34 Facts About Andy Lau

Andy Lau has been one of Hong Kong's most commercially successful film actors since the mid-1980s, performing in more than 160 films while maintaining a successful singing career at the same time.

Andy Lau holds numerous film acting awards, having won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor three times and the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor twice.

On 25 June 2018, Andy Lau was invited to be a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Andy Lau was born in Tai Po, Hong Kong, a son of a fireman Lau Lai.

Andy Lau was the fourth child of the family; he has three elder sisters, one younger sister, and a younger brother named Lau Tak-sing.

Andy Lau's family was considered to be wealthy as his grandfather was a landowner, but his father left with him to the slums of Diamond Hill when he was six, where the area was full of wooden houses, and was burnt down when he was eleven.

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

Andy Lau was named as Lau Fook-wing during his academic years.

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

In 1981, Andy Lau signed up for the artist training program offered by TVB, which is where his acting career began.

TVB wanted to bind him to an exclusive five-year contract which Andy Lau refused to sign, so TVB blacklisted him.

In 1981, Andy Lau made a guest appearance in one of Susanna Kwan's music videos and caught the eye of the manager Teddy Robin.

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

However, Andy Lau is best known in films for his recurring roles as a "Heroic Gangster", such as Wong Kar-wai's 1988 film As Tears Go By and Benny Chan's 1990 film A Moment of Romance.

Andy Lau has proved his acting skills in many of his films.

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

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 big-budget action film Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong, backed by Emperor Motion Pictures and mainland Chinese partners, with a reported budget of around $30.8 million.

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

Some films Andy Lau has produced include award-winning films, Made in Hong Kong and A Simple Life, his 100th film, A Fighter's Blues, the Chinese digital film Crazy Stone, and big budget action blockbusters, Firestorm and Shock Wave.

Andy Lau released his first album "Only Know that I Still Love You" under Capital Artists in 1985.

Andy Lau's singing career reached stellar status in 1990 with the release of the album entitled "Would It Be Possible", and his subsequent releases only solidified his status as a marketable singer.

Andy Lau then won at least one RTHK award category every year consecutively until the year 2007.

Andy Lau was entered into the Guinness World Records for "Most Awards Won by a Cantopop Male Artist".

Andy Lau sang alongside Jackie Chan during a part of the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony on 24 August 2008.

Andy Lau led other performers in singing and performing the song "Everyone is No 1" at the Beijing National Stadium just a few hours 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.

Andy Lau is alleged to have been featured as a non-player character as a random pedestrian in a sandbox-style action video game called Prototype.

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.

In 2008, Andy Lau married Malaysian Chinese Carol Chu after 24 years of speculation over their relationship.

In January 2017, Andy Lau was seriously injured after being thrown off and stomped by a horse during a commercial shoot in Khao Lak, an area three hours outside of Thailand's capital city, Bangkok.

However, Andy Lau was able to fully return to work in August 2017, stating he has recovered 95 per cent from his injuries and has fully recovered 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'".