Hong Kong movie stars Francis Ng and Anthony Wong and their careers in the 1990s: comedy, crime and character acting

Francis Ng and Anthony Wong are established film stars today, famed for their character acting, comedic skills and unconventional styles

Back in the 1990s, when they gained popularity at the end of the ‘hero’ movie era, they put their own stamp on the often villainous characters they played

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Anthony Wong (left) and Francis Ng at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards at the Hong Kong Coliseum in April 2000. The pair had been a breath of fresh air for Hong Kong film-goers in the 1990s with their unconventional style. Photo: SCMP

Published: 4:15am, 27 Aug 2023Updated: 8:47am, 27 Aug 2023

Francis Ng Chun-yu and Anthony Wong Chau-sang are established veterans of Hong Kong cinema. But back in the mid-1990s when they both came to prominence, Wong and Ng were a breath of fresh air.

The “hero” era of Hong Kong cinema, personified by alpha males like Chow Yun-fat, had run out of steam, and audiences were drawn to the pair’s eccentric qualities; they were not all-powerful supermen, but local “characters” with foibles, troubles and imperfections.

“As the mainstream male image suffered from a decline in potency, the ‘not normal’ men sneaked in,” critic Bryan Chang wrote in 2000, referring to a line Ng says in Full Alert.

Both Ng and Wong generally played villainous roles, and explored the darker side of humanity. But both also had a talent for comedy that sometimes surfaced in unexpected places.

Francis Ng (top) and Anthony Wong in a still from “Dancing Lion” (2007), co-directed by Ng and Marco Mak Chi-sin. Photo: SCMPost

“I started as a TV actor in farcical sitcoms,” Ng told the Far East Film Festival. “When they wanted someone to play the bad guy, I did it. But I always like to keep a comedy element in my performances.”

Although they both specialised in exaggerated villainy in the 1990s, Ng and Wong brought different qualities to their performances. Like his favourite actor Takeshi Kitano, Ng was unpredictable and could explode into a violent temper at the flick of a switch.

Hong Kong movie stars Francis Ng and Anthony Wong and their careers in the 1990s: comedy, crime and character acting

Francis Ng and Anthony Wong are established film stars today, famed for their character acting, comedic skills and unconventional styles Back in the 1990s, when they gained popularity at the end of the ‘hero’ movie era, they put their own stamp on the often villainous characters they played

Francis Ng and Anthony Wong are established film stars today, famed for their character acting, comedic skills and unconventional styles

Back in the 1990s, when they gained popularity at the end of the ‘hero’ movie era, they put their own stamp on the often villainous characters they played