Anthony Wong Chau-sang (; born Anthony William Perry; 2 September 1961) is a Hong Kong film actor, film director and singer,Daniel O'Brien Spooky Encounters: A Gwailo's Guide to Hong Kong Horror 2003 -- Page 155 "The biggest 'star' to work in this disreputable field is undoubtedly Anthony Wong Chau-sang. Best known to Hong Kong action fans as the lead villain in John Woo's Hard Boiled, Wong gave an award-winning performance in The Untold Story, ."Botang Zhuo, Tong Cheuk Pak Hong Kong New Wave Cinema: (1978-2000) - 2008 Page 194 "Cheung, a senior police, is actually a traitor, working in complicity with Anthony Wong. ... Besides being in complicity with Anthony Wong, he also frequently made use of his position to interfere with Lee Sau-yin's movements, in order to enable ..."Gina Marchetti Andrew Lau and Alan Mak's Infernal Affairs: The Trilogy -2007 Page 151- "Anthony Wong plays Tung who bridges both sides of the law in Gordon Chan and Dante Lam's Beast Cops (1998), and he won the 1999 Hong Kong Film Award for best actor for that role. Thus, the revelation that SP Wong is literally in bed ... known for his intense portrayals of often-amoral characters.Linda Williams The erotic thriller in contemporary cinema 2005- Page 389 "A prolific action figure such as Anthony Wong, for instance, is able to star in the exemplary Cat III violent shocker The Untold Story (a Sweeny Toddesque tale of everyday cannibalism–he even received a Hong Kong Film Award for the role) or the ..." He has won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor three times for The Untold Story (1993), Beast Cops (1998) and Still Human (2018), and won Taiwan's Golden Horse Award for Best Actor for The Sunny Side of the Street (2022). He is the first Hong Kong actor to have won Best Actor awards in films, stage theatre and TV. His other works include Hard Boiled (1992), Infernal Affairs trilogy (2002–2003) and the Hollywood film The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008).
Early life Wong was born Anthony William Perry on 2 September 1961 to a Hong Kong Chinese mother of Taishanese descent, Wong Juen-yee, and an English father, Frederick William Perry, who served with the Royal Air Force during World War II and later as a colonial officer. Frederick Perry walked out on the family when Wong was four, so he lived with his mother "in the staircase of a pre-war building in Wan Chai" until he was sent to live with various relatives for two years while his mother "held down three jobs." He kept in touch with his father through letters until they lost contact when he was 12 years old, and he knew that he had three older half-siblings from his father's marriage. He met his half-brothers in 2018.
In his acting career, Wong has established a reputation for openly critiquing the Hong Kong film industry and its practices, actors' performances and pop culture in interviews and his personal microblog. In some of those critiques, he revealed his experiences of being bullied and discriminated against—for being a "mixed race foreigner" and "during the 1960s, English-Chinese mixed race people like me were regarded as bastards" and for being born outside Hong Kong—while growing up in Hong Kong and during the early years of his acting career.
During his late teens, Wong moved to the United Kingdom to attend a college of further education. He returned to Hong Kong to attend a training course in hairdressing until he quit to join Asia Television's (ATV) training programme when he was 21.
Career After completing ATV's training programme, he continued his training at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Wong trained under Philippe Gaulier at École Philippe Gaulier in France. He had stated in an interview that his mixed ethnicity initially caused him to be typecast as a villain, due to institutionalised racism in the Hong Kong film industry during this period.Interview in HK ORIENT EXTREME CINEMA, N°13, January 2000 He nonetheless won a Hong Kong Film Award for his performance as a fictionalised version of serial killer Huang Zhiheng in the 1993 film The Untold Story.
In the following years, Wong appeared in a wide range of genre films including Rock n' Roll Cop, Hard Boiled, The Heroic Trio, Infernal Affairs, The Mission, The Medallion and the Young and Dangerous film series. Wong had also appeared in a number of international films, such as The Painted Veil and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. In 1995, Wong made his directorial debut with The New Tenant. In a 2005 interview with Star eCentral, Wong stated that amongst his prolific output during the 1980s and the 1990s, a considerable number of films he appeared in were "terrible." However, he does not regret making those films, as he needed the money to support his family.
