Stephen Chow (Chinese: 周星馳, Chow Sing-Chi; born 22 June 1962) is a Hong Kong actor, screenwriter, film director, producer and political adviser of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Professional career
Chow began as a temporary actor for the television station TVB.[3][4] He entered TVB in early 1980s, and was trained there, although he had few opportunities to appear in films.[3] Chow graduated from TVB's acting classes in 1982.[5] Chow began to find some success with the children's programme 430 Space Shuttle.[6] In 1987, Chow entered into the movie industry through the film Final Justice, which won him the Taiwan Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor.[6][7]
While Chow became quite well known on TVB for his comedies (especially 1989's The Final Combat), he shot to stardom in 1990's All for the Winner. This film made him one of the most sought-after stars in the Hong Kong film industry,[6] and it's undisputed No. 1 comedian. Chow would collaborate with Ng on many of his more successful comedies, including Shaolin Soccer. Chow's comedies are of the mo lei tau genre. With his expert comic timing and "rubber-faced mannerisms",[6] Chow ranked alongside Chow Yun-fat and Jackie Chan as the major box office draws of the 1990s.[8]
In 1994 Chow began directing films, starting with From Beijing with Love, which he co-directed with Lee Lik-Chi. In the later half of the 1990s, mainland China began to warm to Stephen Chow movies. His film duology A Chinese Odyssey (1995) became (and remains) a cult classic in mainland China, baffling many Hong Kong observers, as the duology did only moderately well in Hong Kong. Nonetheless, on the mainland Chow rapidly became one of Hong Kong's most iconic film stars. [9]
In 2001 his film Shaolin Soccer grossed over 60 million HK dollars.[10] The film won Best Picture, and Chow won Best Actor and Best Director at the 2002 Hong Kong Film Awards, and the film went on to garner additional awards including a Blue Ribbon Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the Golden Bauhinia Award for Best Picture and Best Director.[11] It was his first international hit and established his reputation in the West. In 2004 he directed the film Kung Fu Hustle, which won a total of 18 awards, including the BAFTA award for Best Film not in the English Language, five Golden Horse Awards and six Hong Kong Film Awards.[12]
Chow's film CJ7 began filming in July 2006 in the eastern Chinese port of Ningbo.[13] In August 2007 the film was given the title CJ7 (長江七號 Chang Jiang qi hao), a play on China's successful Shenzhou manned space missions—Shenzhou 5 and Shenzhou 6.[14] This film introduced newcomer Kitty Zhang as his romantic lead. In 2013, Chow directed (along with Derek Kwok) the film Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, a loose adaptation of the novel of the same name. The film was a box office success, becoming the highest-grossing film ever in Chinese language film.[15]
Filmography
CJ7: The Cartoon
Ti (voice)
2009 The Founding of a Republic
2008 CJ7
Ti
2004 Kung Fu Hustle
Sing
2001 Shaolin Soccer
Mighty Steel Leg Sing
1999 The Tricky Master
Wong Si Fu
1999 King of Comedy
Wan Tin-sau
1999 Gorgeous
H.K. Police Officer
1998 The Lucky Guy
Sui
1997 Lawyer Lawyer
Chan Mon-Gut (as Steven Chow)
1997 All's Well, Ends Well 1997
Lo Kung
1996 The God of Cookery
Stephen Chow, The God of Cookery
1996 Forbidden City Cop
Ling Ling Fat (as Chiau Sing Chi)
1995 Sixty Million Dollar Man
Lee Chak-Sing
1995 Out of the Dark
Leon
1995 A Chinese Odyssey Part Two: Cinderella
Joker / Monkey King / Sunset Warrior
1995 A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box
Joker / Monkey King
1994 From Beijing with Love
Ling Ling Chat
1994 Gau ban ji ma goon ji baak min bau ching tin
Pao Lung-Sing (as Sing-chi Chow)
1994 Love on Delivery
Ho Kam-An
1993 The Mad Monk
Dragon Fighter Lo Han
1993 Flirting Scholar
Tong Pak Foo
1993 Yi ben man hua chuang tian ya II miao xiang tian kai
Cameo appearance
1993 Fight Back to School III
Star Chow, Million Wong
1992 King of Beggars
So-cha-ha-yee Chan / So Hat-Yi / Beggar So (as Sing-chi Chow)
1992 Royal Tramp II
Wei Siu-Bo / Wilson Bond (as Sing-chi Chow)
1992 Royal Tramp
Wei Siu Bo / Wilson Bond (as Sing-chi Chow)
