Why He's The Greatest Chinese Actor Of All Time

Is Tony Leung the greatest Chinese actor of all time? Let's talk about why he's so influential and so unique because he just won a Lifetime Achievement Award. Wow, I really like Tony Leung because his eyes are so cool and so smooth. We gotta talk about it, Andrew. Tony Leung just won a Western Award at the Venice Film Festival. The Lifetime Achievement for the Golden Lion Award, Andrew. This is a very art house, you know, European. What does it mean? Because very few Chinese actors ever win this award. I believe he's the first one. Ang Lee and Ang Hui won it before, but only as directors. Right, and let me tell you this, you need both hipster art house appeal and mainstream success to win this award, I believe. So anyways, guys, we are going to talk about why Tony Leung is so unique and why there may not be another one. And we're also going to talk about how he impacted a lot of Cantonese and maybe just Chinese people's lives in general, Asian people's lives in general, but especially also ours as well. So please hit that like button. Check out other episodes of the Hot Pop Boys. As this might be, David, kind of our video dedicated to Tony Leung Chiu Wai. Leung Chiu Wai. Let's take a look at the Wikipedia entry. Many consider Leung to be the most acclaimed contemporary actor in greater China. He garnered international attention in the 1989 film A City of Sadness. And now, Andrew, 35 years later, he's got the Lifetime Achievement Award and he's been in a ton of stuff. He used to be in comedic TVB series before that, but now he's almost like the modern-day Eastern Chinese, for sure, George Clooney, right? Yeah, I would compare him. I'm just going to throw out some Western actors' names that I think he's kind of like a mishmash of. Not to say that he based himself off that, but they just kind of occupy a similar space. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr. I think there's some Pierce Brosnan in there. I think that there's some George Clooney in there, possibly some Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt. Right, and of the Eastern actors, for sure, I mean, I would say some Hong Kong actors from that era remind me of him. The other Tony Leung, Takeshi Kenshiro, who's half Japanese and half Chinese. Yeah, basically, Tony Leung, you could best describe him as, what, super cool, calm, confident, suave. He is masculine, not full of Western machismo, but definitely masculine. Or at least Chinese masculine. Chinese masculine, smooth, looks good in a suit, kind of has some bad boy history, at least as far as the roles that he played. Soft-spoken in interviews, but just still charismatic in a way. I feel like people like him because he represents how to be Westernized without losing the Eastern soul. And I think that he's the first guy to really do it because you can't say that Jackie is fully that fluid in the West, even though they love Jackie even more in Hollywood than they like Tony Leung. More people would want to be like Tony Leung. To put it in perspective, Jackie Chan won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oscars, the Academy, which is more mainstream, but Tony wins the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Venice Film Festival, which is still very reputable, but much more arthouse and hipster also for a lot of the Wong Kar-Wai films that he did. Interestingly enough, Andrew, both people very self-taught, Andrew, but Jackie is more known for like, And Tony Leung is more like, I guess, David, let's go through his movies real quick. We'll pop up some images. So if you guys haven't seen these movies, you can get a feel for it. I haven't seen all of them, by the way, but some of them are very nice. Leading off with Infernal Affairs, Andrew, that ended up getting remade as... The Departed. The Departed, and The Departed won an Oscar, but they pretty much copied Infernal Affairs like 70 to 80% of the script. And Leonardo DiCaprio actually played his opposite. Anyways, Lust and Caution, Chungking Express. Oh, he got freaky deaky in both of those. Oh, In the Mood for Love. Got baddies, yeah. Hard Boiled. He sprayed up like 65 people with an Uzi. 2046, he also got freaky in this one, right? Yeah, Superfuture, Flowers of Shanghai. That was a freaky movie, too. They speak in Shanghainese. I thought that was cool. Hero. Yeah, Tony. Enter Hero and Battle of Redcliffe. He kind of made the wuxia pian, like ancient Chinese dynastic imperial stuff, more interesting. It makes it more watchable to me. I'm not the biggest wuxia pian fan. All right, I guess... So here's a personal take before we get in the comments section and our overall takeaways about Tony, all right? I think that Tony learned to me growing up, and although I would say our household was not super, super Hong Kong cinema-centric. Like mom and dad were not sitting around watching all the Hong Kong movies. We watched some, but not all of them, right? So I would say being exposed to it though, I remember Tony learned the way he acted, and