Tony Leung



Tony Leung (real name 梁朝偉 Liang Chaowei, and sometimes referred to as Tony Leung Chiu-wai to differentiate him from actor Tony Leung Ka-fai) is one of the most famous Chinese actors, equally at ease in romantic stories and Wuxia swashbucklers.

Born in Hong Kong in 1962, he starred in a number of TV shows during the second half of the 1980s, and got his cinematic break in 1989 by playing in Hou Hsiao-Hsien's City Of Sadness. In 1991 he collaborated for the first of many times with director Wong Kar-wai in Days Of Being Wild, in which he co-starred alongside Maggie Cheung with whom he had already worked as a TV actor (and would work again on several other occasions); he has stated that he considers Cheung his female alter ego.

He worked with Wong again on Ashes Of Time in 1993, Chungking Express in 1994, Happy Together in 1997, In the Mood for Love in 2000 and 2046 in 2004. He has also done another film with Hou, Flowers of Shanghai, and worked with other high-profile directors such as Zhang Yimou (Hero), Ang Lee (Lust, Caution) and John Woo (Red Cliff).

He is not related to Katie Leung.