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Ashlyn Chak

This is the 80th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades.
Surviving Hong Kong’s ruthless entertainment industry is a rare feat; doing so while wholly redefining your public image is nearly unprecedented. Yet, Charlene “Ah Sa” Choi Cheuk-yin has managed to do both.
Debuting in 2001 as one half of the Cantopop duo Twins alongside Gillian Chung Yan-tung, Choi became a household name overnight. But her journey from teenage pop idol to respected actress was marked by intense public scrutiny.
Forced to navigate the fallout from a 2008 media scandal that sidelined her closest collaborator, alongside the tabloid frenzy surrounding her own secret marriage, Choi has spent the past 25 years meticulously transforming her narrative from a manufactured pop princess into a fiercely independent, award-winning leading lady.
A whirlwind rise to Cantopop royalty
Born in November 1982 in Vancouver, Canada, Choi moved to Hong Kong as a young child and studied at prestigious local schools. As a Form Three student, she started modelling, which caught the attention of Emperor Entertainment Group (EEG), her label to this day.
At age 17, Choi made her acting debut in the RTHK television drama Youth@Y2K (2000). In 2001, she starred in the anthology romance Heroes in Love then played a cancer patient in Funeral March, which earned her a best new performer nomination at the 21st Hong Kong Film Awards.

The early 2000s were a whirlwind for Twins. Their self-titled debut EP went platinum in weeks, and by the age of 19, Choi had become the youngest female musician to perform at the Hong Kong Coliseum. Despite surviving on only a few hours’ sleep each night, she kept up an optimistic front as Twins conquered both local music awards and the Mandopop market.
Simultaneously, Choi steadily earned her chops in local blockbusters and won best actress at South Korea’s Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (then the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival) for her role in Oxide Pang Chun’s 2006 psychological thriller Diary.
In 2007, she brought on comedian Jim Chim Sui-man as an acting mentor, and in the same year worked with him in Chan Hing-kai and Patrick Leung Pak-kin’s comedy Simply Actors. For her role, Choi received her first Hong Kong Film Award nomination for best actress.

Despite her rise, Choi remained grounded.
“To be honest, I am not a very ambitious person,” she was quoted as saying at a promotional event in mainland China in 2008. “All I want is to have a good career in Hong Kong and in Asia. I don’t set myself major goals in acting either; as long as there is a film role for me, I am happy.”
Trial by tabloid and a secret marriage
January 2008 proved catastrophic for Twins. In the Edison Chen Koon-hei photo scandal, intimate photos of various female celebrities, including Chung, were stolen and leaked on the internet. It was a massive blow to Twins’ popularity, which was anchored on their innocent, girl-next-door image.
In a 2005 interview with the South China Morning Post, when asked about the duo’s plans to forge solo careers, Choi had said she would “feel lost” if they were to part.
“I think it’s a precious thing that we’ve worked together for so long,” she told the SCMP in 2007. “From not knowing each other to today … sometimes I want to cry when I think about what we’ve been through.”
Still, the pop duo was temporarily placed on hiatus in 2008, as Chung had to lie low for a while. Choi released several solo singles and albums in the subsequent months. Although those projects were commercially successful, she was quoted numerous times as being hopeful for a Twins reunion.


In 2009, Choi called Twins something she and Chung “built with our blood and sweat over the past eight years” and “not something I would give up easily”.
No sooner had the duo announced their 2010 comeback than the tabloids overshadowed it with another scandal: Choi had secretly married actor-singer Ronald Cheng Chung-kei in 2006.
Within 24 hours of the news breaking, Choi and Cheng called a joint press conference to confirm the legitimacy of the tabloid-published marriage certificate and announce that they were going through a divorce.
Shedding the teen-idol image
Twins bounced back over the next few years. Even as Choi’s love life remained a public spectacle – most notably during a five-year romance with singer-actor William Chan Wai-ting – she continued to take on more emotionally challenging roles.
Her breakout project was Herman Yau Lai-to’s psychological drama Sara (2015), playing an investigative journalist processing a history of sexual abuse and a transactional affair.
She told the SCMP that she had contemplated the risqué nature of the film and decided to prioritise her growth as an actress over her idol image. The raw performance secured her a second nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards for best actress.