especially Infernal Affairs, that movie was probably the most well-known to me personally, is like, man, the way he conveyed emotion and how confident and cool he was was something I had not really seen from an Asian person in real life before. Mmm. You know? Yeah, especially if you looked in terms of what was available, in terms of representation in the West. Exactly. They don't got anything close to that. And even the way he conveyed emotion to me felt cool, and I guess in a way Western in my view, because he is slightly Westernized. Hong Kong being a British colony, of course, you gotta say he is. But, and I don't wanna say that it's not that Eastern people don't show emotion, obviously, but I would just say he didn't like, he felt like I guess he had like a Western soul. Isn't he more the equivalent of Michelle Yeoh? Yeah. Than Jackie is? Like, I'm saying he's way more the equivalent because they got that British-y vibe to him. You're right. Well, like, them being in Shang-Chi, playing the two, I think the opposites, right? The mom and dad, they fit better as that pairing than Jackie would taking Tony Leung's spot. Right, right, right. So, yeah, like I said, people are always looking for the next Tony Leung in the Chinese-speaking world. Andrew, but before we get into the comment section, real quick, we gotta talk about something else that is also part Chinese and part Italian. I just want to say that today's video is sponsored by Smala Sauce. Oh. From Sichuan to Sicily. Smala Sauce. I believe a lot of Tony Leung fans will really enjoy this because especially if you are Cantonese and you like mala flavor, but you don't want it too strong, then you may want Smala. It has some truffle in it. It also have onion, garlic, salt, and just a lot of other tastes. So, check it out. SmalaSauce.com. First comment says, when Tony Leung speaks Cantonese in interviews, it sounds so soothing. Definitely not how Cantonese sounded in my household growing up. Um, what is this comment actually saying? I mean, I think it's saying that I think a lot of the Cantonese that you heard in real life, especially from the immigrants that came over to America— Chinatown, right? 死啊! 不靠拙! It's a little bit more crass, a little bit more— It's just— Fun in its own way. Tony has a refined way of speaking where it makes Cantonese sound— It's like when I— You know, like, the Vietnamese accent is sometimes considered kind of harsh to listen to, but I've heard and watched some Vietnamese movies and clips where it was a lot smoother and more, like, I guess, refined. Yeah, people like it in the TikTok song. You know, and I want to say, like, I don't know. You can consider it as better or worse or whatever you want to call it if it's a class thing, but I'm just saying it sounds objectively smoother. He made it sound really cool. Like, just saying, like, some basic stuff that everybody knows, I feel like Tony Leung would be like, 恭喜發財! 身體健康! The man is smooth like some lychee. He's smooth like some condensed milk baby. That was pretty funny. Somebody said, most of the world who did not follow HK film had no idea who he was until Shang-Chi, and that's such a shame. And then somebody else said, no, if you followed arthouse films, you knew who he was from In the Mood for Love, all the Wong Kar-Wai stuff, because even cinematically, even if you didn't even understand what people were saying in those, those are incredibly influential films from a cinematography, vibey perspective, which sort of fits with this, like, super future, hyper pop. You know how, like, everybody's into that, like, In the Mood for Love, like, neon-type glow? What's funny is that I think Tony Leung is more well-known in the film scenes of Brooklyn than he might be even in, like, Upper West Side, East Side Manhattan. Right, you're saying he's not known on Sunset Boulevard. He's more known in Silver Lake Echo Park. Possibly. I mean, I think Sunset Park knows him too, because that's full of Chinese people, but I'm saying the Brooklyn hipsters who are non-Asian actually still, a lot of them know Tony Leung if you're really into film. No, I meant Echo Park. Back in L.A., the hipster zone. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Somebody said that Tony embodies all that is quietly excellent in Hong Kong cinema. Please continue to bring us more world-class films. And somebody said, you know, he was really great because he never have any scandal about, like, cheating or scandals or acting crazy, like, you know, even though he have all the leverage and all the girls like him, he just act like a good guy off the camera. No, I think that that's how a lot of cool, suave dudes kind of act, you know? And he didn't come off as an F-boy. I mean, maybe some of the roles he was, but that was, like, acting. But then, like, even in his interviews, he seems fairly soft-spoken for the most part. He's not like a, he's not trying to make you laugh and entertain you all the time. He's just like, yeah, I'm Tony, Tony Leung, you know. Just, and that's all you'd have to say. And I think