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Stephen Chow

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File:Stephen chow sing chi011.jpg

Stephen Chow (traditional Chinese : 周星馳 ; simplified Chinese : 周星驰; Cantonese Romanization: Chow Sing Chi ; pinyin : Zhōu Xīngchí) (born June 22 1962) is a highly popular Hong Kong actor and director, whose expertise in the comedic field led him to be dubbed the "king of comedy" by the Hong Kong entertainment media.

Professional Career

He learned his trade at the Shaw Brothers TVB acting school, and co-hosted a popular Hong Kong children's program, 430 Shuttle, as a character named "Black and White Vampire", alongside future star Tony Leung Chiu Wai. His early film career was largely centred on dramatic roles, but his performance in Jeff Lau's smash-hit All For The Winner (1990) (賭聖) launched him almost exclusively into comedy films.

His subsequent films built on this success, developing his distinct brand of humour called "mo lei tau" (無厘頭) (approximately meaning "nonsense" or "no brained") which makes frequent use of euphemism and double entendres in Cantonese slang. He regularly demonstrated his talent for improvisation, suggesting gags to directors to enhance the comedy, often leading to rewrites of the script. By 1994 he was writing and directing some of his own films.

The films themselves often followed a similar template: portraying an underachiever who beats the odds or an arrogant overachiever who is humbled and learns a lesson. Fight Back to School (1991), From Beijing With Love (1994) (國產零零漆) and God of Cookery (1996) (食神) are notable examples. Sometimes his films would have a period setting, but still exhibit the same style of contemporary humour, for instance in Justice, My Foot (1992) (審死官) and Flirting Scholar (1993).

Occasionally Chow would break from this mould: one of his more serious films is A Chinese Odyssey (1994), loosely based on the classic Chinese story Journey to the West. Although still essentially a comedy, Chow himself was able to develop his character more seriously than usual. It was a box-office smash in Hong Kong and has developed a cult following in Mainland China.

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Stephen Chow as Sing in Kung Fu Hustle

Recent films have begun to focus on comedic action and special effects sequences instead of verbal humour, to appeal to a wider international audience. The film which launched him in the West is Shaolin Soccer (2001), which makes heavy use of CGI and is directed by Chow himself. Kung Fu Hustle (2004) is also directed by Chow and in February 2005 went on to surpass Shaolin Soccer as the highest grossing domestic movie in Hong Kong.

Chow attempted to take Canadian citizenship, but he was denied by Canadian immigration due to his possible links to triads in Hong Kong.

Trivia

  • Almost every movie that Stephen Chow stars in has his character named "Sing" 星 in it. Sing is a part of his real Chinese name and means star. Sometimes one of his characters has "Chow Sing" in it.
  • Chow learned Kung Fu on TV when he was young because his parents couldn't afford lessons. He enjoys watching Kung Fu lessons.
  • There is often an ugly bearded transvestite in cameo appearance in his films, and the role is almost always portrayed by Kin-yan Lee, a personal friend.
  • Chow is a big fan of Bruce Lee, and his films often contain references to the late actor. Chow learned Wing Chun as a youth, an offshoot of Shaolin Kung Fu.
  • Chow often collaborated with Lee Lik-chee (李力持) and Vincent Kok (谷德昭), both actors and directors, in the early stage of his career.

Quotes

  • "一個字 — 絕!" (One word — Excellent!)
  • "你估我唔到!" (You can't figure me out!), from God of Cookery (1996) (食神)
  • "你睇我唔到!" (You can't see me!), from God of Gambler II (1991) (賭聖)
  • "Ladies and Gentlemen, five Aces!", from God of Gambler II (1991) (賭聖)
  • "波並唔係咁踢既" (This is not the way to play football!), from Shaolin Soccer (2001)
  • "地球很危險，你快點回去火星吧" (Our Earth is dangerous, go back to Mars asap), from Shaolin Soccer (2001)
  • "曾經有一份至真嘅愛情放在我面前，我冇珍惜，等到失去嘅時候先後悔莫及，人世間最痛苦的事莫過於此，如果個天可以比多次機會我嘅話，我會對嗰個女孩子說三個字：我愛妳。如果一定要係依份愛上加一個期限，我希望是一萬年！" (There once was a true love presented before me; I didn't cherish it. Only upon losing that love did I feel great remorse. The worst pain in life is no more than this. If fate can grant me a second chance, I will say three words to her: "I love you." If there must be a time limit, I wish... ... 10,000 years!) from A Chinese Odyssy II-Cinderella (1994) (西游记大结局之仙履奇缘)

Filmography

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Video CDs featuring Stephen Chow; from top left: A Chinese Odyssey Part 1 Pandora's Box, A Chinese Odyssey Part 2 Cinderella, Royal Tramp II, Justice My Foot, All's Well End's Well, The Tricky Master

As actor, includes:

See also

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