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

That changed after Lau moved to Hong Kong at the age of 15. Although she was known as the “mainland girl” and was insecure about her Cantonese, she worked hard to improve her language skills and graduated from broadcaster TVB’s acting programme in the early 1980s.

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At the start of her career, the actress often took on girl-next-door roles and was limited to small parts in television shows. Her role in Looking Back in Anger (1989) – one of the most-watched TVB series at the time – established her as a leading actress.

Lau branched into films, making her big-screen debut in the action comedy Naughty Boys (1986) and later starring in Her Beautiful Life Lies (1989), for which she received her first nomination for best actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
Her real career breakthrough came with her appearance in Wong Kar-wai’s Days of Being Wild (1990). For her performance in a poignant, multifaceted role as the cabaret dancing girlfriend of Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing’s character, Yuddy, Lau won the best actress award at the Three Continents Festival in Nantes, France, and was nominated for best actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards.
(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

“When I started off acting at TVB, it was more or less a job,” Lau told the Post in 2013. “My training early on was necessary, but was also on a very superficial level. What really changed me was when I met Wong Kar-wai, William Chang [Suk-ping] and other passionate and genius filmmakers.

“I really get the hang of it when I feel like my soul is intertwined with the character I’m playing,” Lau added. “That excitement is beyond what words could describe. I feel the character’s pain, her helplessness, her everything. When I’m there, I secretly feel happy for my own acting.”

After appearing in Days of Being Wild, the actress began taking on a wider range of roles, appearing in the martial arts film Saviour of the Soul (1991), the biological drama Center Stage (1991) and Wong’s wuxia film Ashes of Time (1994). In Intimates (1997), Lau starred as a wealthy wife who begins a lesbian affair.
Carina Lau in a still from “Ashes of Time” (1994).

“I’d say never give up on your dreams,” she told the Post in 2013. “Destiny strikes you when you are least prepared, but as long as you are prepared your dream will come true.

“A hard-working person might not end up being successful, but a successful person is most definitely a hard worker.”

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
By the 2010s, Lau had become much more selective in her choice of roles. She delved into theatre, appearing in productions such as Tonnochy, about the eponymous 1970s Hong Kong nightclub, and a Cantonese adaptation of The Witness for The Prosecution by Agatha Christie.
She took on film roles that would challenge her professionally, always seeking to improve her skills, and occasionally helped new directors make their first features – as she did in Flora Lau’s Bends (2013) and Tam Wai-ching’s In Your Dreams (2018).
Although Lau’s career progressed on an upward trajectory, it was not all smooth sailing. In 1990, she experienced a horrific incident: while on the way to a friend’s home, Lau was abducted by four men working for a triad crime-gang boss and had topless photos taken of her as “punishment” for having refused a film offer.
Carina Lau and Tony Leung at the opening night of hit musical “Les Miserables” at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre, in 1996. Photo: SCMP
In 2002, those images were published by East Week Magazine, which led to uproar and protests. Although initially tight-lipped about the kidnapping, Lau opened up about it later.

“I thought people saw me as a mainland girl and that made me look down on myself. When my photos were revealed [in East Week in 2002], I was very surprised that the showbiz community and the Hong Kong people were supportive. I was so moved and thankful,” she told mainland newspaper Nanfang Daily.

Aside from her acting career, Lau invested in several restaurant and fashion ventures, although these have since closed. She showed her business sense when Leung was without a manager, stepping in to fill the role, and she is known to accompany her husband to film sets.

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

The actress is also known for her fashion sense, having been spotted in pieces from luxury brands including Dior, Prada, and Louis Vuitton. She boasts an extensive jewellery collection, often donning pieces from Cartier, Tiffany and Bulgari.

Lau’s personal life has received plenty of attention. From 1986 to 1988, the actress was in a relationship with, and later engaged to, Hong Kong business tycoon Julian Hui Chun-hang. At the time, Lau reportedly considered giving up acting, but chose not to do so after the couple broke up.

Soon after this, she began a relationship with Leung, who she married in 2008 in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan to much fanfare. Costing US$4 million, the wedding featured a guest list of celebrities including Faye Wong and Wong Kar-wai.

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

Lau has a reputation for being a reliable professional who has remained humble despite her fame. Although she has taken on fewer acting roles in recent years, her career is far from over.

The actress recently starred alongside actor-producer Louis Koo Tin-lok as a colonel in the sci-fi spectacle Warriors of Future (2022), currently the highest grossing local film in Hong Kong cinema history.
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