Tony Leung receives French arts honour

Hong Kong actor Tony Leung was awarded an OBE medallion for becoming an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire two days ago at Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of Arts and Letters) in Hong Kong.

The 52-year-old was awarded the medallion for his unique acting style and charm, which made him a fan favourite in France. He is also the first Chinese actor to have obtained the officer rank.

Out of the three ranks – Commander, Officer and Knight – director Wong Kar Wai and Chinese actress Gong Li received the Commander ranking while film directors Ang Lee and Hou Hsiao Hsien as well as Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi were awarded the highest ranking as Knights. Taiwanese film director Tsai Ming Liang was last year’s Officer awardee.

Tony, who has been in the film industry for over 30 years and has countless accolades to his name, donned a suit to the award ceremony accompanied by his lovely actress wife Carina Lau.

Others who graced the event include Tony’s good friends like film actress Chingmy Yau and Wong Kar Wai, the director of the successful 2000 film starring Tony In the Mood for Love. This film was shown at the Cannes Film Festival and also won the French Caesar Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Commenting about his “fate with France,” Tony said: “I will be sure to act in more excellent movies for the French audience.”

Not only is Tony an outstanding actor, he is also a very good writer. He recently wrote a review on the film directed by Hong Kong actor-director Derek Yee I am Somebody and in his piece, he reminisced about the time when he went through a tough time during his acting classes.

A quote from the review: “I want to become an actor, not an idol, not a movie star, just a member of the cast and crew.” Netizens praised him for his humble words and called him honest and wise.

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