No one in the Hong Kong entertainment industry knows that Stephen Chow and Tony Leung Chiu Wai both came from TVB’s acting training course, and their relationship goes beyond just acquaintance.
However, when the two became Hong Kong’s top actors, they never cooperated once, sparking rumors that Tony Leung and Chow Chow had a grudge that led to them falling out with each other.
Once a Hong Kong reporter mentioned this to Tony Leung, and Leung replied: `I will not act in a movie with Chow. Because Chow’s movie only has one main character.`
This statement further spread rumors of friction between the two actors.
Close together because of acting, separated also because of acting
Chow and Tony Leung Chiu Wai knew and were close long before entering TVB’s training class.
The two actors were born in 1962 and grew up in poor neighborhoods in Hong Kong.
Chow and Tony Leung quickly became close friends because they had many things in common.
Sharing the same passion for martial arts, Chau Tinh Tri and Tony Leung Trieu Wai also invited Ly Kien Nhan – the famous `Miss Nhu Hoa` character in the movie Tinh Gia – to film together naughtily to fulfill their dream.
Chau Tinh Tri once recalled that he still remembered when he played the villain and Trieu Vy played the hero.
In an interview, Chau Tinh Tri’s mother also said that Tony Leung Trieu Wai knew Chau’s second sister so she often came over to visit, making them even closer.
In his youth, Tony Leung used to be a household appliance salesman, with a fairly stable job.
Despite her mother’s objections, Tony Leung quit her job and followed Chow to study acting.
It was so miserable for a friend, back then, he always had to open my mind, daily drawing before my eyes a strange but glorious future.
I was very grateful to that friend, but my mother was very angry.
To this day, I still remember clearly what my mother said: `If you’re a bad boy, I won’t give you any money.`
This is also the reason Tony Leung Trieu Vy once said he was indebted to Chau Tinh Tri for the rest of his life because if he didn’t have a friend to invite him, he would probably just be a salesman all his life.
In 1982, Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Chau Tinh Tri both took the exam for TVB’s 11th acting course, but ironically, Luong passed immediately and Chau failed.
It took a year for Chau Tinh Tri to take the exam again and pass.
God really knows how to tease these two friends.
Just entering TVB, Luong was accepted as the MC of the children’s program 430 Space Shuttle.
At the same time, Chau Tinh Tri struggled for four consecutive years to apply for public roles.
Tony Leung soon became one of TVB’s Five Tiger Generals in the 80s, while Chow didn’t really become famous until 1990.
Those who have seen Chau Tinh Tri’s recently released movie The New King of Comedy must remember the character of Nhu Mong’s beautiful roommate, who easily became a star based only on her beauty.
The `gentleman’s friendship` friendship
Actually, the relationship between Chow and Tony Leung Chiu Wai is not as bad as people rumored.
In 2001, when Tony Leung won the Best Actor award at the Hong Kong Golden Elephant Film Festival with the movie In the Mood for Love, Chow was the first person to shake hands and congratulate his best friend on stage.
That same year, when Tony Leung became the first Asian actor to win the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, Chow and his sister were also present in France with Leung to open wine to celebrate.
When Chau Tinh Tri had his 40th birthday, Tony Leung, who was filming a movie, quickly flew from abroad to Hong Kong to celebrate his birthday with Tinh Tri.
The relationship between Chow and Tony Leung Chiu Wai does not need to be shown to the public.
And when Tony Leung said he wouldn’t act in a movie with Chow, perhaps he just meant that the Tinh family was the only star in his works.