In 2014, Wong hosted TV show Dinner Confidential, where he would prepare one dish out of a table d'hote candle-lit dinner menu for guests. In 2015, Wong won the TVB Anniversary Awards for Best Actor and Best Drama for Lord of Shanghai, making him the first Hong Kong actor to have won Best Actor awards in films, stage theatre and TV.
Personal life Wong married his teenage sweetheart, Jane Ng Wai-zing, in 1992 but they lived separately. They have two sons, born in 1996 and 1998. Wong and Ng signed a divorce agreement in 1998 but did not file for the divorce. In June 2018, it was revealed that he had a son named William (born 1998) in the UK with a woman named Joyce, who is the niece of John Shum. Since 2020, Wong has been living with his wife Ng after 28 years of living apart.
In March 2018, Wong met his half-brothers, twins John William and David Frederick Perry, after a BBC story on Wong's search for his family was published. He also has a half-sister, Vera Ann. His father died in 1988 in Australia, where he and his first family settled after they left Hong Kong. His half-siblings did not know of Wong's existence until the BBC story was produced.
Wong is a supporter of the 2014 Umbrella Movement, a series of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. This has reportedly led to limited acting opportunities for him in mainland China. He has also voiced support for the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests. On 18 April 2021, Wong was approved for Taiwan's Employment Gold Card, allowing him to work in Taiwan without needing to apply in advance. It also allows him to receive tax incentives and National Health Insurance.
Wong speaks English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
Filmography
Film Year Title Role/ 1985 My Name Ain't Suzie () Jimmy Koch 1990 When Fortune Smiles () Wei () No Risk, No Gain: Casino Raiders - The Sequel Yeung Sing Dancing Bull () Ngau Ban-tsiu () The Big Score () Ma Kwan () 1991 Erotic Ghost Story II () Ng Tung/Chau-sang () Don't Fool Me Nerd's brother Su () Casino Raiders II Pow 1992 Sting of the Scorpion () Chow Kin () Now You See Love, Now You Don't Dunno What a Hero! Saucer Hard Boiled Johnny Wong Lucky Encounter () Cheap Chan () Full Contact (1992) Sam Sei () Angel Hunter () Kwok/The Bishop 1993 Rong shi qi an Lau Biao jie, ni hao ye! III zhi da ren jia dao Inspector Lu Ping Fight Back to School III Tailor Lam The Heroic Trio Kau Fu gui kuang hua Huang Fei Hong dui Huang Fei Hong The Untold Story Wong Chi-hang 3 Days of a Blind Girl Sam Chu A Moment of Romance II Dino The Mad Monk Nine Lives Beggar Cheng shi nu lie ren Charlie Chan Executioners Mr. Kim/The Faceless Monster/Kau Di shi pan guan Kin Daughter of Darkness Officer Lui Love to Kill Sam-wai Wong 1994 Bomb Disposal Officer: Baby Bomb John Wu Meng chai ren Oh! My Three Guys Best Actor Winner Ti tian xing dao zhi sha xiong The prosecutor Xiang Gang qi an: Zhi xi xue gui li wang Tong Chi-ming Yi xian sheng ji Inspector Kim Kuo-hao Organized Crime & Triad Bureau Ho Kin Tung Guang Dong wu hu zhi tie quan wu di Sun Zhong Shan Saang Gong yat ho tung chap faan Inspector Hung Gui mi xin qiao Liu Sheng-ming Guai xia yi zhi mei 1995 Er yue san shi Raymond Shiu Chi-li Hai shi jue de ni zui hao Wah Tino Jie fang chai ren Lau Ma lu ying xiong II: Fei fa sai che Doctor Xin fang ke Alan Tam The World of Treasure 1996 Tou tou ai ni Mongkok Story Lui Lone Xiu hua da dao Jing hua rou bo jiang jian dang Jin zhuang xiang jiao ju le bu Host/Inspector Wong/Mr. Shaw/John Zhong guo 'O' ji zhi xie xing qing ren Li Shu-pei Young and Dangerous 2 Tai Fai Ebola Syndrome Kai San Big Bullet