"Gambling King" Stanley Ho once called Jumbo Seafood Restaurant "the best restaurant on the sea", and Stephen Chow once regained the position of "God of Food" on the boat. This luxurious boat, which carries the memories of many Hong Kong people, eventually sank in the sea. .

" Gambling King " Stanley Ho once called Jumbo Seafood Restaurant "the best restaurant on the sea". Stephen Chow once regained the position of "God of Food" on the boat. This luxurious boat carries the memories of many Hong Kong people. Eventually it sank in the sea.

This inevitably reminds people of Stephen Chow, who filmed "The God of Cookery" on Fang. His life has many similarities with Jumbo Fang, from an unknown bit player to the world-famous king of comedy, and then to being misunderstood. , hostility.

The difference is that no matter how big the storm is, it cannot knock down this lonely and strong man.

On June 22, 2022, Stephen Chow will celebrate his 60th birthday.

Let us get closer to the "comedy" life of this lonely "tragedy" artist - Stephen Chow.

01. If you don’t have dreams as a human being, what’s the difference between being a salted fish? ——"Shaolin Football"

In 1957, Ling Baoer was forced to run from Guangdong to Hong Kong to make a living because her father was imprisoned. In Hong Kong, a place she was unfamiliar with, she had to be sponsored even to find a job.

In desperation, Ling Baoer, a top student graduated from Guangzhou Normal University, married Zhou Yishang, a poor man in Kowloon Walled.

Despite the difficult living conditions, Ling Baoer persevered, never leaving her husband, and even gave birth to a daughter for him.

On June 22, 1962, in the small wooden house they called home, the couple welcomed the birth of a new life. A baby boy was born, and his loud cry covered up the laughter of his parents.

Ling Baoer looked at the child in her arms and remembered the words "Xiongzhou is foggy and handsome, and the stars are shining" in "The Preface to Prince Teng's Pavilion", so he named the child Zhou Xingchi, which means "the talented among people are like the stars in the sky" .

After Stephen Chow was born, his mother gave birth to a younger sister. However, the more people in the family, the greater the cost of living.

A family of five people squeezed into the bunk bed on an iron frame bed, unable to even turn over. Occasionally, they could eat a meal of soy sauce bibimbap, which was considered a delicacy in the world.

As a child, Stephen Chow loved to lie down in front of the window sill and look at the lives of every household in the walled city. He remembered the lives of ordinary people like him in his mind. What he remembered was a kind of "struggle" , a kind of "resistance" to the hard life, and a true portrayal of the "little people".

Even the young Stephen Chow would not have thought that one day, he would be able to let everyone see how difficult it is for these little people.

One day, his mother took Stephen Chow to watch a movie, but Stephen Chow ignored his favorite movie because he saw his father hugging a woman in the front seat.

In 1969, when Stephen Chow was 7 years old, his mother finally couldn't stand his father's various bad habits, officially divorced, and left the sad home with her three children.

After living with his mother and sisters, Stephen Chow's heart was full of contradictions. On the one hand, it was because he had been introverted and shy since he was a child. Whenever there were outsiders when eating in a restaurant, he would cover his face with the menu card and finish the meal shyly. .

His shy and introverted personality has not changed so far, so he is most afraid of participating in live and variety shows.

But on the other hand, he wanted to protect his mother and sisters. The shy Stephen Chow admired most Bruce Lee and an uncle from his neighbor's house.

Because he admired Bruce Lee, Stephen Chow's first "practice" was to hit cockroaches with the soles of his shoes, but the neighbor's uncle dared to fight with his bare hands.

This scene had a great impact on the young Stephen Chow, and the uncle's "heroic appearance" also gave him courage.

The mother thought he was joking at first, until she saw her son learning " iron sand palm " by himself. He put the fried soybeans in the pot and kept shoveling them with his hands, and his delicate palms were covered with them. Calluses, rough skin and thick flesh.