In the second half of the 2010s, like many Hong Kong celebrities, Twins shifted their focus to mainland China, performing concerts and appearing on talk shows there. But Choi’s film work continued to be centred in Hong Kong.
In 2019, she once again played the title role in a sexually charged drama, The Lady Improper. Directed by Jessey Tsang Tsui-shan, the film earned Choi her third best-actress nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
In an interview with the SCMP to discuss the film, she said she hoped to act into old age: “I think I’ll be just like [Helena Law Lan … who] said she couldn’t stop working – per her doctor’s prescription … Who would I be after I have stopped working? I would be nobody without these parts. I will keep acting until I’m Law’s age [then in her eighties].”
This was a 180-degree change from 10 years prior; in 2009, Choi spoke to the SCMP about her health concerns after experiencing fainting spells and panic attacks: “I really want to take a year or so off … There will always be work and money to make, but the thought of lying in a hospital wasting away when I’m older terrifies me.
“I want a different life than just the glamour. I hope my company understands, but a long break might be a pipe dream since they’ve booked me for four more movies.”
Surviving an ‘ice age’ for Hong Kong actresses
Choi’s persistence, however reluctant, has paid off.
She is one of the few home-grown stars to have survived Hong Kong cinema’s notorious “ice age” for local leading ladies – a prolonged drought exacerbated by co-production casting practices under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) that prioritised mainland actresses as co-stars – to still be working in her early forties.
Standing alongside stalwart peers like Stephy Tang Lai-yan, Chrissie Chau Sau-na and Michelle Wai Sze-nga, Choi belongs to a rare generation of actresses who weathered the industry’s structural shifts. Her recent hits include Detective vs Sleuths (2022), The Goldfinger (2023), My Best Bet (2025) and Ciao UFO, the 2026 Hong Kong Film Awards best picture winner.


Choi is no longer the young idol who had little control over her own image a quarter of a century ago.
From openly discussing her egg-freezing journey in 2019 and 2020 amid a heavily scrutinised six-year relationship with billionaire Anthony Shi, to announcing her marriage to 33-year-old personal trainer Elvis Lam Chun-yin in April 2026, Choi, now 43, navigates the public eye on her own terms.
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How Cantopop lyricist Wyman Wong pushed Hong Kong’s LGBTQ, style and emotional boundaries

Museum brings back Leslie Cheung exhibition to mark late star’s 70th birthday

Hong Kong celebrities and icons

How Twins’ Charlene Choi went from Cantopop teen idol to top Hong Kong actress

Charlene Choi on the red carpet of the 34th Hong Kong Film Awards at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, in Tsim Sha Tsui, in April 2015. Choi was nominated for the best actress award that year for her role in the film Sara. Photo: Sam Tsang

Twins members Gillian Chung (left) and Charlene Choi sign autographs for their fans at the New World Centre, in Tsim Sha Tsui, in 2001. Photo: Antony Dickson

Jim Chim and Choi in a still from Simply Actors (2007), which earned Choi her first best actress nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Chung and Choi at the opening of the Hong Kong International Film Festival at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, in Tsim Sha Tsui, on March 22, 2005. Photo: David Wong

Chung (left) makes a statement as Choi looks on during a meeting with their fans on February 11, 2008. Photo: Robert Ng

Choi and Simon Yam in a still from Herman Yau’s 2015 film Sara. Photo: Emperor Motion Pictures

Choi in a still from The Lady Improper (2019), for which she received her third best-actress nod at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Choi and Andy Lau in a still from The Goldfinger. Photo: Emperor Motion Pictures

Choi in a still from Ciao UFO (2026). Photo: Golden Scene

Choi attends the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, in Tsim Sha Tsui, in April 2008. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Choi at an interview with the SCMP, at Hotel VIC, North Point, in 2019. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

