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| Joyce Tang with BACK TO THE PAST is competing for the Hong Kong Film Awards Best Supporting Actress, a milestone in her career |
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| Ali Lee with her intricate performance in GOLDEN BOY competes for an award |
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| Locker Lam after years in the business has finally made a name for himself and cannot hide his joy |
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As the "triple golden Best Supporting Actor" Ben Yuen is seen as the favorite courtesy of on.cc |
The 44th Hong Kong Film Awards will be held at the Tsim Sha Tsui
Cultural Centre on Sunday (April 19th), and the awards will be unveiled.
The competition for this year's "Best Supporting Actress" is fierce,
with a 30 year veteran in the business Joyce Tang Lai Ming and a rising
star Elizabeth Tang To against the winner of countless awards Nina Paw
Hee Ching. Facing the Best Actress-level opponent, Tang Lai Ming would
face normally whether she will win the award or not, and felt that being
nominated was already a recognition, and she has unlocked her acting
career achievement!
Entering the industry after participating in New Talent, Tang
Lai Ming (Ah Tung) has participated in many classic dramas after
moving to the TV industry. They included ARMED REACTION, A KINDRED
SPIRIT, COME HOME LOVE: LO AND BEHOLD, and A STEP INTO THE PAST. On the
big day of "entering five (turning fifty)" this year, she was nominated
for the Hong Kong Film Awards for "Best Supporting Actress" for the
movie version of BACK TO THE PAST. The good news was a great surprise
for her! Actually Ah Tung has long been associated with the film
industry, at the beginning of her career she has worked on THOSE WERE
THE DAYS (SEI GOR 32A WOR YUT GOR HEUNG JIU SIU NIN) and LOST AND FOUND
(TIN NGAI HOI GOK), but after many years she returned to the film
industry to participate in BACK TO THE PAST 6 years ago.
For the film awards ceremony this time, Ah Tung bluntly said
that she felt quite special and felt that the timing was just right.
"It is unexpected that I can step onto the big screen 30 years later.
Thank you very much Boss Koo (Koo Tin Lok). Without him, the TV version
would not become a movie version. He is even able to summon so many
people to shoot, which feels a bit like a dream." In the industry for
60 years, Paw Hee Ching this time leveled down to play support with
SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT. Ah Tung would competed for the award normally.
"The opponents are so strong, in terms of my acting career I have
already unlocked an achievement. The nomination is a recognition and I
feel so honored, just like back then when my New Talent opponent was
(Eason) Chan Yik Shun!"
When asked if she was confident of winning the award, Ah Tung
said frankly, "Of course, I want to take an award to thank Boss Koo and
bring good memories to everyone. This time every one of us actors
firmly stuck to our posts, I haven't seen such enthusiasm in a long
time. Actually when compared with individual awards, I want to win
'Best Film' more." Would she invite her husband, who rarely appeared,
to accompany her and participate in the event? She laughed and said, "I
have invited him, but he has already rejected me and said he would
support me at home!" He also revealed that she would wear something
tailor-made for her. "It must not be sexy, keep the 'Sin Yau' (BACK
film character) mode. This is also my mode, haha!"
As for Paw Hee Ching who is currently filming the movie WING BUT
HEI YIN (NEVER GIVE UP) in Malaysia, conceivably she would have to fight
until the last moment before she could return to Hong Kong to
participate in the event. She won the Hong Kong Film Award in 2009 for
her starring role in THE WAY WE ARE (TIN SHUI WAI DIK YUT YU YEH), has
competed for "Best Supporting Actress" 6 times with many films over the
years, but unfortunately all of them failed. This time she returned
with a breakthrough performance in SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT as a
mysterious gun upgrade expert, completely turning around her past
"official mother" image. In addition while working with gods like Louis
Koo Tin Lok and Takeshi Kaneshiro (Gum Sing Mo), she was fully present
with foul language mixed in. Naturally her chance of winning is seen
higher! She said in an interview, "In the world of cinema, I am a
veritable supporting actress. After this movie was completed for a few
years, I remember it was my 'virgin foul language' work and it felt very
fresh." As for Ah Tung's other fierce rival Tang To, she staged a
passionate bed scene with her female co-star in GIRLFRIENDS (NUI HAI BUT
PING FAN) and competed for "Best Supporting Actress" and "Best New
Performer" at the same time. She humbly said that she still lacked
performance, and being able to join the team this time was like winning
the lottery!
