Tony Leung Chiu-wai born on 27 June 1962, is a Hong Kong actor and singer who is one of Asia’s most successful and internationally recognized actors and was named “Small Tiger” among the Five Tiger Generals of TVB.
He has won many international acting prizes, including the Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actor for his performance in Wong Kar-wai’s film In the Mood for Love. He was named by CNN as one of “Asia’s 25 Greatest Actors of All Time.”
Tony Leung is known for his collaborations with director Wong Kar-wai, with whom he has worked in seven films, including Chungking Express (1994), Happy Together (1997), In the Mood for Love (2000), 2046 (2004), and The Grandmaster (2013). He also appeared in three Venice Film Festival Golden Lion-winning films: A City of Sadness (1989), Cyclo (1995), and Lust, Caution (2007), directed by Ang Lee.
Tony Leung also stars in the Academy Award-nominated film Hero (2002), the cult classic Hard Boiled (1992), and box office hits Infernal Affairs (2002) and Red Cliff (2008). He later came to prominence in Hollywood with his role as Xu Wenwu in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021).
Tony Leung has a comprehensive set of awards that he has won in a career that began in the 1980s. For In the Mood for Love, he earned the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. He is also a seven-time winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards and three-time winner at the Golden Horse Film Awards, holding the record for most awards in the Best Actor category.
The 2002 book East Asian Film Stars describes Tony Leung as “undoubtedly one of the most successful and widely-acclaimed Hong Kong actors of his generation, with a broad and diverse filmography.”
Tony Leung was born in Hong Kong to a family of Taishan descent from Guangdong Province. His childhood was marked by quarrels and arguments about money between his parents. Tony Leung was a naughty boy when he was young, but his personality changed when his father, a frequent gambler, left his family at the age of eight. He and his sister were raised by his mother.
Tony Leung was a rather reserved and quiet child. He said his experiences during his childhood paved the way for his acting career and enabled him to express his emotions openly. Tony Leung attended a private school but dropped out at age 15 due to financial difficulties. He was a well-behaved teenager and got along very well with his mother. In an interview about the making of Hero, he said that having raised two children single-handedly, he considers his definition of a hero to be a mother.
After dropping out of school, Tony Leung worked in a variety of jobs, first working at his uncle’s grocery store, then as an appliance salesman at a shopping mall in Hong Kong. At the age of 16, he met actor and comedian Stephen Chow, who influenced his decision to become an actor and remains a good friend to this day.
In 1982, he graduated from TVB’s acting class and because of his boyish appearance, TVB initially cast him as the host of the children’s show 430 Space Shuttle, but soon switched to acting in Soldier of Fortune (1982). He was soon tapped to star in hugely successful prime-time series such as The Duke of Mount Deer (1984) and Shin Tenken to Dragon Saber (1986). During his television days, Tony Leung was especially fond of comedy, which made him famous. In the 1980s, he was named one of TVB’s “Five Tigers” (five popular young lead actors) along with Andy Lau, Felix Wong, Michael Miu, and Kent Tong.
Tony Leung starred in the extremely popular Police Cadet TV serial in 1984 (later named Police Cadet 84 to distinguish it from its two subsequent sequels). He played an outgoing young man who decides to become a police officer; Maggie Cheung, who also started her career at the same time, played his upstairs neighbor and love interest.
Since then they have worked together on The Yang’s Saga (1985), Days of Being Wild (1991), The Eagle Shooting Heroes (1993), Ashes of Time (1994), In the Mood for Love (2000), Hero (2002), and 2046 (2005). After 8 years with TVB, he left the network to focus on his film career with his final television drama being Ode to Gallantry in 1989.
Many consider Tony Leung to be the most famous modern actor in Greater China. He first came to international attention in 1989 when he won the Venice Golden Lion for his role in Hou Hsiao-Hsien’s film City of Sorrows. He was well-known in his hometown of Hong Kong for his TV shows and movies in the mid-1980s.
He had won two HKFA Best Supporting Actor awards in quick succession but was struggling to establish himself as a leading man on the big screen. His career entered a new chapter when he won dual Best Actor awards at the Golden Horse Awards and Hong Kong Film Awards for Chungking Express (1994), becoming only the second actor to do so after Danny Lee in 1984. He later repeated the feat with Infernal Affairs in 2003. Beginning with Chungking Express and over the next thirteen years, Leung picked up a record of eight Best Actor wins at the two most prestigious Chinese language film awards, plus the Best Actor prize at Cannes.
In 2014, he was a member of the jury of the 64th Berlin International Film Festival, and in 2017 Tony Leung was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In 2022, he was crowned the Asian Filmmaker of the Year at the 27th Busan International Film Festival. He is set to receive a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 80th Venice Film Festival.
Tony Leung also had a successful career as a canto pop and Mandarin pop singer in the 1990s, but abandoned it to pursue acting. He still sometimes sings for his movies. The title track of “Infernal Affairs” with Andy Lau was ranked among the Top 10 Songs of 2003 and won Best Original Film Song at the 22nd Hong Kong Film Awards.
In 2023, Tony Leung starred in the World War II spy thriller Hidden Blade, produced by Bona Film Group, and on July 19, appeared in the music video for NewJean’s “Cool With You”. From 1982 to 1988, Tony Leung disclosed that he was in an off-and-on relationship with his TVB colleague Margie Tsang. In 1986, during their breakup, he briefly dated then-Shintenken and Dragon Saber co-star Kitty Lai before reuniting with Tsang. Tony Leung and Tsang split permanently in 1988 and have been dating Carina Lau since 1989.
The two began dating in 1989 after co-starring in the Hong Kong film Run for Your Wife and dated for 19 years before getting married in Bhutan in 2008. They’ve known each other since 1984’s The Clone, and have worked on The Duke of Mount Deer (1984), Police Cadet (1984, 1985, 1988) and The Yance Saga (1985), Days of Being with Wild (1991), He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Father (1993), Ash of Time (1994) 2005) and 2046 (2005).
Tony Leung is a Buddhist. He has also been seen donating to the construction of Buddhist institutions, holding Buddhist weddings, attending Buddhist gatherings, and doing the Buddhist palm salute.
How much is Tony Leung Worth?
Tony Leung is said to have a net worth of $20 Million as a Hong Kong actor and singer who is one of Asia’s most successful and internationally recognized actors and was named “Small Tiger” among the Five Tiger Generals of TVB.
How much does Tony Leung earn per month?
How much Tony Leung earns at the end of the month isn’t known as he’s paid based on the type of role he plays in a movie. He is reported to earn up to $9.2 million per movie.
Is Tony Leung a millionaire?
Yes, Tony Leung is a millionaire with a net worth of $20 million
What Car does Tony Leung drives?
Tony Leung drives a Range Rover Sport priced at over HK$1mil (S$173,000), for the past 15 years.
Does Tony Leung own any properties?
Tony Leung reportedly owns quite a handful of properties in Hong Kong and also in the United States and also has one or two houses in China.
How did Tony Leung make her money?
Tony Leung made his money through his career as an actor and singer.
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