Tough-guy Hong Kong actor Lau Ching-wan at home in romances too

Among the misconceptions that Lau Ching-wan routinely encounters, his unsuitability as a romantic lead easily registers as a frontrunner. While he is tall, dark and handsome in an admittedly unconventional way, the character actor has barely made an impression as a womaniser over a 90-plus film career that began in the 1980s.

The 51-year-old's marriage to former Miss Hong Kong and actress Amy Kwok Oi-ming - fodder for the local entertainment press whenever it needs to cite a perfect showbiz relationship - may be a contributing factor. His rugged features, particularly those thick eyebrows, are possibly another.

It doesn't surprise Lau that he's been cast significantly more often as strong-willed, manly figures than as soppy lovers. "I think this has to do with my appearance," he says. "A director once said that an actor doesn't have to become the character - as long as he looks the part. My face is relatively fierce."

In A Tale of Three Cities, the new period romance co-scripted by director Mabel Cheung Yuen-ting and producer Alex Law Kai-yui, Lau plays a Kuomintang agent who fled the communist-controlled mainland of the late 1940s for Hong Kong with a partner (played by Tang Wei) in tow.

Cheung explains the casting: "I think he's a very obvious candidate to play the role. He looks very much like a hero in chaotic times. Ching-wan is actually a very nice guy in real life, but he has a ferocious look." She adds that Lau was her only choice throughout the lengthy pre-production process of the 80 million yuan (HK$96.7 million) production that traversed China - from Anhui and Shenyang to Shanghai and Hong Kong.

"In a war like that, people like us would be dead after five days," Law chimes in, referring to himself and Cheung, the husband-and-wife team who won widespread acclaim with the 1960s-set Echoes of the Rainbow (2010). "But Ching-wan looks like he would do just fine."