The mother saw this scene with tears in her eyes. She understood Stephen Chow’s determination, and even more understood the implicit and silent love in her son’s heart.

She stopped this "practice" that was almost self-harm, and saved He used money to buy a sandbag for Stephen Chow.

Stephen Chow went to school while practicing his "martial arts". Unfortunately, except for Chinese, his grades were very poor.

After graduating from middle school, he worked as a waiter in a tea restaurant and worked in a factory. , and also worked as an office assistant, but the busy life did not dilute his dream of becoming a Kung Fu star.

In 1982, Stephen Chow, who had just turned 20, took his friend Tony Leung to take the TVB actor examination together. Unexpectedly, Stephen Chow, who was full of hope, failed. However, Tony Leung, who accompanied him in the exam, successfully passed the exam.

The disappointed Stephen Chow returned home. Qi Meizhen, who lived across the door, asked him how he did in the exam. He only said: " Wei Tsai passed the exam." "

What many people don't know is that Qi Meizhen, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, and Stephen Chow are all old friends for many years, and Qi Meizhen is even more important to Stephen Chow.

Qi Meizhen entered TVB a year earlier than Stephen Chow. When Stephen Chow failed, it was Qi Meizhen who found him in the training class at that time. Principal Liu Fanggang interceded for him, which allowed Stephen Chow to successfully enter TVB's training class.

In later Stephen Chow movies, the audience can always find the figure of "Azhen". He uses his own way to thank those who helped him

Qi Meizhen only thought it was a trivial matter at the time, but every time Stephen Chow talked about joining the industry, he would tell everyone: "I relied on Qi Meizhen to help me back then. "

After the two finally entered the industry, the treatment of Tony Leung and Stephen Chow could be described as very different. Tony Leung quickly became the darling of the industry, and he played the leading role not long after, but Stephen Chow was arranged to play a role in the children's program "430 Shuttle". 》Be the host.

This job has low wages and no room for promotion. The only advantage is that there is more free time, so whenever he is free, Stephen Chow will go to the crew to play a small role.

He plays passers-by, soldiers, and even corpses. Sometimes he can Showing his face, but most often only his back.

Hong Kong media once ruthlessly complained about him in magazines: “Even the host is so bad, let alone an actor. "

Stephen Chow copied down the bad comments from the media and posted them beside his bed. Every time he watched Stanislavsky 's "The Actor's Self-Cultivation", he could always see the doubts and ridicules towards him.

In 1983 In the 2006 TV series "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", Stephen Chow played an unknown soldier who was beaten to death by Mei Chaofeng. He asked the director if he could resist the first palm and die again with the second palm. As a result, Naturally, he was ruthlessly rejected.

But if you look at the shot that only lasted less than a second, you will find the investment in his facial expressions.

"Although it is small, it is also a performance. " Stephen Chow said in the future.

Gold will eventually shine. After 6 years of hosting and supporting roles, in 1988 Stephen Chow was finally seen for his acting skills.

He was appreciated by Lee Xiuxian , which made him In the movie " Thunderbolt Pioneer ", he starred as a younger brother who made his way in the world. With this film, he won the Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for the Golden Image Award for Best Supporting Actor.

1990 , the company of the Xiang brothers signed Stephen Chow, and director Wang Jing used the movie "The Gambler " to push him into the "Stephen Chow Era" .

This movie broke the box office record in Hong Kong and became a The box office king of the year.

The boy who admired Bruce Lee finally ushered in his era. He used his success to tell the world:

"If a person has no dreams, what is the difference between him and a salted fish?" "

But Stephen Chow would not have thought that after more than 30 years, his good reputation would collapse.

02. "I thought we could talk about some feelings, but I didn't expect it was still a business." - "Domestic Lingling Paint"

After Stephen Chow starred in "The Gambler", he released a large number of works with high quality and high output, and every All have become classics, and even today it can only be described as a miracle.

