Anthony Wong Chau-sang (Chinese: 黃秋生; born Anthony William Perry; 2 September 1961) is a Hong Kong film actor, film director and singer, known for his intense portrayals of often-amoral characters. He has won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor three times for The Untold Story (1993), Beast Cops (1998) and Still Human (2018), and won Taiwan's Golden Horse Award for Best Actor for The Sunny Side of the Street (2022). He is the first Hong Kong actor to have won Best Actor awards in films, stage theatre and TV. His other works include Hard Boiled (1992), Infernal Affairs trilogy (2002–2003) and the Hollywood film The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008).
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Early life
Wong was born Anthony William Perry on 2 September 1961 to a Hong Kong Chinese mother of Taishanese descent, Wong Juen-yee, and an English father, Frederick William Perry, who served with the Royal Air Force during World War II and later as a colonial officer. Frederick Perry walked out on the family when Wong was four, so he lived with his mother "in the staircase of a pre-war building in Wan Chai" until he was sent to live with various relatives for two years while his mother "held down three jobs." He kept in touch with his father through letters until they lost contact when he was 12 years old, and he knew that he had three older half-siblings from his father's marriage. He met his half-brothers in 2018.
In his acting career, Wong has established a reputation for openly critiquing the Hong Kong film industry and its practices, actors' performances and pop culture in interviews and his personal microblog. In some of those critiques, he revealed his experiences of being bullied and discriminated against—for being a "mixed race foreigner" and "during the 1960s, English-Chinese mixed race people like me were regarded as bastards" and for being born outside Hong Kong—while growing up in Hong Kong and during the early years of his acting career.
During his late teens, Wong moved to the United Kingdom to attend a college of further education. He returned to Hong Kong to attend a training course in hairdressing until he quit to join Asia Television's (ATV) training programme when he was 21.
Career
After completing ATV's training programme, he continued his training at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Wong trained under Philippe Gaulier at École Philippe Gaulier in France. He had stated in an interview that his mixed ethnicity initially caused him to be typecast as a villain, due to institutionalised racism in the Hong Kong film industry during this period. He nonetheless won a Hong Kong Film Award for his performance as a fictionalised version of serial killer Huang Zhiheng in the 1993 film The Untold Story.
In the following years, Wong appeared in a wide range of genre films including Rock n' Roll Cop, Hard Boiled, The Heroic Trio, Infernal Affairs, The Mission, The Medallion and the Young and Dangerous film series. Wong had also appeared in a number of international films, such as The Painted Veil and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. In 1995, Wong made his directorial debut with The New Tenant. In a 2005 interview with Star eCentral, Wong stated that amongst his prolific output during the 1980s and the 1990s, a considerable number of films he appeared in were "terrible." However, he does not regret making those films, as he needed the money to support his family.
In 2014, Wong hosted TV show Dinner Confidential, where he would prepare one dish out of a table d'hote candle-lit dinner menu for guests. In 2015, Wong won the TVB Anniversary Awards for Best Actor and Best Drama for Lord of Shanghai, making him the first Hong Kong actor to have won Best Actor awards in films, stage theatre and TV.
Personal life
Wong married his teenage sweetheart, Jane Ng Wai-zing, in 1992 but they lived separately. They have two sons, born in 1996 and 1998. Wong and Ng signed a divorce agreement in 1998 but did not file for the divorce. In June 2018, it was revealed that he had a son named William (born 1998) in the UK with a woman named Joyce, who is the niece of John Shum. Since 2020, Wong has been living with his wife Ng after 28 years of living apart.
In March 2018, Wong met his half-brothers, twins John William and David Frederick Perry, after a BBC story on Wong's search for his family was published. He also has a half-sister, Vera Ann. His father died in 1988 in Australia, where he and his first family settled after they left Hong Kong. His half-siblings did not know of Wong's existence until the BBC story was produced.
Wong is a supporter of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, a series of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. This has reportedly led to limited acting opportunities for him in mainland China. He has also voiced support for the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. On 18 April 2021, Wong was approved for Taiwan's Employment Gold Card, allowing him to work in Taiwan without needing to apply in advance. It also allows him to receive tax incentives and National Health Insurance.
Wong speaks English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
Filmography
Television series
War of The Dragon 还我本色 (1989), Cheung King-to (张景图)
The Justice of Life 他來自江湖 (1989), Johnson Man Chung-sun (文忠信)
When Things Get Tough 午夜太陽 (1990), Tsing Kwan (程軍)
The Witness of Time 天若有情 (1990), Hua Jing-sheng (程华京生)
ICAC Investigators 2004 廉政行動2004 (2004), ICAC Chief Investigator Antonio Wong
Kung Fu Soccer 功夫足球 (2004), Lam Chung-fu
Eight Heroes 八大豪侠 (2005), Yan Tiexin
Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain 雪山飞狐 (2006), Hu Yidao
The Legend of the Condor Heroes 射鵰英雄傳 (2008), Huang Yaoshi
Memoirs of Madam Jin 金大班 (2009), Chen Rongfa
The Legend of Yang Guifei 杨贵妃秘史 (2010), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang
Chu Han Zhengxiong 楚汉争雄 (2012), Liu Bang
Lord of Shanghai 梟雄 (2015), Kiu Ngo-tin (喬傲天)
Margaret & David - Ex 瑪嘉烈與大衛系列 前度 (2017), Sham Joi-san
Strangers (2018), David Chen
Stained 心冤 (2018; aired in early 2019), Wayne Lau (劉偉義)
The Republic 理想国 (2019), Sim Lap-ki (单立奇)
Heaven on the Fourth Floor (Taiwanese TV series) 四楼的天堂 (2021), Tien Yi (天意)
Theater
Equus (May 2014)
Le Dieu Du Carnage (August 2015)
Le Dieu Du Carnage (Re-run - January 2016)
Le Dieu Du Carnage (Huayi - Chinese Festival of Arts - February 2016)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (September 2016)
A Midsummer Night's Dream (Huayi Chinese Festival of Arts - February 2017)
Speed-the-Plow (September 2017)