[2024.05.31] KENT CHENG WANTS TO KEEP WINNING AWARDS

The 73 year old Kent Cheng does not want his daughter to support her parents, so he keeps on working

Mr. Cheng celebrates his birthday with his wife Lan Yin Ming and daughter

Kent Cheng in 1993 won Best Actor with THREE HURT COPS and posed for photos with Best Supporting Actress Shu Qi and Best Supporting Actor Eric Tsang 

Kent Cheng has made a name for himself with the role of "Fat Cat", even bringing it to television with the ATV series THE STORY OF FAT CAT with Nina Paw
courtesy of mingpao.com

Kent Cheng Juk Si is a two-time Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor, winning the honor with WHY ME? (HOR BIT YAU NGOR) and THE LOG (SAM GOR SAU SEUNG DIK GAING CHAK). His acting skills are absolutely beyond any doubt. He has been in the film for 48 years, has experienced ups and downs, and has even owed more than HK$ 10 million in debt due to a film company joint venture. The 73-year-old said that he has already turned down the flames 20 years ago, but he was not pampered at present. Instead he was still desperately trying to make money to support his wife, because children have grown up and had their world. Since they still had to live he did not get to retire, he was also greedy, vane, and wanted to continue to win awards. He decided to work until the ends, and he also wanted to pass on his acting experience to young actors.

Cheng Juk Si (Brother Kent) said that he was working on television or movies not because of an acting bug, even if he has won the Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor twice, he was still eager to win the award. He said, "I think later will always be the peak. Just like winning the award, when you accept the award and leave the stage it is over; it is a thing of the past. The most important thing is whether you can win the award again next year, the year after next or later; hope is always ahead. Don't judge me by my 70 something age, I still want to improve, I am still vain, if I get to win awards I would. I don't want to compete with others; but if I am doing well in my 70s, I still want to win awards. What's the problem? Presenting an award to me in my old age and cheer me up, why not? If I can't then oh well. You have to look at yourself with a calm heart and have to have positive hopes."

Brother Kent pointed out that the past has passed, it was just a milestone; he would accumulate experience and move forward. Since he was old, what he had was experience. He hoped to help the younger generations, so they would take fewer detours to achieve their goals. He said, "The elders need to remind the younger generations that they have been able to survive in this industry for decades all because of the audience. They need to extend their lives for the audience to support them. I hope that the younger generations can keep up and carry forward, so the audience would continue to support them. Only then would the industry have a chance to develop."

Brother Kent said that he not only acted on television, but also participated in three films that were still unreleased last year. They included FUN SING (THE BURNING CITY), THE PROSECUTOR (NG POON) and CRISIS NEGOTIATORS (TAM POON JUEN GA), as well as still in production TRIER OF FACT (SAU KYET JEH), which was still in production. He said that he has never resisted anything since he entered the industry. When someone asked him to perform, if he could play it he would accept. He would not choose a script. "Who would know that a script must be bad? Many big productions and big star casts may not be a hit, but some inconspicuous ones would break out. No one can nail the coffin and be conclusive. It is difficult to say whether they are good or bad before the results come out, so when the opportunity presents itself take it." Back then, he played Fat Cat the movie WHY ME?, which gave him fame and fortune. However Brother Kent would consider this character his classic, only a milestone on his show business journey. "Actually, the role of 'Fat Cat' has brought me a lot. Shot in 1985, I won the Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor the following year. By 2003 I still played "Fat Cat", spanning more than ten years with 4 TV series and 3 movies in the process, bringing me a lot of glory and making everyone remember me. However I wasn't done just like that, it is just one of my roles people remember."

Brother Kent said that his temper was not what it once was. In addition he has already turned down the flames for 20 years. Because he was purely an actor, as long as he did his best, the director was satisfied and the responsibility has been completed, he would be very happy. However being a producer was different, you had to take care of many aspects. When screenwriting, directing, acting to even production were all your business, it was another matter. He said, "You would go mad! When you have so much to deal with all at once, like whether the shoot went well, whether the actor performed well, everything was your business. In addition you have to control production costs, whether the budget has been exceeded, etc., if something happens, you would use foul language and yell at people. Of course everything has a cause and an effect, and we must first talk about the cause." He said that he made movies to make money, if he said that it was for the love of it it would be too noble. Currently people are still looking for him to produce films; but he thought since a movie would take two or three years to make, he did not know if he would be able to clean up afterwards. "As a producer often you can't walk away. From preparation, filming start to completion, the time is too long. Honestly, how many years do I have to act in front of the camera? If you ask me, I hope that I can until the day I die; because I still need to live, I have no ability to retire and I don't want my children to support me; I have been young too, when you are young it's for the family. I hope now for the new generation to live their own lives well, finding their own directions and lives."

Once owed more than HK$ 10 million in debts due to a film company joint venture, Brother Kent said that it was the lowest point in his life. "It doesn't matter, this incident told me that life has highs and lows in life. From my position I chose to be responsible. It doesn't matter how bad it is for me in the end; as long as I am responsible for clearly taking care of it, the matter is over and in the past. Just like the principle of winning awards, you always look forward; think about the future because you still have to keep going. I want to raise my head and let people know I am already OK, I can come out and do it again." He said that it is very important for his family to be willing to tough out those days with him, so he was able to tell everyone that in the end only family would be able to accompany them without any regret. "Unless you are a decrepit person who makes everyone unhappy, home would always be a safe haven without a doubt. I am the most grateful to my wife and mother."

Brother Kent believed that the best era of the film industry was when it had variety in full bloom. Everyone did what they were good at and would not flock to do the same thing. "Following the trend guarantees a quick death, just like when Tsui Hark directed A CHINESE GHOST STORY (SIN NUI YAU WON); when one succeeded, everyone else went to make ghost movies. The production cost became bigger and bigger, leaving everyone unable to break even. Playing the trend following game is definitely big trouble, and the final winner of this game would only be the person who was leading the trend. Those who followed trends would be done for. You know what you are best at, make subjects that you excel in. Don't just follow because one was a hit." He also advised the younger generations that they should believe that good films will always have the support of the audience. "If this is not the case, we are dumb to make movies. If even we don't believe in this simple truth, why are we still in this business? The so-called dream factory, whether it is movies or television, is to achieve the dreams of others. I still have a vision for this industry, feeling that as long as everyone has new ideas, relates to the audience, coordinates with the skills and directions, blending them all together would become a good script."