmanship: beyond his artistic achievements, he is a nurturer of young talent. He spotted the potential of Alex Cheung Kwok-ming when the latter was a student filmmaker in the early '70s. With Kwan's guidance, Cheung secured a footing in the local industry and became a crucial part of the Hong Kong New Wave with the seminal thriller Cops and Robbers (1979).
More than three decades later, Kwan befriended two young students at his screenwriting class, Derek Kwok Tsz-kin and Clement Cheng Sze-kit; last year, they shared the stage with Kwan at the Hong Kong Film Awards after winning the best film award for Gallants.
'I've benefited a lot from working with them,' Kwan says when asked about his bond with his prot?g?s (his friends, he says). He's averse to anyone thinking of his younger associates as his disciples. 'I think my success wouldn't be possible without them. I don't really look like a teacher to them - most of the time I was just having madcap fun with them,' Kwan says.
'It's a great working process - being with them, you continue to learn as you grow older. They and I get something out of this crossover, and I've progressed a lot down the years through such collaborations. Experience alone can't sustain a career. What I can do is to tell them what the pitfalls are, so they don't have to go through the messy patches.'