Anthony Wong named Best Actor by HK directors’ guild
HONG KONG: Actor Anthony Wong, who is of English-Chinese parentage, has been named the Best Actor by the Hong Kong Film Directors’ Guild.
Anthony’s latest honour was in recognition of his performance in the movie Still Human, a down-to-earth story about a paralysed Hong Kong man and his Filipino domestic worker.
“When I heard my name downstage, I felt the shivers,” admitted Anthony.
Anthony, 57, confessed he was beyond excited and honoured to have won an acting award at the directors’ guild, adding, “There’s so much variety when it comes to directors, so to know that there is at least one out there who approves you, is hard to come by. Directors are the hardest to please in the universe, so to win this award in front of so many different directors, I regard that as a lifetime achievement.”
Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam was seated with the rest of the audience. On noticing this, Anthony couldn’t resist thanking the government for supporting the film industry.
Specified Anthony: “If an industry has enough power, it wouldn’t need support from other platforms, but the film business here definitely needs more support, especially for the industry’s younger generation.”
Filipino actress Crisel Consunji, who had starred with Anthony in Still Human, has been nominated for best actress in the 38th edition of the Hong Kong Film Awards.
Anthony, after making sure to thank all the bigwigs, almost forgot to thank his wife. To avoid having to rough it out on the sofa that night, he quickly added: “It’s my wife. I am thankful for her patience after all these years. I am never home and have always gone missing because I am always preoccupied with preparing the emotional roller coasters of my characters. She’s had it hard!”
Asked if his victory has boosted his confidence of winning the same title at the coming Hong Kong Film Award, Anthony said: “I’ll take it as it comes. I don’t want to think too much about it.”
Still Human transposes the account of a contentious relationship between a disabled employer and his newly-hired help from swanky Paris settings to Hong Kong’s modest public housing projects.
An attractive former nurse approaching her mid-30s, Evelyn (Consunji) arrives in Hong Kong from the Philippines in response to an employment ad seeking a caregiver for irascible middleaged pensioner Leung (Anthony). Living alone and confined to a wheelchair, he needs frequent assistance with eating, bathing and getting around after the abrupt departure of his former Filipina maid.
The two get off to a rocky start when he discovers that Evelyn doesn’t speak Cantonese and they’re forced to communicate in imperfect English, with Leung using a mobile phone app to translate his often acerbic text entries into spoken commands.
There’s so much variety when it comes to directors, so to know that there is at least one out there who approves you, is hard to come by. Directors are the hardest to please in the universe, so to win this award in front of so many different directors, I regard that as a lifetime achievement. Anthony Wong, actor