{"id":349035,"date":"2026-03-20T11:41:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T11:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/349035\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T11:41:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T11:41:09","slug":"terrance-lau-on-action-stardom-and-hong-kongs-shrinking-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/349035\/","title":{"rendered":"Terrance Lau on Action Stardom and Hong Kong’s Shrinking Market"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tOff his star turn in the 2024 Hong Kong<\/a> box office and critical hit \u201cTwilight of the Warriors: Walled In<\/a>,\u201d Terrance Lau<\/a> Chun-him might just be that elusive creature Hong Kong audiences have been waiting for: a generational movie star and leading man.<\/p>\n

\n\tRising to prominence as a schizophrenia sufferer in \u201cBeyond the Dream\u201d (2019), Lau won Best Actor at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards for that role. At this year\u2019s Asian Film Awards<\/a> he also received the Rising Star Award.<\/p>\n

\n\tLau will appear next in the police\/gangster epic \u201cCold War 1994.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter the massive global success of \u201cTwilight of the Warriors: Walled In,\u201d how has the international appetite for Hong Kong action changed your approach to your career? What kinds of trends are you seeing in Hong Kong?<\/p>\n

\n\tHaha, honestly? I don\u2019t really have a \u201cstrategy.\u201d As an actor, you\u2019re usually just waiting for the phone to ring. But I think because of \u201cTwilight of the Warriors,\u201d people realized, \u201cOh, he can actually handle action.\u201d So I\u2019ve been getting more offers for those types of roles.<\/p>\n

\n\tMostly big commercial stuff is being made. It feels like investors are more confident when they have data to back up a project. They\u2019re much more willing to put money into something if they think the numbers already add up.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou moved from the psychological depth of \u201cBeyond the Dream\u201d to physical roles in \u201cStuntman.\u201d Is there a commercial pressure for HK actors to prove themselves in the action genre?<\/p>\n

\n\tNot at all. I studied theater in university, and when I\u2019m picking a movie to watch, I usually go for something more artsy, literary, or indie. I never actually thought I\u2019d be doing action movies. I don\u2019t have that \u201caction star\u201d background; I just have a little bit of a dance foundation to lean on. For me, it\u2019s just about being ready for whatever project lands in my lap.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou work extensively in both Hong Kong and Taiwan. Is there a difference in terms of production culture?<\/p>\n

\n\tBesides the language, it\u2019s all about the vibe and the pace. Hong Kong is obsessed with efficiency. On a HK set, everyone is moving at lightning speed because filming here is so expensive \u2013 you have to get it done fast. Taiwan is a bit more relaxed. They take their time to let the creative side simmer. There\u2019s a lot more prep time, like table reads and rehearsals, which gives us actors more space to really get into character.<\/p>\n

\n\tYou played Leslie Cheung in \u201cAnita.\u201d \u201cStuntman\u201d specifically deals with the decline of the HK film industry. Is there a reason you gravitate towards these roles? Does it come from a sense of responsibility to rejuvenate a HK film industry that lost a generation or more of filmmaking talent in the 90s and beyond?<\/p>\n

\n\tYou\u2019re right \u2013 the industry here is facing some tough challenges. We used to be the \u201cHollywood of the East\u201d because we put out so much stuff. But these days, with the economy being what it is, investors are playing it safe.<\/p>\n

\n\tWe aren\u2019t making nearly as many movies as we used to. My generation of filmmakers has been dealing with this for a while now, and honestly, there\u2019s a real sense of \u201cwhat can we even do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tTo be fair, I don\u2019t have much room to be picky. There aren\u2019t many films getting made, and we all have to make a living. It\u2019s very reactive.<\/p>\n

\n\tThat\u2019s actually why I just finished writing a script of my own. I\u2019m hoping to get it off the ground and filmed so I can help take Hong Kong stories even further.<\/p>\n

\n\tThere\u2019s an age gap in Hong Kong leading men, particularly between the stars of the 80s\/90s and now, with many tentpole films still having to be headlined by stars now in their late 50s or 60s. Do you feel the industry is finally investing in your generation as the new leading men?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s tough, to be honest. Plenty of actors in my age group are getting lead roles, but whether the investors or the audience truly see us as \u201cthe ones\u201d is another story.<\/p>\n

\n\tEveryone wants to give the next generation a shot, but the market is just so small right now. There aren\u2019t enough opportunities to go around. I get it, though \u2013 you\u2019ve got several generations all fighting for a spot in a market that keeps shrinking. It\u2019s hard to make sure everyone stays employed.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhat is the one trend in Asian cinema that excites you, and the one that concerns you?<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s great that Asian movies are finally getting the global recognition they deserve. The quality is amazing. My concern, though, is that because everyone is so focused on data and making things \u201cglobal,\u201d it\u2019s starting to mess with the scripts. They don\u2019t feel as punchy or as unique as they used to. Everything is starting to look a bit the same, and we\u2019re losing that strong, personal voice from the creators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Off his star turn in the 2024 Hong Kong box office and critical hit \u201cTwilight of the Warriors:…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[96582,458,146,3448,85,46,170154,170155],"class_list":["post-349035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-asian-film-awards","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-hong-kong","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-terrance-lau","tag-twilight-of-the-warriors-walled-in"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}