13 Facts About Derek Tsang

Derek Tsang Kwok-cheung is a Hong Kong filmmaker and actor.

The son of actor Eric Tsang, Tsang got his start in the Hong Kong film industry working for director Peter Chan after graduating from University of Toronto Scarborough in 2001.

Derek Tsang made his acting debut in Men Suddenly in Black and directorial debut with Lover's Discourse, sharing the directing credit with Jimmy Wan Chi-man.

Derek Tsang was born to actor Eric Tsang and his second wife Rebecca Chu in Hong Kong on 8 November 1979.

Derek Tsang described his upbringing as mostly detached from his father's public limelight.

Derek Tsang said his father had moved out to live on his own when Tsang was a child because he had wanted to keep his personal life separate from the entertainment industry, which allowed Tsang "an ordinary, middle-class upbringing".

Derek Tsang lived with his mother, grandmother, and younger brother Mark in Mei Foo Sun Chuen before the family, excluding his father, moved to Canada when Derek Tsang was 11.

Derek Tsang received his bachelor of arts in Sociology at the University of Toronto Scarborough in 2001.

Derek Tsang made his screen debut in Men Suddenly in Black, cameoing as the younger version of his father's character.

Derek Tsang became the first native Hong Kong director in the category.

In July 2021, Derek Tsang was invited to become a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Derek Tsang said his influences are primarily derived from art-house cinema, with early influences from director Wong Kar-wai and the French New Wave, as opposed to his father Eric Derek Tsang's works, which consisted of mostly of mainstream comedies.

Derek Tsang has expressed a reluctance to cast Wong due to the negative perception of nepotism.