1992 Justice, My Foot!
Sung Shih-Chieh
1992 Fight Back to School II
Chow Sing Sing (as Sing-chi Chow)
1992 All's Well, Ends Well
Shang Foon
1992 Fist of Fury 1991 II
Lau Ching (as Sing-chi Chow)
1992 The Thief of Time (TV Movie)
Dyun Siu Fei
1991 God of Gamblers II
Chow Sing Cho / 'The Saint of Gamblers'
1991 The Top Bet
Chow Sing Cho / 'The Saint of Gamblers' (uncredited)
1991 God of Gamblers III: Back to Shanghai
Chow Sing Cho / 'The Saint of Gamblers' (as Sing-chi Chow)
1991 The Magnificent Scoundrels
Valentino / 'Jackie'
1991 Fight Back to School
Star Chow
1991 Crazy Safari
Narrator (Cantonese version)
1991 Fist of Fury 1991
Lau Ching / Chow Sing Cho, 'The Saint of Gamblers' (as Sing-chi Chow)
1991 Legend of the Dragon
Chow Siu-Lung
1991 Tricky Brains
Koo Jing / Chi Man-Jing
1990 Yi ben man hua: Chuang tian ya
Sing
1990 Triad Story
Sin (as Sing Chi Chow)
1990 When Fortune Smiles
Vincent Han
1990 Look Out, Officer!
Hsing
1990 Xiao tou a xing
Sing
1990 Curry and Pepper
Pepper / Officer Shao Wen
1990 The Unmatchable Match
Cheung Lon / Cockroach
1990 Lung Fung Restaurant
Rubbish Pool
1990 Love Is Love
1990 All for the Winner
Chow Sing Cho / 'The Saint of Gamblers' (as Sing-chi Chow)
1989 Liu mang chai po
Sui Yien
1989 Ta loi ji kong wu (TV Series)
Ho Kam-shui
1989 Just Heroes
'Jacky' Yuen Kei-hao
1989 Dragon Fight
Andy Yau (as Sing-Chi Chow)
1989 Pik lik sin fung
Ah Wai (as Stephen Chiau)
1989 File Noir (TV Series) (1989)
1989 Koi saai ho haap (TV Series)
Dun Fei
1988 Faithfully Yours
Puddin Lai
1988 Bo fung hon ji
1988 The Last Conflict (TV Movie)
Lau Ting Kin
1987 Sung meng chi loi (TV Series)
1986 A Better Tomorrow
Taiwanese Triad
1983 But dou san hung (TV Series)
1983 Joi geen sup gao sui (TV Series)
1982 The Legend of Master So (TV Series)
1982 Heung sing long ji (TV Series)
1982 Wut lik sap jat (TV Series)
1982 She diao ying xiong zhuan (TV Series)
1981 Nui wor hang dong (TV Series)
Assistant to Lillian Turner
Awards
Awards won
Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival
2005: Silver Scream Award for Kung Fu Hustle
Asia Pacific Film Festival
1999: Best Actor for Justice, My Foot
Blue Ribbon Awards
2003: Best Foreign Language Film for Shaolin Soccer
Boston Society of Film Critics Awards
2003: Best Foreign Language Film for Kung Fu Hustle
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards
2003: Best Foreign Language Film for Kung Fu Hustle
Florida Film Critics Circle Awards
2003: Best Foreign Language Film for Kung Fu Hustle
Golden Bauhinia Awards
2002: Best Director for Shaolin Soccer
Golden Horse Awards
1988: Best Supporting Actor for Final Justice
2005: Best Picture for Kung Fu Hustle
2005: Best Director for Kung Fu Hustle
Hong Kong Film Awards
2002: Best Picture for Shaolin Soccer
2002: Best Director for Shaolin Soccer
2002: Best Actor for Shaolin Soccer
2002: Best New Director for Shaolin Soccer
2005: Best Picture for Kung Fu Hustle
Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards
1995: Best Actor for A Chinese Odyssey Part One: Pandora's Box
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards
2003: Best Foreign Language Film for Kung Fu Hustle
Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards
2003: Best Foreign Language Film for Kung Fu Hustle
BAFTA Awards
2006: nomination: Best Film not in the English Language for Kung Fu Hustle
Golden Globe Award
2006: nomination: Best Foreign Language Film for Kung Fu Hustle
Influence
Throughout the 1990s, Chow made lots of famous movies and his movie style became known as Mo lei tau, which means mindless; a rather crass form of humour he often employs in movies. Chow often casts relatively new young actresses to play opposite him, especially as romantic leads, and many of these actresses have gone on to have successful film or music careers of their own. These actresses are collectively called the "Sing girls", and include Karen Mok, Zhao Wei, Sharla Cheung, Athena Chu, Michelle Reis, Christy Chung, Gigi Leung, Cecilia Cheung, Huang Shengyi, and Zhang Yuqi.[18]