Choi at One Harbourfront, in Hung Hom, in June 2015. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

How Andy Hui went from Hong Kong Cantopop star to bombshell cheating scandal to redemption

Hong Kong singer and actor Andy Hui Chi-on in 1997. Hui, one of Cantopop’s “New Four Heavenly Kings”, was embroiled in a cheating scandal in 2019 that threatened to destroy his legacy. Photo: Dickson Lee

Andy Hui performs at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, in 1986. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Andy Hui, William So, Dicky Cheung and Edmond Leung at an interview with the SCMP in 2009. Photo: May Tse

Hui speaks at a press conference on April 16, 2019, after footage captured by a Hong Kong taxi’s on-board camera allegedly showed him getting intimate in the back seat with TVB actress Jacqueline Wong. Photo: Felix Wong

How Hong Kong’s wuxia drama ‘princess’ Michelle Yim has kept her star shining for 55 years

Michelle Yim has enjoyed a prolific career in television, movies and on stage, and recently announced her first solo music concerts, which will take place in June 2026. Photo: Instagram/mixue_michelleyim

Michelle Yim attends a police recruitment campaign in a traditional costume in 1977. Photo: Chan Kiu

Michelle Yim in a still from CTV’s 1976 adaptation of The Legend of the Condor Heroes.

(From left) Tsui Siu-ling, Lau Siu-ming and Michelle Yim in a still from The Butterfly Murders (1979).

(From left) Andy Lau, Michelle Yim and Chow Yun-fat in a still from The Legend of Master So (1982). Photo: TVB

Michelle Yim (right) and Alice Fung in a still from Moonlight Resonance (2008). Photo: TVB

Yim with her late husband Wan Chi-keung, who died in 2010 after a battle with nasopharyngeal cancer.

How Got7’s Jackson Wang went from Hong Kong fencing prodigy to global music icon

Jackson Wang poses at the Met Gala in New York City in 2023. Long before he was a singer, the Got7 rapper was a fencer. Photo: Reuters

Jackson Wang with his father in 2010. Before he became a singer, Wang was a champion fencer. Photo: SCMP

Wang at an interview with the SCMP in 2011. A chance encounter with a talent scout from JYP Entertainment the year before changed the course of his life. Photo: SCMP

Wang arrives at the 2017 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, California. Photo: AFP

Wang composed Fendiman (2018) for the Italian luxury brand Fendi.

Got7 strike a pose at Build Studio in New York City in 2019. Photo: Getty Images

Wang performs at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in 2022 in California. Photo: AP

Why Cantopop star Kay Tse chose Hong Kong over the lucrative mainland Chinese market

Kay Tse at the 38th Hong Kong Film Awards in April 2019. Photo: Sam Tsang

Kay Tse at an interview with the SCMP in Hong Kong in 2013. The Cantopop singer launched her “Tidal” world tour in 2025 to mark her 20th anniversary since her debut. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Kay Tse at an interview with SCMP in 2006. After graduating in 2005, she released the independently produced studio album Kay One. Photo: SCMP

Tse with her husband Louis Cheung at the 42nd Hong Kong Film Awards presentation ceremony in April 2024. Photo: Sam Tsang

Tse at the 38th Hong Kong Film Awards in April 2019. Photo: Sam Tsang

(From left) Teddy Robin, Rondi Chan, Kay Tse and Anna hisbbuR in a still from the 2023 film Band Four. Photo: Edko Films

Lifestyle

Entertainment

Culture

Film & TV

Music

Hong Kong’s pop culture icons

How Kelly Chen, Cantopop star and beloved Hong Kong actress, has captured the hearts of music and movie fans for three decades

Kelly Chen pictured in 1997. The secret to the Cantopop star and actress’s success? “I’ve just tried my best to grab any opportunity.” Photo: Dickson Lee

Chen (right) is presented with a prize at the Ultimate Song Chart Awards ceremony in January 1996 by Taiwanese singer Wu Chien-lien. Photo: SCMP

Chen (left) and Yutaka Takenouchi in a still from “Calmi Cuori Appassionati” (2001).

