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Andy Lau in a festival. photo by mR.Hom-

Top 10 Interesting Facts about Andy Lau

Andy Lau Tak-wah was born on 27 September 1961.  He is a Hong Kong actor, singer-songwriter, and film producer. He has been one of Hong Kong’s most commercially successful film actors since the 80s. He has performed in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time.

He applied for the artist training program offered by TVB. While training, Lau also started to perform in their TV series, including fight scenes. While Lau has limited classical martial art training, he has mastered performing choreography.

The training took one year. During the year there were various examinations and tests that the students had to pass.  He successfully graduated from the academy and progressed to become a TVB artist.

After appearing on television for a year, Lau moved into films and in 1983, landed his first leading role in a Shaw Brothers film 鈥� 鈥淥n The Wrong Track鈥�.

1. He fell off a horse as he was filming a scene for a commercial

A picture of the Japanese actor Koji Matoba was taken at the annual parade. Image by BrianAdler-

Actors go through a lot during sets and commercials. Some actors who are involved in dangerous stunts get a stunt double. Some act out the scenes themselves.

Lau was in such a situation when he was shooting a commercial. He was on top of a horse when it threw him off unexpectedly and then stomped on him. He was unable to move after the accident and was immediately rushed to a hospital.

Fearfully, he had been thought to have suffered serious spinal fractures. He was later found to have sustained a pelvic laceration but has undergone immediate treatment. It just goes to show how committed actors can be to give us an excellent show.

2. Andy Lau is in the Guinness Book of World Records

The Guinness Book of Records. image by KrasseChecker-

For his contributions, a wax figure of Lau was unveiled on 1 June 2005 at Madame Tussauds Hong Kong.

He also entered into Guinness World Records for “Most Awards Won by a Cantopop Male Artist”. By April 2000, he had already won a total unprecedented 292 awards.

3. He is a vegetarian

Lau is committed to his family. This was shown when he decided to switch dietary paths to follow his Malaysian wife Carol Chu and eight-year-old daughter Hanna, both of whom are vegetarians.

He claimed that he felt strange to be the only one eating meat in the family. He also abstains from starch and sugar to prepare for his live shows. Maybe that is the reason the 59-year-old still looks like he pretty much did in his heyday in the 1990s, despite spending 39 years in showbiz living it up.

4. Lau married his wife in 2008, after 24 years of being together

Lau and his now wife put a shame on long-term engagements. They dated for almost two and a half decades before he finally put a ring on it!

They got married in 2008.  Four years later, they had their first child, a baby girl called Hanna.

Carol Chu Lai-Chien is a Malaysian Chinese entertainer and former model. They currently live together in a detached house in Kadoorie Hill.

5. He has a successful musical career too

Andy Lau in a concert. Image by Huandy618-

Talk of a man with many talents. The man is a good actor has good looks and can sing! During the 1980鈥檚 he worked in both television and film. He became very popular.

Being ever hard-working, he still got time to start his musical career and has released over 50 albums since then. These include 5 albums in 1991 alone! He has won many awards in the music scene.

He performed alongside Jackie Chan when they sang during the closing ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics. They also performed in the Paralympics Opening Ceremony of 2008.

6. Andy Lau was scouted from a music video

Andy Lau in a concert, image by Huandy618-

Lau’s break in the acting career came unusually. He appeared in a music video in 1981. He spotted and offered a minor role in the 1981 film 鈥淥nce Upon a Rainbow鈥�. This in turn led him to a role in the 1982 film 鈥淏oat People鈥�, and in 1983 he secured his first leading role in the film 鈥淥n the Wrong Track鈥�.

After that, he was extremely busy as he would appear in two to four films per year during the early to mid-1980. In 1988 he concentrated on his film career landing roles in 10 films and then 16 films. Now he has been in over 100 films, starring in a majority of them.

7. Andy Lau is from rags to riches story

When he was six, his family moved out of their farm into the urban slum around Diamond Hill. At 11, his family home was gutted by fire, which resulted in the relocation to several squatter areas around the then British colony.

While growing up, Lau had to fetch water for his family eight times a day because their house was not equipped with plumbing.

When he finally got into acting, he became an artiste with Hong Kong’s leading television station TVB and rose meteorically to become one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop.  He subsequently appeared in numerous blockbuster movies at the height of the Hong Kong film industry in the 1990s. today he is worth millions.

8. He is among the group of the five tigers

Photo by Jakob Owens on

In the 鈥�80s, TVB had the Five Tigers. This was a group of young actors deemed the most promising among the broadcaster鈥檚 menagerie of stars.

The actors were Andy Lau, Tony Leung, Michael Miu, Felix Wong, and Kent Tong. They did not disappoint as they all went on to become the most popular leading men of that era.

Lau even got anointed a Heavenly King in the 鈥�90s and is still one of the biggest stars in the world.

9. Andy Lau hasn鈥檛 eaten rice in 10 years

Asians are known for their love of rice. Lau has abstained from rice for a decade. This was in line with his abstinence from starch. Much has been said about Heavenly King Lau Andy Lau鈥檚 age-defying looks over the years. He doesn鈥檛 just practice intermittent fasting and keep to a vegetarian diet; he abstains from white rice too.    

His abstinence is owed to his want to be in his best state. He practices self-discipline.  This could have contributed to the glamorous look that has kept him so popular even after 40 years!

10. He has been accused of plagiarism on several occasions

A Hong Kong poster of Firestorm in Hong Kong’s Pacific Place mall. photon by Ominae-

Lau found himself on the wrong side of things when he was accused of plagiarism. He was sued for 99.9mil Yuan (S$21mil) by Chinese director Gou Yusheng for allegedly copying his ideas and using them in two movies, The White Storm 2: Drug Lords and Our Times.

Yusheng claimed that the relationships between the characters, the movie’s ending, and the camera techniques employed in The White Storm 2: Drug Lords, which was produced by Andy, were identical to his 2006 movie Wan Mei Qing Ren (Perfect Lover).

He also added it was not the first time Lau had copied his work. He claimed that he met Lau in 2007 to discuss a movie script. A similar movie came up in 2015 where Lau was an investor.

Lau denied the claims.

In another instance, Lau apologized after a video ad campaign he featured in was accused of plagiarism. A Chinese vlogger, 鈥淏eida Mange鈥�, posted a clip

The advertising agency responsible for the campaign M&C Saatchi has since admitted to directly using and promised to do its best to make up for his loss. Andy also issued a statement apologizing for the same.