Bird Young and Dangerous 3 Tai Fai Black Mask King Kau Viva Erotica Wong 1997 Armageddon Chiu Tai-pang Hui zhuan shou shi Shing Young and Dangerous 4 Tai Fai Huo shao dao zhi heng hang Ba dao Ng yun ji dai Option Zero Sing 1998 The Untold Story 2 Officer Lazyboots Haunted Mansion Ah Gi's Husband God.com The Demon's Baby Chin Hai-ching Hoi Young and Dangerous 5 Tai Fei Beast Cops Tung Quan zhi da dao The Storm Riders Sword Saint Jiang jian xian jing Wong Lik-tak 1999 Raped by an Angel 4: The Raper's Union Human Milk Drinking Doctor Wai Goh dik goo si A Lamb in Despair Charles Hak do fung wan ji sau chuk wong Chiu-chau Tsam Fascination Amour Eric Ordinary Heroes Peter Kam Gou hun e meng A Man Called Hero Pride Heaven of Hope Ah Wah (Brother Wah) Baan gwat chai Hei she hui dang an zhi hei jin di guo Century of the Dragon Lam The Deadly Camp Boar The Mission Curtis The Legendary 'Tai Fei' Tai Fei 2000 Violent Cop Tai Pan-kim Evil Fade Nu nan jue Fist Power Charles Chau Those Were the Days... Dai Fei Q gei luen yan Lam Yau sau tung dong What Is a Good Teacher ching Time and Tide Uncle Ji Jiang hu: The Triad Zone Master Kwan Wan-cheung Miu meng ji tiu Wisdom Ai wo bie zou Rock Metade Fumaca Gen-X Cops 2: Metal Mayhem Dr. Tang 2001 United We Stand and Swim Coach Mao Yuk mong ji shing Runaway Ray Visible Secret Wong Lin My Life as McDull School Principal (voice) and Logan (voice) 2002 Gwaai sau hok yuen Roaring Dragon, Bluffing Tiger Yi wen ji bao biao Peter's Dad Seung fei Joker's Father Just One Look Crazy Demi-Haunted Hung Infernal Affairs SP Wong Chi-shing 2003 Love Under the Sun Cat and Mouse Judge Bao Zheng The Twins Effect Prada Kap sze moon yat goh gei kooi Anthony Colour of the Truth S.P. Wong Jiang The Medallion Lester Fu bo Infernal Affairs II Inspector Wong Chi-shing Infernal Affairs III SP Wong Chi-shing Golden Chicken 2 Chow 2004 Magic Kitchen Tony Ho 20 30 40 Shi Ge McDull, Prince de la Bun principal (voice) A-1 Headline Lam Hei-fei 2005 Slim till Dead Sergeant Tak House of Fury Yue Siu-bo 2 Young Nam's Pop Initial D Bunta 'Tofuman' Fujiwara Mob Sister Whacko All About Love 2006 McDull, the Alumni Isabella Chen-shing's boss On the Edge Lung Exiled blazed The Painted Veil Colonel Yu 2007 Sweet Revenge Ching Shing Dancing Lion Great Uncle Mr. Cinema Zhou Heung-kong Simply Actors Theatre janitor Secret Chiu The Sun Also Rises Teacher Liang Bullet and Brain Brain 2008 The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor General Yang Plastic City Yuda Ying han Dragon True Women for Sale Lau Fu-yi 2009 I Corrupt All Cops Unicorn Tang Vengeance Kwai McDull, Kung Fu Kindergarten Principal/Master/Xiongbao (voice) Turning Point Brother one The Last Night of Madam Chin Cheng Rong-fa 2010 Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen Liu Yutian 2011 Punished Wong Ho-chiu A Beautiful Life A Simple Life Grasshopper - Elderly home's owner The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake White Vengeance Fan Zeng 2012 Motorway Lo McDull: The Pork of Music principal The Four Zhuge Zhenwo Naked Soldier Westgate Tango 2013 Ip Man: The Final Fight Ip Man The Four II 2014 Golden Chicken 3 The Four III McDull: Me & My Mum Gangster Payday 2015 Hot Blood Band 12 Golden Ducks 2016 The Mobfathers McDull: Rise of the Rice Cooker 2017 Cook Up a Storm Mountain Ko The Sleep Curse 77 Heartbreaks 2018 Still Human 2019 A Home with a View Declared Legally Dead 2022 The Sunny Side of the Street 2024 Emmanuelle The EyeValley of the Shadow of DeathPastor Leung 2025 Finch & Midland Tony WongBallad of a Small PlayerCasino executive
Television series War of The Dragon (1989), Cheung King-to ()