5 of Hong Kong actor Anthony Wong’s most memorable film roles
The versatile star, who celebrates his 58th birthday on Monday, caught the eye playing a cold-hearted murderer in 1993 and has gone on to give many award-winning ‘killer’ performances
Happy birthday to Anthony Wong Chau-sang, one of Hong Kong’s most consistent and versatile thespians, who has proved that he can take on any performance from voice acting to demented killer and turn it into a tour de force.
As Wong, born Anthony Perry, turns 58 on Monday, we celebrate his outstanding career with a look at five of his most memorable and versatile performances.
The Untold Story (1993)
This was probably the first film that truly made the industry sit up and notice the up-and-coming actor’s potential to carry a film.
Wong plays a stone-cold killer who murders a man in Hong Kong before fleeing to Macau where he finds work in a restaurant and then proceeds to kill off the 10 family members one by one to get his hands on the restaurant.
Anthony Wong’s role in The Untold Story, as a stone-cold killer who murders a man in Hong Kong and then 10 family members in Macau to get his hands on their restaurant, truly made the industry sit up and notice his potential to carry a film
Based on the true story of the infamous murders at the Eight Immortals Restaurant in 1985, the story takes a little bit of macabre, artistic licence by adding cannibalism to the storyline. Wong also won the Hong Kong Film Awards’ best actor statuette for this role.
The Mission (1999)
One of director Johnnie To’s most underrated of films of all time, The Mission sees Wong as the leader of a motley crew of skilled killers who are hired to protect a triad boss after an assassination attempt.
The film is one of Hong Kong’s most stylised crime thrillers and Wong matches the austere and beautifully composed visuals with a controlled and deadly performance and proves he can look good just kicking a balled up piece of paper around.