Chen (right) and Donnie Yen in a still from “An Empress and the Warriors” (2008).

Chen and her husband, Alex Lau Kin-ho, pose during their wedding ceremony at the InterContinental Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui in October, 2008. Photo: SCMP

Chen performs in the Grand Variety Show in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on June 30, 2007. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Ekin Cheng, Chen and Tony Leung Ka-fai in a still from “Horseplay” (2014).

Chen (left) and Tony Leung Chiu-wai in a still from “Infernal Affairs III” (2003).

A charity sale of Chen’s clothes, shoes and handbags took place in April 2023. Photo: Facebook/@kellychenwailam

How Hong Kong boy band Grasshopper, protégés of Cantopop legend Anita Mui, blazed a trail with their intoxicating dance pop music

(From left) Edmond So Chi-wai, Remus Choy Yat-kit and Calvin Choy Yat-chi of the Cantopop group Grasshopper at an interview with the Post in 2006. The boy band, formed in 1985, are still performing today. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Calvin Choy Yat-chi, Edmond So Chi-wai and Remus Choy Yat-kit, pictured in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Cantopop diva Anita Mui with Grasshopper at the Chinese Gold Songs award presentation ceremony at the Hong Kong Coliseum in January 1989. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Edmond So, Calvin Choy and Remus Choy at the opening of the Aiwa Music Expo at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in August 1991. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Calvin Choy, Roman Tam, Edmond So and Remus Choy backstage at a concert in Shanghai in July 1993. Photo: SCMP

(From second left) Edmond So, Remus Choy and Calvin Choy at the Ultimate Song Chart Awards presentation ceremony at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, in January 1996. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Remus Choy, Calvin Choy and Edmond So at an interview with the Post in 2010. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Calvin Choy, Remus Choy and Edmond So on stage during TVB 55th Anniversary Gala on November 19, 2021. Photo: Getty Images

Takeshi Kaneshiro, one of the ‘most good-looking’ actors in Hong Kong cinema and star of some of Wong Kar-wai and Peter Chan’s best movies, is a man of mystery

Takeshi Kaneshiro at an interview with the Post in July 2004. Kaneshiro, who debuted as a singer in Taiwan in 1992, has not been seen on the big screen since 2017 – but remains as popular as ever. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhou Dongyu in a still from “This Is Not What I Expected” (2017).

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Brigitte Lin in a still from “Chungking Express” (1994). 

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Kyoko Fukada in a still from the drama series “God, Please Give Me More Time” (1998).

(From left) Xu Jinglei, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Andy Lau, Jet Li, Jacky Heung and director Peter Chan promote “The Warlords” at an event in December 2007. Photo: SCMP

Takeshi Kaneshiro in a still from “Perhaps Love” (2005).

Takeshi Kaneshiro and Michele Reis in “Fallen Angels” (1995). Photo: Block 2 Pictures and Jet Tone Contents

Takeshi Kaneshiro in an interview with the Post in December 2006. Photo: SCMP

Acting with Michelle Yeoh, modelling at 12: the Cinderella story of Isabella Leong, who passed up Hollywood to have children with Richard Li, younger son of Li Ka-shing

Isabella Leong Lok-sze promotes her 2014 appearance in a stage play. Photo: Felix Wong 

Isabella Leong in an interview with the Post in 2005. The Macanese actress put a halt to her acting career when she began dating Richard Li, the younger son of Li Ka-shing. Photo: SCMP

Leong (left) and Chapman To in a still from “Isabella” (2006).

Leong (left), Jaycee Chan and Charlene Choi at the 26th Hong Kong Film Awards in April 2007. Photo: SCMP

Luke Ford (left) and Leong in a still from “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” (2008).