it's very Eastern because if you look at a lot of the Western movie stars, they actually have very messy personal lives. Like Robert Downey Jr., Leonardo, et cetera, Brad Pitt. Even Jackie Chan has his controversies, obviously, yeah. But Tony was, like, a real regular dude off camera. I mean, still very smooth, but just, like, not anything crazy, living these, like, drug-filled, party-filled lives, like his characters. So compare him to Donnie Yen, which I think is a better comparison. Donnie Yen is kind of cool, too, but if you watch Donnie Yen interviews enough, he's kind of goofy. No, he's just like, ha-ha. Yeah, not in a bad way, but also just in a way that Tony Leung is not goofy. No, no, he's not goofy at all. Somebody said, gone are the glory days of Hong Kong film. There's no more of these multi-faceted legends like Tony Leung on a serious side or Stephen Chow on a goofy side. Now Korean filmmaking is taking the world by storm. And somebody said, man, Chinese filmmaking just sucks now. You're never gonna see a new Tony Leung because they're just gonna take a C-pop guy who looks like Zelda, the elf, and then put him in everything, both music and movies. Yeah, and I think a lot of people gotta recognize and I heard a lot of different Asian actors, even from, what, Korea and different countries, Vietnam. Like, they would credit the Hong Kong cinema a lot because back in the 80s and the 90s, that's the best Asian films. Those were the best Asian films and Tony Leung was like probably the head of it as far as the drama side, Jackie Chan on the action side. And it was like, you gotta credit them for influencing a lot of other Asian actors at that time. And thank God for the Hong Kong cinema because it was advanced. They were able to produce at a high volume. And they did have that kind of westernization so they had some Western appeal and influence in them as well, which helped them go international. Obviously now the Hong Kong cinema scene is not where it's at, not even close, and I don't think it will ever get back to where it was at. Yeah, it's really weird the decisions they're making in Chinese entertainment right now. They're just getting somebody who looks like Chris Wu, but Chris Wu's canceled now, to do everything. And they just look like an anime character, but they're just not good at anything. And think about it, back then, Andrew, they had Jay Chou who's not considered that good-looking conventionally and he's a beast at writing lyrics. And then you had Tony Leung. He is good-looking, but it's almost more of his total authentic charm that is his package. And they've just gotten away from that. Yeah, yeah, I would say, though, some cool Chinese actors I would point out right now that are more from mainland, I would say it's like Jiang Wen is pretty cool. Yeah, because he's more authentic, right? He feels just like a man. There's this guy Chen Daoming. There's a couple older, cooler, non-Pretty Boy actors. Wu Jing, as far as the action goes. Yo, I got a hot take, man. I'm not an Andy Lau fan. Wow. I'm just saying, man. I don't know. I mean, I'm not- Lau Denghua? You're not a Lau Denghua fan? I don't go against him, but I'm just saying, it's just like, I don't know. You don't like his pop music? You don't like his stage presence on the pop music? You know, yeah. Some of the outfits are- I think I like Tony Leung more than Andy Lau. Somebody said, Tony Leung has the eyes of a man who saw a decade of sadness and still works hard to put food on the table for his family. Everybody's talking about his eyes, Andrew, and a lot of people were talking about his mannerisms, his ability to speak with his eyes, and that's what gives him the art house appeal, the film noir thing. And, Andrew, you see so many bars nowadays and like Chinese speakeasies, whether we're talking about in Sydney, Australia, Toronto, all the way to New York, to LA, that are based off movies that Tony Leung was in. Yeah, I think it's because Tony, to be honest, looks-wise, like, he is considered very handsome, but not like in the pretty boy model way. Like, he's considered like- He doesn't look like Zelda. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He has like a great smile, and kind of has these like, I guess I would say like cute dog eyes, you know? Like, he's able to like push him down and up, and he just knows the timing, and he knows how to speak with his eyes. He could do a whole silent movie, and you'd still watch it, and you'd be like, oh, man, this guy's a great actor. You know what I mean? Like, if he had more American hits, he probably would have won an Oscar by now. You know what I mean? Right. But, yeah, and I think that that's what's so cool about Tony, is that he doesn't look like this new school pretty boy actor that they're putting in everything with the sharp nose, elf ears. Yeah, essentially the Asian Timothee Chalamet look, right? Yeah, yeah. Like, he does remind you of a Clooney. You know, Clooney's really good looking, but like, you know, in like an older guy way. And I think that's why he's