Chow Yun Fat is a charismatic, athletically built and energetic Asian-born film star who first came to the attention of western audiences via his roles in the high-octane/blazing guns action films of maverick HK director 'John Woo . His wide appeal can be seen in his "boy next door" type of personality and his ability to play such a broad spectrum of roles from a comedic buffoon to a lovestruck Romeo to a trigger-happy professional killer. A highly entertaining and gifted actor with dynamic on-screen presence, Chow continues to remain in strong demand in many film markets.
Won Hong Kong Academy "Best Actor" Awards Three Times: A Better Tomorrow, 1987. City On Fire, 1988, All About Ah Long, 1990.
Won Taiwan Golden Horse "Best Actor" Awards Two Times: Hong Kong 1941, 1985. An Autumns Tale, 1987.
Won Asian Pacific Festival "Best Actor" Award for Hong Kong 1941, 1985.
Chow Yun-Fat was born of the Hakkha (aka Ha Ka) race, an ethnic group from China that has moved from one region to another without taking up permanent residence since the ancient times. The Hakkha dialect is now the second most popular dialect in Taiwan.
CineAsia, the Asian Theatre Owners Convention, named Chow the Star of the Decade.
Turned down the role of Morpheus in The Matrix .
Chosen one of 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine in 2002.
Before going to work on a movie each day, he goes to the nearest market and buys some fresh fruit.
Sponsors a lot of charity events such as "National Wildlife" and many others.
Unusually tall by Chinese standards, he was often a head taller than his co-stars in his Hong Kong films, female or male.
Tri-lingual, speaking Cantonese, Mandarin, and English.
Credited as Chow Anderson in the Philippines in his earlier films.
He helped Andy Lau in his movie career, after it almost crashed when he refused to sign a contract with TVB, which made him blacklisted from Hong Kong Television.
He and Andy Lau made 4 movies together: Ying hung ho hon , Gong woo ching , Dou san , and Dou hap . They also made two TV-series together: "Yang ka cheung" and "Sou hat yi" .
After a first unsuccessful marriage with a fellow Hong Kong star actress, he fell in love and re-married the daughter of one of the richest Chinese dynastic scions from Singapore.
Attempted suicide over the break-up after 5-year (1978-1983) romance with popular TV star Idy Chan.
Enjoys photography. His elder sister also is a photographer.
Made a surprise cameo in the hit Chinese independent film Du zi deng dai .
In the West audiences think I am a stereotyped action star, or that I,always play hitmen or killers. But in Hong Kong, I did a lot of comedy,many dramatic films, and most of all, romantic roles, lots of love,stories. I was like a romance novel hero.