Leong, Richard Li and their son, Ethan Li, in April 2009. 

Leong and Jim Chim at an event to promote “Sign of Happiness” in February 2014. Photo: SCMP

Leong in a still from “Murmur of the Hearts” (2015).

(From left) Leong, Paul Chun and Faye Yu in a still from “Love After Love” (2020).

Aaron Kwok, dancer, singer, actor, husband to Moka Fang, and father – how he went from being one of the ‘Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop’ to all-round star

Aaron Kwok with the prize for best actor he received at the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2016. Photo: Edward Wong

Aaron Kwok at an interview with the Post in 2009. Kwok started his career as a background dancer nearly four decades ago. Now he is a beloved Cantopop singer and actor – and a smitten husband and proud father of two. Photo: SCMP

Kwok (right) alongside fellow Cantopop singers Andy Lau (left) and Jacky Cheung at an RTHK event in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Aaron Kwok, pictured in 1993. Photo: SCMP

Kwok won the Best Actor prize at the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2016. Photo: Edward Wong

Kwok (right) and Charlie Young play a troubled couple in “After This Our Exile” (2006).

Kwok performs at an event organised by RTHK at Queen Elizabeth Stadium in 2001. Photo: SCMP.

Kwok (left) and Chow Yun-fat in a still from “Project Gutenberg” (2018).

Kwok with his wife, Moka Fang Yuan, in Happy Valley, Hong Kong. Photo: Kenneth Chan

How Hong Kong actress Carina Lau rose to stardom from her ‘mainland girl’ roots, overcame topless photos scandal and wed Tony Leung Chiu-wai

Carina Lau Ka-ling. Photo: Instagram/@carinalau1208

Hong Kong actress Carina Lau Ka-ling, pictured in 1993 soon after her career breakthrough in a Wong Kar-wai film. Married since 2008 to fellow actor Tony Leung Chiu-wai, she is known for her style and class, and some iconic roles. Photo: SCMP

Cheung Siu-fai and Lau promoting TVB series “The Turbulent Decade” in 1986. Photo: SCMP

(Clockwise from top right) Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, Lau, Maggie Cheung Man-yuk and Tony Leung Chiu-wai on the set of Wong Kar-wai’s movie “Days of Being Wild” in 1990. Photo: SCMP

Carina Lau in a still from “Ashes of Time” (1994).

Carina Lau and Nicholas Tse celebrate with their trophies after winning the best actor and best actress awards at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2011. Photo: SCMP

Carina Lau and Tony Leung at the opening night of hit musical “Les Miserables” at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Carina Lau in a still from “In Your Dreams” (2018).

Lau and Leung at the 16th Asian Film Awards in March 2023. Photo: Dickson Lee

1980s Hong Kong pop idol Danny Chan’s bittersweet success story: his talent, fame, the tabloid rumours, his retirement and early death

Singer Danny Chan Pak-keung puts one of his albums in a time capsule in 1991. Photo: SCMP

Danny Chan was one of Hong Hong’s “Three Kings and A Queen of Cantopop” in the 1980s, with fellow idols Leslie Cheung, Anita Mui and Alan Tam. Photo: SCMP

Yvonne Siu, project manager of TVB, presents a souvenir to Danny Chan in 1984. Photo: SCMP

Chan singing at his own birthday party in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Chan (left) and Jacky Cheung Hok-yau at the Top Ten Pop Stars Election in 1987. Photo: SCMP

There were numerous rumours about a relationship between Pansy Ho and Chan. Photo: Weibo

Chan performing at a concert to promote Aids awareness in 1990. Photo: SCMP

Chan was taken to Queen Mary Hospital after collapsing at home on May 19, 1992. Photo: SCMP

Flanked by singer Anita Mui Yim-fong and actor Chow Yun-fat, Danny Chan’s older brother Chan Pak-ling carries his younger brother’s picture at the singer’s funeral in 1993. Photo: SCMP

The rise of Hong Kong actress Sharla Cheung, star of Stephen Chow and Wong Jing films, and the surprise movie she made after retiring

