Biography

Has said numerous times in interviews that he would like to work with Martin Scorsese.

Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung Chiu-wai were called the Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart of Chinese cinema by the Straits Times of Singapore on January 22, 2003. They said that they could not ever be lovers because of personality differences.

Admired by several Hollywood actors such as Robert De Niro and Brad Pitt.

Can speak fluent English.

Lists Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Nicole Kidman as his favorites in English-language cinema.

I like not knowing from one day to the next. It keeps me from thinking and allows me to just be in my character. Too much information restricts your creativity. [on working with Wong Kar-wai who doesn't use scripts.]

"Acting has always been a way for me to express the emotions I had buried. If I hadn't acted, I would have gone insane. In my acting class, I could let out my real tears and everyone thought it was the character. But no, it was me." (On acting.)

"Kar-wai is very demanding, and we never have a real script. [But he] challenges me. He is always pushing me to go deeper, to become that person. I like it." (on Wong Kar Wai, while working on 2046)

'She looks for happiness, and will do whatever makes her happy. I'm very pessimistic. Sometimes, out of the blue, she will want to do all sorts of things. I can't deal with that, I have to plan everything properly first.' (On co-star, Maggie Cheung.

"Hero [2002] was the first time I had ever worked on a mainland Chinese production. It was great to work with such a good cast that included Maggie, Jet Li, Chen Daoming, and Zhang Ziyi. I was particularly excited to work with Yimou, a director whose work I have always admired. When I first heard the story, I thought of Kurosawa's Rashomon [1950]. At that time, Yimou gave me a choice of playing the narrator, like Leslie Cheung did in Ashes of Time [1994]. In the end, I did what Yimou wanted and played Broken Sword, who is the lover of Flying Snow, played by Maggie. Because I have a baby face, I was quite concerned about my looks in this film because I was to play a martial arts hero. I did not want to look unconvincing. I spent a lot of time working with Emi Wada, who designed all the film's costumes, on the look of my character, as the wardrobe was very important to play this heroic figure living in ancient China."(On working with Zhang Yimou in the movie, Hero)