Competing for the "Best New Performer" at the Hong Kong Film
Awards for the movie GOLDEN BOY (GUM TUNG), Ali Lee Kai Sum described
being nominated this time as getting an "admission ticket", symbolizing
that she has officially entered the film industry, and stated that she
would learn anew with the mentality of "returning to zero" in the film
world.
Ali won the television Best Actress award in 2018 with the drama
WHO WANTS A BABY and starred in many dramas, including BIG WHITE DUEL,
BEAUTY AND THE BOSS and AI ROMANTIC, etc. Her acting skills have been
highly recognized. At the end of 2024, she left TVB and set up her own
shop, willing to take on more new challenges. She ushered in 2026 with
the good news of being nominated for the Hong Kong Film Awards. She
stated that at first when she saw her name on the nomination list, she
was greatly surprised. She also said, "Yet ever greater was a type of
reminder, reminding me that no matter how long I have acted, how many
years I have been on television, I am still a newcomer. I have to
learn anew completely inside and out. I am reminded of how matter at
what age, I have to have a state of mind of returning to zero and
learning anew." She said that she wanted the most to challenge the
works or roles of human nature. "I really like to play characters with
depth, variety, and can reflect the multifaceted aspects of the
characters, such as psychiatrists, mental patients, or some ethical
relationships, more complex emotions, or extreme emotions. I am very
interested in them, and I really want the challenge." She said that she
used to put too much pressure on herself, but now she would turn the
pressure into motivation as she would hopefully enjoy each role.
In terms of this year's "Best Supporting Actor", the nominees
include THE UNIDENTIFIED MURDERS (UFO LEI KEI MING ONG)'s Peter Chan
Charm Man, DUMPLING QUEEN (SHUI GAU WONG HAU)'s Ben Yuen Fu Wah, CIAO,
UFO (JOI GEIN UFO)'s Wong Yau Nam, SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT (FUNG LUM FOR
SHAN)'s Alex To Tak Wai and FIGHT FOR TOMORROW (PING MING SAM LONG)'s
Locker Lam Ka Hei, all of whom are close in strength.
Among them Locker was originally the second choice, replacing
MIRROR member Ian Chan Cheuk Yon in the film FIGHT, but with this he was
nominated for the Hong Kong Film Awards for the first time. He finally
made a name for himself after 12 years in the industry. He stated that
at the moment he received the good news his tears erupted and admitted
that he really wanted to win. In the future he would make even more
good movies. He recalled, "When I found out I was nominated, my
emotions were very complex. I was so happy that it would be hard to
describe!" After talking with his girlfriend Marf Yau Yin Tung, he
immediately took a cold bath to calm down. "As a Hong Kong actor, being
nominated for the Hong Kong Film Awards is definitely a milestone. I
have completed a huge report card!" As for being the only nominee from
the film, he said that he had an important responsibility. "Actually the
whole team has had a very hard time, it has been preparing for 7 years
and the budget was small. In addition it has gone through multiple
revisions and replaced people many times. After joining the group, I
only had 3 weeks to get into the shape of a Muay Thai fighter. The
filming progress was rushed, and it took more than 10 days to complete
the shooting, so controlling the time and physical fitness were the most
difficult."
As for Locker's rival Ben Yuen Fu Wah, he is the first "triple
golden supporting actor" in the business with the Hong Kong Film Awards,
Taiwan Golden Horse Awards and Mainland Golden Rooster Awards, which has
been both motivation and pressure for him. Each time he has accepted a
role, no matter the size he would put all his thought into the
performance. He has already won the "Best Supporting Actor" at the
Golden Rooster Awards for DUMPLING. Now the race has moved to the Hong
Kong Film Awards, so he will naturally be seen as the favorite.
His opponent Alex To Tak Wai's role as a crazy boss in SONS,
which seems to be more focused than his role "Uncle Tang Shui", Ben
said, "The voters must have their own perspectives and indicators, and
each character's interpretation is related to the setting of their own
role. Mr. To's role needs to be explosive and interpreted openly;
'Uncle Tang Shui' is a sketch type, the character must hide his
kindness just right to help the director tell the story. These voters
would take into account. In the past there have been many reserved
characters who have won awards, such as SUK SUK's Tai Bo and
THE WAY WE ARE (TIN SHUI WAI DIK YUT YU YEH)'s Paw Hee Ching. Their
characters aren't explosive. Of course, the actors who are nominated
must be good, and the best would be for all 5 to win awards!"