Sharla Cheung, Stephen Chow SIng-chi (centre) and Ng Man-tat in “All for the Winner”. Photo: Handout

Actress Sharla Cheung Man at the Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony in 2005. Discovered in the 1980s by Wong Jing, she starred opposite Stephen Chow, Andy Lau and Chow Yun-fat in a string of 1980s and 1990s box office hits. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Sharla Cheung, Stephen Chow and Ng Man-tat in a still from “All for the Winner” (1990). Photo: Win’s Movie Production

Stephen Chow (left) and Sharla Cheung in a still from “Fight Back to School” (1991). Photo: Win’s Movie Production

Sharla Cheung in a still from “Fist of Fury 1991” (1991).

(From left) Ng Man-tat, Stephen Chow and Sharla Cheung in a still from “Fight Back to School”. Photo: Win’s Movie Production and I/E Co. Ltd

Hong Kong actress Sharla Cheung attends the opening ceremony of the Entertainment Expo in Hong Kong in 2005. Photo: Reuters

How American-born Chinese actor Daniel Wu juggled Hong Kong and Hollywood to become a star in both films and TV on two continents

US-born actor Daniel Wu, star of Westworld, Tomb Raider and Shinjuku Incident, fell into acting while on holiday in Hong Kong, getting cast in an ad. This led to role after role, and 25 years later, Wu has nearly 70 films under his belt. Photo: Harry C

Wu and Alicia Vikander in a still from “Tomb Raider” (2018). Photo: Warner Bros Entertainment

Wu next to Jackie Chan at a promotional event for “Shinjuku Incident” in Malaysia in 2009. Photo: Handout

Wu (left) and Stephen Fung play gay lovers in the film “Bishonen” (1998). Photo: Far-Sun Film

Wu with his award for best supporting actor for the film “New Police Story” at the 41st Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan in 2004. Photo: Reuters

Wu (centre) on the set of “One Nite In Mongkok” in 2004, with director Derek Yee (left) and actress Cecilia Cheung. Photo: Handout

Wu (right) in a still from “The Heavenly Kings”, the 2006 mockumentary film he directed, alongside “bandmates” Conroy Chan (left), Andrew Lin (second from left) and Terence Yin (second from right). Photo: Handout

Wu in a still from “Into the Badlands” season 1. Photo: James Dimmock/AMC

Wu and Michelle Yeoh in a still from “American Born Chinese”. Photo: Disney+

Wu and Lisa Selesner celebrate their marriage in 2010. Photo: Berton Cheng

How Sammi Cheng became a Cantopop superstar, celebrated actress and style icon, but has endured a rocky relationship with husband Andy Hui

Cantopop singer, actress and style icon Sammi Cheng in 2004 ahead of the release of the film “Yesterday Once More”. Her entertainment career spans five decades, and in 2023 she finally won best actress in the Hong Kong Film Awards. Photo: SCMP

Cheng pictured in 1988. Photo: SCMP

Cheng at a performance in 1993. Photo: SCMP

(From left) Cantopop singers Cheng, Priscilla Chan Wai-han and Cass Phang Ling at a press conference in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Cheng (right) in a still from “Lost Love” (2023).

An undated photo of Cheng with Andy Hui. Photo: Weibo

Cheng and Daniel Wu in a still from “Everlasting Regret” (2005). She was nominated for best actress for her part in the following year’s Hong Kong Film Awards.

Cheng alongside Andy Lau in a still from “Blind Detective” (2013), for which she was again nominated for best actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards.

Cheng performs in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Cheng and Hui perform at a concert in 2010.

Cheng with her trophy for best actress for her role in “Lost Love” at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards presentation ceremony at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui on April 16, 2023. Photo: Dickson Lee

How Cantopop singer Ronald Cheng went from troublemaker to Charlene Choi’s secret husband to one of Hong Kong’s best-loved comic actors

Hong Kong singer and actor Ronald Cheng Chung-kei at an interview with the Post in 2006. The Cantopop star is now one of Hong Kong cinema’s most beloved comedy stars, but his rise to the top has been a bumpy one. Photo: SCMP

Cheng pictured in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Cheng after the incident in 2000 on Eva Air Flight BR005 that led to his arrest for assault. 

