[2025.04.26] MICHAEL HUI, SEAN LAU VIE FOR BEST ACTOR

Michael Hui, Sean Lau, Raymond Lam, Aaron Kwok and Neo Yau compete for this year's Hong Kong Film Awards Best Actor nominees. The former two are the favorites

Best Supporting Actress nominee Jo Koo hopes PAPA's "family of three" would win the Hong Kong Film Awards together

Maggie Li after over 60 years in film competes for Hong Kong Film Awards Best Supporting Actress for the first time with ALL SHALL BE WELL and leaves a beautiful memory in her show business career

Lo Chun Yip with MONTAGES OF A MODERN MOTHERHOOD is competing for Best Supporting Actor and says that he does not mind being an also ran
courtesy of mingpao.com

The 43rd Hong Kong Film Awards Ceremony will be held tomorrow (27th) at the Cultural Centre. The Best Actor competition has been considered between THE LAST DANCE (POR.DEI YUK)'s Michael Hui Koon Man and PAPA's Sean Lau Ching Wan, ROB N ROLL (LUM SI GIP ONG)'s Aaron Kwok Fu Sing and TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN (GAU LUNG SING JAI JI WAI SING)'s Raymond Lam Fung are also quite prominent and are regarded as dark horses; THE WAY WE TALK (HONG NGOR GUM TIN JUM MOR SUET)'s Neo Yau Hawk Sau faced the strong competition from elders, and his chances of winning the award has decreased outside. Lau Ching Wan has won Best Actor in the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards and the Asian Film Awards, and is confident about winning the award again. The Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild Annual Awards this year, Hui Koon Man feels normal about the awards, saying that the most important thing is to enjoy the scenery along the way. Kwok Fu Sing and Lam Fung both also feel normal. Yau Hawk Sau says that the nomination has been a great encouragement.

Hui Koon Man ascended to the Best Actor throne at the first Hong Kong Film Awards with SECURITY UNLIMITED (MOR DUN BO BIU). After 43 years, he would compete for Best Actor with THE LAST DANCE. In the film he put away his true colors as a comedy craftsman to play the role of the Namo master Kwok Man with superb acting skills. The movie has been well received and regarded as the favorite. He said, "Acting in a film with no comedy elements at all this time has been truly very difficult. During the performance I didn't have much confidence. Winning an award before doesn't necessarily mean winning another award. After making this film, I realized that the most important thing in life is to enjoy the scenery along the way."

Lau Ching Wan gives delicate and touching performance in PAPA. He says, "I have always had confidence in myself. I would not regard my opponents as enemies, and I dare less to compare with the great elder Hui Koon Man. He is a comedic giant, having made many hit comedies. This time his performance in THE LAST DANCE is outstanding." Lam Fung says that he has done his best to act in TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN, and he is honored to be nominated. If he won the award, it would be the icing on the cake. Kwok Fu Sing said that he must have confidence as an actor, but at the same time he has also learned to face awards normally.

In terms of Best Supporting Actress, PAPA's Jo Ko (Kok Cho Lam) would compete against LOVE LIES (NGOR TAM DIK NA CHEUNG LUEN OI)'s Stephy Tang Lai Yan, ALL SHALL BE WELL (CHUNG GUM YI HAU)'s Maggie Li Linlin and THE LAST DANCE's Rachel Leung Yung Ting and Rosa Velasco (Wai Law Sha). Kok Cho Lam won the Best Supporting Actress at the Hong Kong Film Directors Guild Annual Awards, and her pre-race buzz is the highest. Nominated for the first time after 20 years in the industry, she says, "Many people praise me for acting well, because they see a very different me and Lau Ching Wan. No one deliberately design the roles, and everyone fought hard to act. I am overjoyed that many people accept my interpretation method. My look has a heavy sense of life, suitable for playing a role like 'Kam Yin'." She reveals that she has doubted whether she knows how to act. Now she has finally been recognized, which has given her a shot in the arm. She expressed her confidence that she would win, "The award does not represent me, I represent the award. Whether I win the award or not my confidence won't be affected. I would be very happy to be able to win the award, because I would have the opportunity to go on stage and thank the people I want to thank; but I haven't thought about the award speech yet. Thank you so much for voting for me. I am an individual, without the support of the company, getting one vote would have been truly rare."

Kok Cho Lam says that after watching the nominated movies, she felt that the opponent are excellent, their performance are great, and she would be happy for whoever would win the award. She joked, "Of course I want to win myself, the best would be for my 'husband' Lau Ching Wan and 'son' So Man To to win together as a family of three; Ching Wan has perfectly demonstrated that acting can be like this, So Man To is an acting genius and not a 'fluke'. After the director finishes telling him, he has made progress in every scene and fully meets the director's requirements. For example the scene of describing the murder of his mother in court, he is so bland but also creepy."

Away from the screen for more than 30 years, Maggie Li Linlin has been nominated for the comeback movie ALL SHALL BE WELL. She is both surprised and delighted, saying that she has never thought about being nominated. This is the first time she has been nominated after more than 60 years in film, which is very meaningful and a good memory of her acting career. She says that she has agreed to play "Wu Bik Yuk" without considering the sexual orientation of the character. Instead she has found it challenging and a little trembling, worrying that her acting style is outdated and not good enough; which would tarnish the whole movie. "My previous acting method failed, but under the guidance of the director I found that acting was not too difficult. For me not to act would be difficult, it is a good experience." She smiles and says that fortunately her comprehension ability is not weak and she is able to meet the requirements of the director. However she has neither the confidence nor the extravagance to win the award, saying that the nominees are all young actors. They have their own achievements for the voters to see,. Instead she is like a newcomer.

In terms of Best Supporting Actor, MONTAGES OF A MODERN MOTHERHOOD's Lo Chun Yip is sandwiched between TWILIGHTS OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN's Louis Koo Tin Lok and Philip Ng Wan Lung, and THE LAST DANCE's Tommy Chu Pak Hong and Paul Chun Pui. Lo Chun Yip says with a smile, "MONTAGES OF A MODERN MOTHERHOOD has just been released, and in the face of two movies with a box office of over 100 million it is already well worth the price of admission. I've watched both films, and I'm very impressed by the performances of my opponents. I'm already happy to be a part of them." He says that he has been in film for more than 10 years, but the outside has only noticed him last year when he competed for Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards with TIME STILL TURNS THE PAGES (NIN SIU YUT GEI). Actually with SUK SUK, this is the third time he has been nominated for the Hong Kong Film Awards. "I have encountered a great production team that is very high quality." He does not mind being accused of being an also ran, thinking that the most important is to get to run. "The opponent's performances are really exciting, like in THE LAST TIME Chun Pui doesn't have many scenes. When he appears in the mourning hall for Hui Koon Man, you can see that he misses his friends and his regret. He is very powerful."

Chu Pak Hong won the Best Supporting Actor at the Hong Kong Film Directors' Guild Annual Awards and is the favorite. Ng Wan Lung and Koo Tin Lok played "Wong Gau" and "Tornado" in TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN. They have recently become popular in Japan. Chun Pui is a frequent guest at the Hong Kong Film Awards, and in THE LAST DANCE has fewer scenes. No one knows if that will affect the score.