In the movies he has starred in and directed, the protagonists have never been the "weiguangzheng" heroes, the bandits in " Westward Journey ", the rag collectors in "Shaolin Football", " Wu Zhuangyuan Su Qier " The beggar in...

He used his own thinking to deconstruct and reorganize the "hero", and integrated all the life he saw and felt into the character. Everyone can find resonance in his movies, and in the end The audience suddenly discovered that these "little people" are the heroes, and everyone can be a hero.

Stephen Chow's mother once said: "Xiaolong (Stephen Chow's nickname), such a shy person, performs as if he is possessed."

It is Stephen Chow's paranoia that made him the "King of Comedy" The title also made his off-screen life controversial.

Since the advent of "Mermaid" and " The New King of Comedy ", Stephen Chow can be said to be "no guarantee of late".

Netizens criticized him for exhausting his talents. " Star Master " became Stephen Chow. His former "friends" all jumped out and stripped him of all his dignity.

As Stephen Chow's old stories are uncovered one by one, he is called a "snob" today and a "loner" tomorrow. Is he really that unbearable?

As mentioned in the previous article, Lee Xiuxian discovered Stephen Chow. After his popularity, he asked Stephen Chow to film "Descendants of the Dragon " and " Love Saint ", but the salary was very low, only a few hundred thousand.

Stephen Chow remembered Lee Xiuxian's kindness and accepted the film contract, and both movies were hits. Later, he starred in several dramas "recommended" by Lee Xiuxian with a salary of 700,000, but at that time his salary was already as high as 8 million Hong Kong dollars. Although

was kind, Stephen Chow felt that he could not go on like this, so he avoided Lee Xiuxian.

Not long after, it was reported that Li Xiuxian scolded Zhou Xingchi for being ungrateful.

Wang Jing said of him: "Although he is talented, he is selfish and has no taste. He only loves money."

When filming "Kung Fu", Sammo Hung served as a martial arts instructor and scolded him: "Treat other people like dogs."

Because Stephen Chow is so paranoid that he is called a "tyrant on the set" because he has to take care of everything, and once he gets into the mood, he will "disown all his relatives".

When filming "Shaolin Football", " Tietou Kung " Huang Yifei had eight beer bottles smashed on his head, but the effect did not meet his psychological expectations. Everyone was knocked unconscious. Stephen Chow is still there Ask the prop team: "Is there any wine bottle left?"

In Stephen Chow's heart, movies always seem to come first, and worldliness and friendship can only give way to him.

"Star Girl" Huang Shengyi once complained, "I haven't spoken more than 100 sentences to him in several years."

But Stephen Chow thinks this is natural. Others may value favors and are afraid of betraying them. There is a word of loyalty in the industry; but what Stephen Chow values ​​​​only is movies, and what he fears is the theater and the audience.

Stephen Chow once said: "Things are more important than people."

He did offend almost all his friends and partners for this.

Even his golden partner Ng Mang-tat was heartbroken by him. Before the filming of "Kung Fu" started, he invited Ng Mang-tat to join. For this reason, Ng Mang-tat turned down two movies and his salary was well over one million.

But when it was about to start, Stephen Chow suddenly told Ng Mang-tat: "Brother Da, your role is gone, there is no need to film.

Wu Mengda was so angry that he pointed at him and asked: "Do you regard me as your brother?" "

As the news about the two people's breakup spread like wildfire, everyone was waiting for the fierce news about this golden pair. Unexpectedly, Wu Mengda responded: "I understand him, and we will still cooperate, as long as I He's not dead, he's not retired yet. "

It is a pity that we can no longer see the two of them working together. At Ng Man-tat's funeral, Stephen Chow sent a simple but sincere four-word message "I will miss you forever!" "

There are not many people in the world who can understand him, and now there is one less one.

It is understandable that people accuse Stephen Chow of being "ruthless", but the word "greedy for money" cannot be associated with him.

