Chow Yun-Fat (pinyin: Zhou Rùnfa) (born May 18, 1955 on Lamma Island, Hong Kong) is among a handful of internationally recognized screen actors that Hong Kong has produced, along with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. A charismatic actor, he has been likened to a grittier, more intense version of Cary Grant.
Raised on the tiny offshore island of Lamma, Chow spent his childhood in poverty. His life started to change as his application was accepted as an actor-trainee by the local television station, TVB. It didn't take long for Chow to become a household name in Hong Kong following his role in the hit series The Bund (pinyin: Shang Hai tan; literally: Shanghai Beach) in 1983.
Although Chow continued his TV success, his ultimate goal was to become a big screen actor. However, his occasional ventures onto the big screens with low-budget movies were disastrous. Success finally came when he teamed up with a then relatively unknown director John Woo in the 1986 low-budget action movie A Better Tomorrow, which swept the box offices in parts of Asia and established both Chow and Woo as megastars. Taking the opportunity, Chow quit TV entirely and dedicated himself to making more 'gun fu' movies. His later films include heroic bloodshed movies The Killer (1989) and Hard Boiled (1992), and the romantic An Autumn's Tale (1987). He is, however, best known for playing honorable tough guys, whether cops or criminals. He starred, together with Andy Lau, in the 1989 film God of Gamblers (Du shen), directed by the prolific Wong Jing. The film surprised many and turned out immensly popular, broke Hong Kong's all-time box office record, and spawned a series of gambling movies, as well as several more comic sequels starring Stephen Chow.
Being one of the hottest screen commodities in Hong Kong, Chow was called upon by Hollywood in an attempt to duplicate his success on an international scale. His first two films Replacement Killers (1998) and The Corruptor (1999) were box-office sleepers. His next film Anna and the King (1999) did better, but the success was mostly credited to actress Jodie Foster. Ironically, he receded to a supporting role in the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), and it became a winner at both the box office and the Oscars.
Chow is still waiting for the type of success he once enjoyed in Hong Kong. He once admitted to a Hong Kong reporter that his ultimate goal is to win an Oscar as an actor. When asked what if it never comes true, he replied "I would just have to laugh about it..."
Chow's favorite pastime is photography.
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