Andy Lau Tak-wah (劉德華 Liu Dehua in Hanyu Pinyin, born 27 September 1961 in Tai Po, Hong Kong) is a Hong Kong actor and Cantopop singer with a prolific cinematic career.
Born in 1961, Lau began his acting career in the early 1980s, with a lead role in the TVB series The Emissary and, in 1983, in the feature film On the Wrong Track. While his early fame was mostly due to his good looks and he was often typecast in gangster roles, he proved his acting talent by playing in art-house movies like Wong Kar-wai's As Tears Go By in 1988 and Days of Being Wild in 1990. He earned name recognition among international audiences with The Infernal Affairs Trilogy and House of Flying Daggers; he has also played the title character of Detective Dee, and starred in a Chinese remake of What Women Want.
He is also one of the first Hong Kong celebrities to have an asteroid named in his honour. Namely, Asteroid 55381 Lautakwah. Yes, really.
He has several times been approached to play in Hollywood movies, but as fate would have it, Lau either rejected itnote or it's the other way aroundnote .
Andy Lau's Selected Films:
- As Tears Go By (1988)
- A Battle of Wits (2006)
- Bloody Brotherhood (1989)
- China White (1989)
- Days of Being Wild (1990)
- Detective Dee (2010)
- The Dragon Family (1988)
- Dragon In Jail (1990)
- Drunken Master III (1994)
- Firestorm (2013) (2013)
- Fulltime Killer (2001)
- Future Cops (1993)
- Future X Cops (2010)
- Gangland Odyssey (1990)
- God of Gamblers (1989)
- Godfathers of Hong Kong (1991)
- The Great Wall (2017)
- Gun n' Rose (1992)
- A Home Too Far (1990) - Lau appears in the first movie
- House of Flying Daggers (2004)
- The Infernal Affairs Trilogy (2002 - 04)
- Island of Fire (1990)
- The Magic Crystal (1988)
- A Moment Of Romance (1990) - Lau appears in the first and third movies, although he plays different characters
- Moon Warriors (1993)
- My Lucky Stars (1983) - Lau appears in the third movie Twinkle, Twinkle, Lucky Stars and one of the spinoffs, Lucky Stars Go Places
- On the Wrong Track (1983)
- Protege (2008)
- Proud and Confident (1989)
- Return Engagement (1990)
- Rich and Famous (1987)
- Running Out of Time (1999) (1999)
- The Saviour of the Soul duology (1991-92)
- Shanghai Grand (1996)
- Shockwave (2017)
- A Taste of Killing and Romance (1994)
- Three Against the World (1988)
- Three Kingdoms: Resurrection Of The Dragon (2008)
- Tian Di (1994) - also known as Heaven and Earth. Not to be confused with the Oliver Stone film of the same name.
- Tragic Hero (1987)
- Tricky Brains (1991)
- The Warlords (2008)
- Shaolin (2010)