Although Tony Leung (梁朝偉) is one of the greatest film star in Asia, he often shy away from the limelight and prefers to focus on his acting. For years, the superstar has been declining talk shows and prefers to avoid the spotlight on him.
Being a loyal friend, Tony makes an exceptional interview to appear on a talk show in Hong Kong hosted by his good friend, Luisa Maria Leitao (黎芷珊). Tony agreed to accept the interview as this is the first talk show hosted by Luisa. As Luisa told Tony, “If you can accept my interview, it will definitely help me,” and Tony immediately agreed.
This rare interview offers a glimpse of the superstar’s personal life, his marriage and he reveals his biggest regret of his life.
Will shelve his Japanese film “1905”
As the tensions escalate between Japan and China on the Diaoyu Islands disputes, Tony is unluckily embroiled into the tension too. Many netizens have lashed out at Tony for casting in Japanese film “1905”, and branded him a “traitor” too.
It is clarified that Tony is a victim of this incident. Although the Japanese film-maker had contacted Tony to cast in “1905”, but Tony has not officially signed any contract with them. Tony has not even seen the script of the film. It is understood that the Japanese film-maker had single-sidedly announced the filming of the movie in November.
In view of the heighten tensions between the two countries, Tony will put on hold the film indefinitely.
Tony takes on fatherly role since young
As Tony’s parents divorced before he was 10, he had to assume the role of a father and took care of his younger sister.
“Growing up in a single-parent family makes me stronger, mature and more independent. I played the role of a father in the family. When my mum worked, I took care of my sister. I held her to school and brought her home after school. I bought meals for her, watched her do her homework. I even had to do the household chores such as cleaning, washing dishes. It is also good that I grew up in a single-parent family. If I grew up in a normal family, I may not have such a good character. If I were to grow up in a rich family, I may be a spoiled child.”
As Tony grew up in a harsh environment, he was able to handle everything by himself when he first started his acting career. Having an independent character, Tony is able to cook and do household chores. He even brings along his medication whenever he films and is able to share his medicine with his colleagues.
Tony felt distant to his father
After Tony’s father left the family, he had only seen him a couple of times. Tony felt distant and confused facing his father.
“When I returned from school, all of a sudden, I saw my dad at home. My mum behaved as usual and lead her life normally. In my memory, I encountered three times of such situations. I felt lost and asked what happened between my parents. However, they never explained their relationship to me and my sister. My parents perhaps thought that we are just kids and did not feel the need to account to us.”
Tony added, “When I was older, I met my dad a couple of times when I was still in school. I never meet him again when I started working. The last time that we met, my feelings towards my dad was very distant.”
Biggest regret of his life
As a child, Tony blamed his father for abandoning the family. As his father had given him happy memories when he was young, he has already put behind his unhappiness towards his father.
“I have forgiven him now. I can’t even say it is forgive, it is more like I have matured. I understand many things. It is not a big deal that my parents separated. If two persons cannot get along, it’s better to split up. However, I always thought that they should explain their relationship to us. At least they should let us know and we did not need to guess. I was not able to guess and was always confused as a child.”
Asked if his father had seen his accomplishments in his career, Tony let on that his father had passed away almost ten years ago. He regretted for not being able to see his father the last time before he passed away. Hence, it was this regret that he cherished his mother and his sister more.
Tony said, “I cherish my mother, my sister and the ones around me. I learnt not to have any more regret in my life. One regret is enough.”
Tony on his relationship with his mum
As a child, Tony saw how his mother endured hardships to bring up his sister and him. Tony’s mother woke up at 6 am everyday to prepare breakfast for Tony and his sister. She then brought her children to school and then proceeded to work. After returning from work, Tony’s mother had to prepare dinner for the family. As Tony’s mother was struggling daily, juggling with work and taking care of her children, Tony had little time communicating with his mother.
“Even when I started filming, I never had much chances of meeting my mum. Now, I tried to spend more time with her. However, the feelings is sometimes very strange. As a child, I had little interaction with my mum and I find it hard to talk to her now. I dote on her in my heart but I do not know how to express it. She doesn’t know and I don’t know too. We are not used to expressing our feelings. I thought if we both had each other in our hearts was enough. Actually, there is really a need to say and express our feelings.”
Tony on his wife, Carina Lau
In contrast to Tony who has a more reserved character, his wife Carina Lau has an outgoing and a straightforward personality. Speaking about his wife, Tony said, “She plays the role as the head of her family. When she was young, she already started working to support the family. We are similar in that sense. Hence, she is very mature and knows how to take care of people. She will arrange everything in order. I do not need to worry about many things and I can feel at ease.”
As Carina revealed before that Tony was an attentive person, Tony responded, “I am attentive but I am very lazy too. I won’t put in efforts. I may start something but Carina is the one who carries out from head to toe. In that aspect, she really takes care of me very thoroughly.”
As the couple has different personalities, they learn to respect and give one another the personal space. As Tony prefers spending his time quietly, he will not insist his wife to follow him. Likewise, for his wife, he will give her the personal space to do things that she likes to do. However, the doting husband, Tony will also accompany his wife to enjoy some “outgoing” activities together.
Asked if he had proposed to Carina, Tony replied, “After dating for so long, did I propose to her? Maybe I did, but I was rejected. However, I had forgotten it. It’s better to forget such things then remembering it. I rather remember the happy times. It was later that I realised there was a need to get married. When she said, ‘Why don’t we get married?’…… it is an important matter for a woman. I was also very happy after we got married. She organised the whole wedding by herself and she is so amazing!”
Source: mingpao@ihktv