going to be missed when he stops acting, and that's why I think, I hope he keeps acting, but obviously he is getting to that age where it's like, who's the next one? Like, is there anybody that can follow in his footsteps? And you know what it is? I think there's going to be a lot of people who look like Tony, but they didn't live the same life as Tony, so it's going to be hard to authentically communicate. They might be kind of like, just pushing it. Like, some of these guys, like- Pampered. Jason- Had an easy life. Jackson Yee. I can tell they're trying to embody Tony. They got some of it, but I don't know. You know, they can try to dress, you know, even having the 1930s dress that we had in colonial British Hong Kong, but it's going to be very difficult for them to bring to the stage what I brought to the silver screen. But isn't it hard to recreate Tony Leung because it's hard to create that colonial British Chinese era? The one that, like, also Michelle Yeoh comes from in Malaysia. Bruce Lee came from it. The one that Bruce Lee came from. Tony Leung. These are three people. Between these three and Jackie Chan on a different tier, but between Tony Leung, Michelle Yeoh, and Bruce Lee, you would be like, wow, they embody British colonial Chinese-speaking countries. They're the coolest. They're the peak of it. They're classy. They're suave. They know martial arts. They didn't lose the Western philosophy, but they also embody some of the Western- I would say Jackie would be like Wong Kok, Mong Kok, British colonial Hong Kong. And then Tony, I'm not saying he's not from Kowloon side, but, like, he embodies island side. No, it's because Stephen Chow and Jackie Chan, they get a little dirty, you know, and a little bit more like crass. They're more, like, they feel more blue-collar. But these guys, Bruce, Tony, Michelle. Right, right. These are, like, the three, like, trinity of, like, the British colony. And I think people miss that era because it was the last time that people saw somebody was truly fluid in the West and almost taking some of that, like, Lord Barrington III, colonial Hong Kong on the magistrate. That vibe mixing with something that was truly, like, an Eastern soul. And you don't see that anymore. Obviously, nowadays, it's, like, F-Boys, like, Edison and stuff like that. Or even whoever's after Edison. I don't even know who's popping. And I think that that's just, like, not as, like, interesting. Dude, you know what? A British actor that just popped in my mind that reminds me of Tony Leung that he got a little bit is Ewan McGregor. A little bit of that. Yeah, anyways, that just popped in my mind. But anyways, guys, you let me know down below. David, what's your final takeaways about Tony Leung, the great Tony Leung? I think it's really cool to see, and when I look into somebody's discography or not discography, whatever, like, movie catalog, you know, like, it's just cool to see its impact on the diaspora. Like you said, if you're Asian-American and you were just looking around for Asian-American role models, you weren't going to find any. Or maybe you would end up playing yourself out like a token, like all the other tokens that were in the Western media. But it's like, you could look at somebody like Tony Leung, and he's so multifaceted. He's in Infernal Affairs, Andrew. He's in goofy stuff like Tokyo Raiders, Soul Raiders. He's in Wu Xia Pian, like historical stuff. And he knows Kung Fu. And he's spraying the Uzi. And he's like a lover boy, because you know the real hardcore Kung Fu guys in Chinese folklore, they're never allowed to get more than like one woman. But like Tony's being a player. He's being like that business, like stock guy. You know, more like Gordon Gekko-y type guy, too. You know what I mean? But bureaucratic. Yeah, yeah, I forgot. We forgot to mention this guy, Chow Yun-fat. I feel like Tony Leung and Chow Yun-fat during that era kind of were the serious drama cool guys. And then there was the other Tony Leung. Yeah, Tony Leung Ka-fi. But he's like, looks more like a model, but he's not, he's like... He ain't got the same swag, man. You know, there's two Tony Leungs. You know, it's like Michael Jordan, and then Michael B. Jordan. Michael B. Jordan is still cool, but Michael Jordan is the Michael Jordan. Anyways, guys, let us know in the comments down below what you think. I think Tony Leung has had an impact on Asian cinema, period. Asian cinema, period. But, you know, obviously, especially for Cantonese people, I would say he was such a huge role model. Influenced a lot of people. Influenced the way people acted, their personalities. Is there a reason why you're dressed like a 1930s Hong Kong Shanghainese barber right now? No, David. I look like a barber. Like I cut hair. But when people walk into my shop and they want a haircut, they walk out with so much more. Let us know what you guys think in the comments section below of Tony Leung winning the Venice Awards Golden Lion Lifetime Achievement Award. And until next time, we're the Hot Pop Boys. We out. Peace.