More high-profile award nominations followed, but it wasn’t until 2018 that Mo earned her second Hong Kong Film Award, this time winning best actress for Tomorrow is Another Day.

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“I was very surprised when I first received the notice about the award, as I never expected my achievements to be recognised beyond Hong Kong,” admits Mo, with a sincere smile, speaking to STYLE at The Peninsula hotel.

Perched on the edge of an armchair, there’s a restrained energy about Mo, as if, although now calmly chatting, she could flip a switch and instantly transform into one of her old roles. For now, though, she remains thoughtful and speaks in the reserved tones of an elder statesperson.

“I feel more than grateful and honoured that it has come to my turn,” she concludes.

The work at TVB was steady and Mo remembers she could see “a lot of opportunities” if she decided to stick with television. But Hong Kong cinema was at its peak, producing more films than France, Japan and the UK combined, and creativity too was at an all-time high. All the big names who cut their teeth in TV – including actor Chow Yun-fat too – eventually made the leap to the big screen, and Mo decided she had to do the same.

“It was a tough decision because the TV industry was very exclusive,” she remembers, a wistful smile taking shape on her face. “They would consider you an outsider once you leave, so I knew I’d have no chance of turning back. But still, I decided to take up the challenge of trying something new outside of my comfort zone.”

For Mo, the joy of moviemaking comes from the process of creation. “It starts from the moment I receive the script, to building the character with the entire crew, and then hopping into the movie world and becoming a different person for a period of time. It’s like creating a dream together for a little while, and we all immerse ourselves in it to make things happen. That’s the process I really enjoy,” she says.

That spirit of creation goes beyond creating films. A proud mother to two daughters, Mo admits motherhood was “definitely a huge inspiration” behind her award-winning performances, both of which saw her portray a mother bound tightly to her offspring.

“Before being a mum, I used to consider romance as the highest form of love,” recollects the 62-year-old. “Now I’ve become a mother myself, I truly feel that parental love carries much more weight than that. You can’t understand how deep that feeling is until you experience it.”

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Her children are now both adults in their twenties, but the impact of motherhood continues to resonate with Mo, who describes being a parent as “a lifelong learning experience”.

Mo debates whether the relationship between mother and son, and mother and daughter, are the same – “I don’t have a son so it might not be fair for me to judge,” she admits – but the impact of a good script clearly has its impact, regardless. She remembers feeling emotional working on one particular scene for Mama’s Affair.

“I can imagine if I had a son and I am going to get divorced, I would undoubtedly assume that my son would live with me,” she says earnestly. “So when my son in Mama’s Affair asked me, how did I know he was definitely going to live with me, I felt like I was being stabbed in the heart with a knife. No matter how many times I rehearsed that line, I still felt that pain every time I heard it. That scene was very memorable, and I couldn’t have understood the sorrow if I wasn’t a mother myself.”

Whether at home or on set, Mo clearly relishes maternity. “I really see them as my children,” she says of the actors who have played sons to her in various films. Mo had words of encouragement for Keung To who, although already a music superstar, is still a relative novice when it comes to acting.

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“He has a clear vision for his music, so he participated a lot in the production,” she says. “But I think he has yet to find his niche in films, which he needs in order to develop his passion for the industry. But I believe that he’ll improve as an actor and manage both sides equally well as he gains more life experience.”

However, it is Hong Kong’s young actresses that Mo seems most excited by. In particular, she singles out Jennifer Yu Heung-ying, Angela Yuen Lai-lam and Hedwig Tam Sin-yin as “all beautiful, capable and passionate”.

“These girls are all outstanding,” Mo continues, becoming animated. “Taking Jennifer Yu as an example, she plays my daughter in our upcoming movie [Over My Dead Body]. Although she is still green to me, I really see her talent. She controlled her eyes, facial expressions and pace all very well.”

After so long in the film industry and so many accolades, one wonders if there is anything left for Mo to achieve. She certainly doesn’t seem to yearn for the Hollywood career or international fame achieved by some of her contemporaries, describing herself as “very simple”. She would relish the opportunity to star in another good comedy, fearful that audiences have forgotten her comic talent after recent dramatic works, but that seems the height of her ambitions for now.

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Ultimately, the conversation circles back to motherhood again. This time, though, of nurturing the local film industry as a whole.

“I feel like I’m in the most comfortable stage of my career,” Mo says, relaxing back into her armchair. “That I have the ability and space to support the local movie industry whenever I come across a good screenplay. I’m not fussy except for that – a good screenplay.”