He is famous for using the word "money" in "Kung Fu" He picked up words such as "Yang Guo" and "Little Dragon Girl" and took the initiative to find Jin Yong to pay the copyright fee. Jin Yong was dumbfounded:

"Countless people have used the novels and names I wrote, but few have discussed it with me. You What's the point of just using these names? Just take it and use it. "

But in the end, Stephen Chow still forced the royalties to Jin Yong and refused to give in no matter what.

And in terms of patriotism and donations, Stephen Chow also did a lot of things in a low-key manner.

During the Wenchuan earthquake in 2008, he gave 30 million Yuan helped people in the disaster area, and Wang Jing, who accused him of being stingy, donated one percent of his money.

Everyone knows that Louis Koo has donated to many caring schools. In fact, Stephen Chow also donated more than 100 "Xingxing Primary Schools".

Some people may say that money is just an external possession, and I will donate it if I have so much.

But what many people don’t know is that Stephen Chow donated his own bone marrow in order to help sick children.

Stephen Chow is indeed not a “perfect man”, he also has With all kinds of criticized shortcomings, he is like the protagonist in his own movie. Although he has various shortcomings, he can indeed be called a "hero".

After all, heroes are always lonely. Who says that this It's not a tragedy.

03. "There was once a true love in front of me, but I didn't cherish it..." - "Westward Journey"

Stephen Chow once said: "I believe there are not too many people You will like me as a person. "

Since he entered the industry, apart from his family, there are only movies in his life, without entertainment, social interaction, and love.

Wang Jing said: "Stephen Chow's vicissitudes and melancholy are from the inside out, and all his smiles are Being left on the screen, it is very difficult for you to see him smile in life. "

The core of comedy is tragedy. Because of this, when the audience laughs more heartily, it is often the saddest time when he is making a movie.

Stephen Chow said in an interview: "Actually, I am a tragic actor.

The audience in the audience laughed.

Many viewers who have watched "Westward Journey" think that Stephen Chow's regret is " Zixia Fairy " Zhu Yin .

In fact, what really makes Stephen Chow regretful is his "Duan" Miss" Luo Huijuan .

Stephen Chow and Luo Huijuan met on the set of the TV series " Ade is also crazy ". At that time, Stephen Chow was still playing a small role, while Luo Huijuan was already the leading actress.

In this drama, Stephen Chow and Luo Huijuan kissed. Twice, and this kiss was Stephen Chow's first kiss.

A year later, in the TV series "The Greatest Heroes ", Luo Huijuan starred as the heroine "Mrs. Duan", and she and Stephen Chow fell in love both on and off screen. However, due to career reasons, neither of them dared to announce their relationship.

Luo Huijuan would look at Zhou Xingchi during the visit, and Zhou Xingchi would also drive Luo Huijuan for a drive. Stephen Chow's sincerity towards Luo Huijuan was obvious to all. Even Leslie Cheung later said, Stephen Chow is very loving to his girlfriend.

In 1990, when Stephen Chow became famous for "The Gambler", he had thought about marrying Luo Huijuan. He also told this idea to Liu Zhenwei with great interest. : "I want to get married!"

But the person he got was indeed Liu Zhenwei. A basin of cold water, Stephen Chow longed to be loved, longed for someone to accept his paranoid self, he wanted to have a ray of light in his "tragic" life.

Stephen Chow backed down. In terms of love, he is not as forward-thinking as he is in movies. He is full of contradictions about feelings, so he did not tell Luo Huijuan.

No one would have thought that their marriage would be missed like this.

In 1992, Luo Huijuan expressed her desire to get married to Stephen Chow, but at that time Stephen Chow had accepted 7 movies. He was in a state of being "in the drama" and could not take into account Luo Huijuan's thoughts. He only said three words to her: " Crazy!"

Luo Huijuan has remembered these three words her whole life, and she has never let go of them after many years.

