Charismatic, athletically built and energetic Asian born film star who first came to the attention of western audiences via his roles as in the high octane / blazing guns action films of...
Charismatic, athletically built and energetic Asian born film star who first came to the attention of western audiences via his roles as in the high octane / blazing guns action films of maverick HK director John Woo
Born in 1955 on the island of Lamma , near Hong Kong\'s Victoria Harbour, Chow\'s family moved to Hong Kong in 1965 and in early 1973 Chow attended a casting call for TVB, a division of Shaw Bros. productions. With his good looks & easy going style, Chow was originally a heart throb actor in non demanding TV & film roles, however his popularity increased with his appearance as the white suited crime boss, Hui Man-Keung, in the highly popular HK film Shang Hai tan xu ji (1983).
In 1985, Chow started receiving noted acclaim for his work, and scored the Golden Horse (Best Actor) Award in Taiwan, and another Best Actor Award from the Asian Pacific Film Festival for his performance in Dang doi lai ming (1983). With these accolades, Chow came to the attention of John Woo, who cast Chow in the fast paced gangster film _Ying huang boon sik (1986)_ (aka \"A Better Tomorrow\").
The rest, as they say, is history......the movie was an enormous commercial success, and Chow Yun Fat\'s influence on young Asian males was not dissimilar to the adulation given to prior Asian film sensations such as Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan. Nearly every young guy in Hong Kong ran out and bought himself a \"Mark Coat\" as they became known....long, heavy woolen coats as worn by Chow in the movie.....although actually very unsuited to Hong Kong\'s hot & humid climate!
Further hard edged roles in more John Woo crime films escalated Chow\'s popularity even higher and fans all over the world flocked to see _Yinghung bunsik II (1987)_ (aka \"A Better Tomorrow 2\"), Die xue shuang xiong (1989), (aka \"The Killer\") and Lashou shentan (1992) (aka \"Hard Boiled\"). With the phenomenal global interest in the HK action genre, Chow Yun Fat was enticed to the United States and appeared in The Replacement Killers (1998) with Mira Sorvino, Corrupter, The (1999)_ with Mark Wahlberg, and for a change of pace, in the much loved romantic tale of Anna and the King (1999).
Chow then returned to the Asian cinema circuit and starred in the critically lauded kung fu epic Wo hu cang long (2000) (aka \"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon\"). His wide appeal can be seen in his \"boy next door\" type personality and his ability to play such a broad spectrum of roles from a comedic buffoon to a love struck romeo, through to a trigger happy killer. A highly entertaining and gifted actor with dynamic on screen presence, Chow continues to remain in strong demand in many film markets.