37 Facts About Andy Lau

Andy Lau was named the "Fourth Tiger" among the Five Tiger Generals of TVB in the 1980s as well as one of the Four Heavenly Kings in the 1990s.

In 2018, Andy Lau became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In 2024, Andy Lau was elected vice chairman of the 11th China Film Association.

Over a career of four decades, Andy Lau has been one of the most commercially and critically successful artists in the Chinese world.

Andy Lau is the fourth of six siblings and has three elder sisters, one younger sister, and a younger brother named Lau Tak-sing.

Andy Lau graduated from a Band One secondary school, Ho Lap College in San Po Kong, Kowloon.

Andy Lau was raised in a nominally Buddhist household and is a follower of the Lingyan Mountain Temple in Taiwan.

In 1980, Andy Lau enrolled in TVB's actor training program and graduated the next year, signing a contract with TVB.

Andy Lau was propelled to fame by the TVB series The Emissary.

Andy Lau's popularity soared the next year with his role as Yang Guo in the TVB wuxia series The Return of the Condor Heroes; at the end of the year, Lau was featured in the TVB Anniversary Gala Show, alongside Tony Leung, Michael Miu, Felix Wong, and Kent Tong.

Andy Lau made a guest appearance in one of Susanna Kwan's music videos in 1981 and caught the eye of the manager Teddy Robin, who gave Lau his first minor role in the film, Once Upon a Rainbow.

Andy Lau then landed a role in Ann Hui's 1982 film, Boat People.

TVB insisted on a binding five-year exclusive contract, which Andy Lau declined to sign, leading to his blacklisting by the network.

Andy Lau established himself for his performances in films such as The Truth, Wong Kar-wai's As Tears Go By and Benny Chan's film A Moment of Romance.

Andy Lau won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor award that year for Running Out of Time.

Since the early 21st century, Andy Lau has started working with filmmakers from China and beyond, notably in Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers and Feng Xiaogang's A World Without Thieves.

In 2007, Andy Lau received the "Nielsen Box Office Star of Asia" award by the Nielsen Company.

In February 2021, Andy Lau reunited with Tony Leung since the Infernal Affairs series in the action film The Goldfinger.

In 1991, Andy Lau set up his own film production company, Teamwork Motion Pictures, which in 2002 was renamed to Focus Group Holdings Limited.

Andy Lau was awarded the "Asian Filmmaker of the Year" in the Pusan International Film Festival in 2006.

The films Andy Lau has produced include Made in Hong Kong, A Simple Life, A Fighter's Blues, Crazy Stone, Firestorm and Shock Wave.

Andy Lau released his first album Just Know I Only Love You under the record label Capital Artists to minimal commercial success.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Andy Lau sang "Please Stay, Guests From Afar" alongside Jackie Chan and Emil Chau during its closing ceremony.

Andy Lau led other performers in singing and performing the song "Everyone is No 1" at the Beijing National Stadium before the 2008 Paralympics opening ceremony began.

Andy Lau sang the theme song "Flying with the Dream" with Han Hong during the Paralympics opening ceremony on 6 September 2008.

In 2022, Andy Lau set records when an online concert he held via Douyin attracted more than 350 million viewers.

Andy Lau has held concerts in Asia, North America, Europe, and Oceania, and continues to tour with an upcoming Mainland China leg set for Summer 2024.

Andy Lau has written two books, This Is How I Grew Up, an autobiography, and My 30 Work Days, a collection of his 30 personal diaries written while working on the 2011 film, A Simple Life.

The exhibit includes a sculpture which Andy Lau designed, a projection of images from his films and concerts, paintings made by him and his daughter, and works where he collaborated with other artists, such as collaborating with Hong Kong artists Sticky Line on a statue of his character from Running on Karma, collaborating with Beijing artist Xu Zhuoer in glass covered film props from A Moment of Romance, and a collaboration with ink painter where Andy Lau showcases his calligraphy.

In 2008, Andy Lau took a main role in putting together the Artistes 512 Fund Raising Campaign for relief toward the victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.

Andy Lau revealed that they had agreed to meet again ten years after their breakup and Lau honored the pact by visiting her home in Los Angeles, ringing the doorbell, and claiming that media reports about his relationship with Chu were untrue.

In 2008, Andy Lau secretly married Carol Chu in Las Vegas and acknowledged his marriage the following year, ending decades of speculation over their relationship.

In January 2017, Andy Lau sustained a serious pelvic injury after being thrown off and stomped on by a horse during a commercial shoot in Thailand.

Andy Lau made a full recovery by the end of the year.

Andy Lau was noted for his highly positive energy, his hard work and active involvement in charity works throughout his 30 years in showbiz and honoured as a "Justice of Peace" by the Hong Kong SAR government in 2008.

On 14 December 2017, Andy Lau was awarded a Doctor of Letters degree from the Hong Kong Shue Yan University, with the citation highlighting his popularity among locals which stated: "His low-key, modest, friendly and approachable personality has endeared him to millions of fans and ordinary folks alike, who consider him to be a 'heartthrob' and the 'unofficial Chief Executive of Hong Kong'".

In 2023, Andy Lau was presented with a Special Tribute award at 2023 Toronto International Film Festival.