Nick Cheung and Dante Lam are near the peak of their creative powers
Director Dante Lam and actor Nick Cheung are a match made in cinema heaven, writes Edmund Lee
Nick Cheung Ka-fai is visibly uncomfortable at the mere mention of the Hong Kong Film Awards when we meet last month. Being the front runner for the best actor award has put him under considerable pressure.
Cheung's inspirational boxing drama, Unbeatable - which raked in more than HK$44 million to become last year's local box office champion - garnered 11 award nominations, including best film and best director.
As it turns out - just to prove how indispensable he is to the project - Cheung won the movie's only award on April 13.
But let's return to that unusually balmy Sunday afternoon. The 46-year-old cuts in, mid-sentence, when I mention his nomination. "I hope Unbeatable wins at every category that it's competing in - except mine," he says, breaking into a grin.
His long-time collaborator and action auteur Dante Lam Chiu-yin bursts into laughter next to him. When I ask the director what he thinks about his leading man's chances, Cheung interjects: "We don't think about that stuff."
"But I do think about that," Lam says. "I've witnessed the immense amount of effort that he put into the role." Cheung underwent a dramatic physical transformation to look the part of a mixed martial arts fighter.