She didn't understand why Stephen Chow was suddenly so cold, but she also didn't know that Stephen Chow was "hard to express love".

When asked what kind of man is worthy of marriage, Luo Huijuan replied:

"Like Stephen Chow!"

Stephen Chow also maintains the highest level of concern for Luo Huijuan. When he learns that he is injured during filming, he will rush there as soon as possible. When I met him, he immediately invited Luo Huijuan to take a photo.

Stephen Chow is like a naive child, silently watching and guarding Luo Huijuan, but not daring to reveal his love anymore.

Finally, Luo Huijuan failed to wait for Stephen Chow to speak. She fell into depression due to accidents and married another man who loved her.

But fate is a twist. Before Luo Huijuan enjoyed her happiness for a long time, she was unfortunately diagnosed with cancer , and the diagnosis date happened to be Stephen Chow's birthday.

In Luo Huijuan's last words, there is a passage that seems to be said to Stephen Chow:

"Death is not terrible, regrets are terrible. If you want to live a life without regrets, live well, love well, and don't give yourself Opportunity to regret!"

But Luo Huijuan is destined to become Stephen Chow's regret.

From then on, the shadow of the two of them getting along can always be seen in Stephen Chow's movies.

Whether it is the line in the play commemorating the first encounter between the two, "How can you support me if I don't do it?" or the "psychosis" that neither of them can let go of.

Even "Miss Duan" in "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons " was replied: "Crazy!"

It turns out that Stephen Chow has no "creativity" at all, he just crushed his whole life to pieces. Integrated into his own movies, what he shows is nothing else but everything about him.

Looking at the classic dialogue between Supreme Treasure and Zixia , I think Stephen Chow must really regret it.

In an interview with CCTV, the host asked him why the music of "Journey to the West: Conquer the Demons" used the ending song "The Love of My Life" from "Journey to the West" 18 years ago.

He said that there were actually changes, adding "From the past to now, love is still there."

Stephen Chow also said that if he could do it all over again, he would stop being so busy and save time to do the things he likes to do.

"At that time, I only had work in my mind. Now that I am over 50 years old, I find that many things have not been done properly."

The host asked him jokingly, when will he get married?

He took off his hat, revealing his beautiful hair, and smiled sadly: "Look, do I still have a chance?"

I guess he also wanted to be like the warrior on the tower, stepping forward to hold his beloved woman in his arms, and tell her She: "I will never leave in this life, I love you."

Laughing at the monkey carrying the stick with my lover is like laughing at myself in real life. Although I have become a "hero", : “He looks like a dog."

04."It was pitch black in front of me and I couldn't see anything. No, it will be beautiful after dawn." - "The King of Comedy"

Stephen Chow, with his golden hair, is lonely and sad but few people know about it.

His heart is free, he fights for his childhood dream, and for himself Living according to one's will, one cannot tell whether it is joy or sorrow, but it must be lonely.

The love of my life, a sigh.

Perhaps becoming a "king", whether it is a "comedy" or a "tragedy", the fate you need to bear is always It is "loneliness".

In the journey of life, you are destined to continue to lose.

Lose your young body and forget the restlessness of youth; let go of friendships one after another, and end the quarrels and noises of the past; fade away the colorful aura on your body, What's left?

Some people say that Stephen Chow has changed, and he has indeed changed. He has finally become no longer "paranoid".

It seems sad for movie fans that they may not have the chance to see his movies again.

But for Stephen Chow, it seems to be a good thing. He slowly recovered his softness and happiness and became less sharp-edged.

Just as you lose something, you will always get something, and you will lose something. It may accompany you in another form.

If you have ever felt despair, sadness, as if you were stuck in darkness and couldn't extricate yourself, please hold on for a while.

"It will be beautiful after dawn. ”

I wish Stephen Chow a happy 60th birthday and wish everyone a brighter tomorrow!