[2025.08.28] RONALD CHENG BLOODIES HIS PANTS WHILE WORKING ON ATONEMENT

Ronald Cheng says that he is thinner due to running

Ronald Cheng for the character gains 30 pounds and trains hard

Chrissie Chau says that making ATONEMENT is very relaxing, because she can be without make up

Chrissie Chau and Ronald Cheng play a couple in ATONEMENT

Ronald Cheng has many scenes with "daughter" Fu Shu Ying
courtesy of mingpao.com

After the "manager turmoil" occurred last year, Ronald Cheng Chung Kei revealed that he suffered from depression and alcoholism, suspended his acting work, and returned to Hong Kong after receiving alcoholism treatment in the United States. During the period his marriage with his wife Sammie Yu Sze Man reportedly changed. As they appeared at family court, their divorce was uncovered. ATONEMENT (AH LUNG), the movie he wrote, directed and starred in 7 years ago, was affected and postponed its released. It has been now scheduled for release on September 4th. Even though Cheng Chung Kei's divorce case has not ended, he still worked hard to promote the new film. Earlier he and Chrissie Chau Sau Na were interviewed together. He refused to answer about his divorce mood, and revealed that the most memorable from the filming period was when his pants were bloodied due to hemorrhoid. It was beyond embarrassing. Regarding the twists and turns of the release of ATONEMENT and running into the film industry winter, he believed that he did not get to worry. He could only to do his best, and he felt that the most important thing was to have new subjects that resonated with the audience.

Cheng Chung Kei and Yu Sze Man have been married for 14 years and had a pair of children. In August last year, Cheng Chung Kei had "manager trouble" as Ho Hing Seung after years of working together was accused of professional and moral conduct issues and left the post. He then issued a statement that he suffered from depression and alcoholism, suspended his acting work, and was accompanied by his wife Yu Sze Man to the United States for alcoholism treatment. After returning to Hong Kong, the marriage of the two reportedly changed in February this year. Cheng Chung Kei and Yu Sze Man appeared at the Wan Chai Family Court in April to attend a closed-door hearing and later confirmed their divorce.

The Cheng Chung Kei written, directed and starred movie ATONEMENT would be released on the 4th of next month. He actively participated in the promotion and attended the preview screening audience appreciation events. Since the "manager turmoil" and admitting to divorce, he was interviewed for the first time. Obviously thinner, he explained that it was due to running. He did not answer whether the divorce proceedings affected the publicity mood. Wearing many hats, Cheng Chung Kei revealed that when preparing for the filming of ATONEMENT he understood that the difficulty of striking a balance between subjectivity and objectivity. Thus he asked Mark Wu Yiu Fai to co-direct, "It's hard to advise myself during the performance, I must feel that there is no problem with the performance. Mark is mainly responsible for watching me perform, and we are responsible for the rest together."

Cheng Chung Kei said that due to the preparation work in the early stage and the storyboard was drawn, everyone knew the character characteristics of each scene and each actor. The filming went very smoothly with few changes. "I didn't have any difference of opinion or argument with Mark. The boss couldn't believe how efficient our Thailand location shoot was, whether the production period or the production cost we were under budget. Because the boss said that he wanted to come for the production wrap, that action scene had to extend its production. Everyday we only made one shot, and I played video games with the staff to pass the time."

ATONEMENT told the story of the Chung Chung Kei played "Ah Lung" and his 8-year-old daughter "Yingying" (Fu Shun Ying). They depended on each other, and after paying off gambling debts for his ex-wife, he traveled to Thailand with their daughter, and Yingying was kidnapped by a kidnapper group on the way. He stayed in Thailand to find his beloved daughter and remarried the overseas Chinese Thai "Ah Lan" (Chau Sau Na). Why did he make the abduction subject? Cheng Chung Kei said that he saw in the newspapers that many parents have caused various tragedies due to negligence in taking care of their children, and he wanted to make a film to remind parents to be vigilant, and familiar places are also dangerous. Did he feel deeper after being a father? He admitted, "When I go out with my children, I have to keep them within my line of sight and not too close to the road."

Cheng Chung Kei gained 30 pounds for the performance, explaining that because in the plot he worked as a laborer at the dock for a living, he had to be big to be convincing. He revealed that the weight gaining period had some obstacles. I spent 8 months on training, which went all up in smoke due to a hemorrhoid operation. "Shortly after the start of work, I already had a hemorrhoid problem. After filming the kidnapper of his daughter pushing him to the ground, the costume director pointed at me and said that my pants were covered in blood. It was embarrassing. I thought that it would be fine after that. When I was training to build muscles and drinking protein milk powder, I might have been too impatient, and it exploded again. I had to be admitted to the hospital for surgery. During the weight gain I ran into a bottleneck spot, and there was no progress despite all the exercises and eating, which was so frustrating!" Chau Sau Na revealed that Cheng Chung Kei had no good food to eat due to his training, Cheng Chung Kei said, "There is a chef on the set who was responsible for cooking, at every meal, I would go to the side and enjoy my boiled eggs and chicken breasts alone. It was so lonely, because I was afraid of seeing them enjoy the food so much, I couldn't help but break my diet."

The release date of ATONEMENT has been delayed again and again. Now it would finally be released, but it ran to the film industry winter. Was he worried about box office results? Cheng Chung Kei believed that he would not get to worry. "After the filming was completed 7 years ago, the screening was arranged but encountered the novel corona pandemic. After the pandemic passed, the permit had expired, and had to be re-applied for approval and re-cut. The original release was planned for the Golden Harvest cinema circuit but it closed. Now it will be released on the Intercontinental cinema circuit." Was he worried about the movie being stillborn? He said, "I thought about when it would be released, but could do nothing about it. I can't control it. What I can do was when the censors requested for multiple versions, I cut them as soon as possible. However there was a 6 minute straight take fight scene, which they said was too violent and wanted me to cut it. I thought it would lose coherence. We were in discussion for a very long time, in the end they accepted me cutting a little near the end."

Has his confidence to be a director again been impacted? Cheng Chung Kei said no. "I didn't deliberately want to direct, I was attracted by the story and hoped to shoot it myself. It's that simple." He admitted that now was the worst time for the market since entering the industry, and the only thing left to do is to work as much as he could. The main thing was the subject matter. It could not be like the way it was, when a subject was good then everyone flocked to make it. It was necessary to shoot something that resonated with the audience in order to help a little. Acting in many dramas in recent years, Cheng Chung Kei admitted that he wanted to act in comedy again. "Actually, I like acting in comedy so much, everyone can take it easy."

Would he attend audience appreciation activities to pump up the box office? Cheng Chung Kei said, "We will all attend audience appreciation events. (Will home life affect your mood at work?) I'm sorry, I want to focus on the movie." Tin Kai Man said that he would not make a full comeback until the lawsuit was over, Cheng Chung Kei did not answer directly. He only said that he was writing songs, because he promised to release a Mandarin record but he did not start writing. He had 10 songs that have been re-recorded, but some new songs have not been written. Playing Cheng Chung Kei's wife, Chau Sau Na did not have any action scene but ended up with bruises and scars all over her arms. She joked that she seemed to be have suffered abuse. She said, "In the scene I was pressed on the table by a police officer and almost violated. Perhaps I was too in character, I kept struggling. I didn't notice any injury on the set. I only found out after waking up the next day and I was surprised. Making ATONEMENT was so fun and relaxing because Mark told me not to wear makeup, just put on a base makeup and cover up dark circles."