(From left) Actors Shawn Yu, Sandra Ng, Cheng and Jacky Cheung attend the premiere of “Golden Chicken 2” at the Windsor Theatre in Hong Kong in December 2003. Photo: SCMP

Cheng (front) in a still from “Dragon Reloaded” (2005).

Cheng and Charlene Choi announcing their divorce, and acknowledging their marriage, at a news conference in 2010. Photo: SCMP

Cheng (left) and Chapman To in a still from “Vulgaria” (2012).

Cheng and his wife, Sammie Yu, at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2018. Photo: AP

Cherie Chung a screen goddess, the Marilyn Monroe of Hong Kong, fans said – how she retired from acting at the height of her career and hasn’t looked back

Cherie Chung at an interview with the Post in 2006. Photo: SCMP

Cherie Chung at an interview with the Post in 1995. Once called the Marilyn Monroe of Hong Kong, Chung rose to fame during the 1980s and appeared in almost 50 films – before walking away from it all at the age of 31. Photo: SCMP

Chung modelling a qipao during the semi-finals of the Miss Hong Kong 1979 beauty pageant. Photo: SCMP

Richard Ng and Chung in a still from “Winners and Sinners” (1983). Photo: Eureka Entertainment.

Chung and Chow Yun-fat in a still from “An Autumn’s Tale” (1987).

(From left) Maggie Cheung, Chung and Shingo Tsurumi in a still from “Last Romance” (1988).

Chung and her husband, Mike Chu, in 1992. Photo: SCMP

Chung pursued a long-standing interest in photography. Photo: Handout

Chung at the launch of “Accredited Green Family Scheme” managed by the Friends of the Earth in 1995. Photo: SCMP

Chung at an interview with the Post in 2014. Photo: SCMP

‘The flowers were for me’: when Hong Kong actor Lau Ching-wan found fame, his belief in destiny and his 25 years with wife Amy Kwok

Lau celebrates winning best actor in the 26th Hong Kong Film Awards in 2007. Photo: SCMP

Lau Ching-wan at an interview with the Post in 2009. Often cast to play the tough guy, Lau has shown his talent for romance and comedy too, and is a 14-time best actor winner in various film awards shows. Photo: SCMP

Lau at an interview with the Post in 1996. Photo: SCMP

Lau and Anita Yuen in a still from “C’est la vie, mon cheri” (1993).

Lau at the 41st Hong Kong Film Awards in 2023, where he won best actor for a third time. Photo: Sam Tsang/SCMP

Bowie Lam (left) and Lau in a still from “The Greed of Man” (1992).

Lau at the 18th Hong Kong Film Awards with his wife, Amy Kwok, in 1999. Photo: SCMP

Lau and his wife on the red carpet at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards. Photo: SCMP

Lau at an interview with the Post in 2015. Photo: SCMP

‘The other woman’, difficult: how Yammie Lam’s screen career soared before tabloid gossip and  personal blows brought her low

Hong Kong actress Yammie Lam Kit-ying rose to prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s – but her career was cut short and she was found dead aged 55 in 2018. Photo: Media Asia 

ProfileHow Twins’ Charlene Choi went from Cantopop teen idol to top Hong Kong actress

Since finding fame with Twins’ Gillian Chung 25 years ago, “Ah Sa” has navigated scandals and reinvented herself to become a force in showbiz

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Since finding fame with Twins’ Gillian Chung 25 years ago, “Ah Sa” has navigated scandals and reinvented herself to become a force in showbiz

Since finding fame with Twins’ Gillian Chung 25 years ago, “Ah Sa” has navigated scandals and reinvented herself to become a force in showbiz