Tony Leung: Bio And Legendary Acting Resume Before Marvel

Born on the 27th of June, 1962 Tony Leung Chiu-wai is a Hong Kong-based actor. Internationally recognized, he's seen as one of Asia's most popular and successful actors. He was named as "Small Tiger" among Five Tiger Generals of TVB. Tony Leung has won numerous international acting prizes, including the one at the Cannes Film Festival which was the award in the Best Actor category for his performance in Wong Kar-wai's film 'In the Mood for Love'. Leung is generally considered the finest native Hong Kong actor among his generation. He was named as one of "Asia's 25 Greatest Actors of All Time" by CNN. 

Tony has repeatedly played menacing, insubordinate, dark anti-hero characters that often cautiously team up with (and obviously generate misplaced suspicion) more clean-cut protagonists. He has also been referred to as the Asian Clark Gable. FUN FACT, in Hong Kong, Tony Leung is called Short Tony to tell him apart from his fellow actor Tony Ka Fai Leung, who is known as Big Tony. 

Tony Leung as we all know by now, was born in Hong Kong. Tony’s early childhood was disrupted with his parents' clashes and arguments which had been most often related to money. A mischievous boy in his early years, Tony's personality drastically changed when his father, a chronic gamester and gambler, abandoned the family when he was just eight years old. Tony and his younger sister were therefore and then brought up by their mother. Tony was a discreet, reserved and very quiet child. Tony has often mentioned that his childhood experiences have paved the way and played a major role in his acting career as well as his personality, which now permits him to openly express his feelings and be well articulate about most of what he wishes to say. 

Tony Leung went to a private school, but he quit school at the young age of 15 due to financial and monetary difficulties. He had always been a well-behaved teenager nonetheless, who was very close to his mother. While giving an interview on the making of the movie Hero, he said that he considers his mother as his definition of a "heroine". He said that she should be considered so for having brought up two children all alone and on her own. 

Actor Tony Leung and Carina Lau are one of Hong Kong's most prevalent celebrity couples. They had dated for almost about 19 years before marrying in Bhutan in the year 2008. They had known each other since The Replica in 1984, and had worked on-screen with each other in Replica 1984,  Police Cadet (1984, 1985, 1988), Duke of Mount Deer 1984, The Yangs' Saga 1985, He ain't heavy, Days of Being Wild(1991), he's my father (1993), Ashes of Time (1994), and 2046 (2005). 

In the year 1990, during the filming of the movie Days of Being Wild, Lau was kidnapped for several hours. Kar-wai stated that "Originally, there were plans for Days of Being Wild I and II, and the sequence featuring Leung was intended to be the opening scene of the movie sequel. But two things happened, one of which was that Days of Being Wild did not do so well in Hong Kong, so the producers said, "No Part 2." And the other reason was that of Carina Lau's kidnapping. On the 21st of July 2008, the couple got married in Bhutan in a very royal manner. The wedding created media turmoil in Hong Kong, with companies spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to pursue the wedding celebration. 

Tony Leung is widely known for his collaborations with the great director Wong Kar-wai, with whom he has worked in around seven films which include Chungking Express in 1994, Happy Together in the year 1997, In the Mood for Love year 2000, and The Grandmaster  released in 2013. Tony has also performed in three Venice Film Festival Golden Lion-winning films, which also includes A City of Sadness 1989, Lust, Caution 2007, which was directed by Ang Lee and Cyclo 1995. Actor Tony Leung has also starred in the Academy Award-nominated film, Hero and Hard Boiled (1992) the box office hits and Infernal Affairs 2002. 

Tony Leung earned the award for the best actor at the Cannes Film Festival for his remarkable work in the movie Mood for Love. He has also been a seven times winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards and thrice winner at the Golden Horse Film Awards. Tony holds the record for most awards in the Best Actor category and that I believe is an achievement well deserved for a person who comes out of such time in the past and has worked so hard to chase the dream. Tony Leung in the  2002 book East Asian Film Stars is described as "an undoubtedly one of the most successful and widely acclaimed actors from Hong Kong of his generation, with a wide-ranging and diverse filmography." 

In the year 2013, the Mandarin was introduced by, (who we all extremely love by the way) Marvel Cinematic, or so we thought. As it turned out, the Iron Man 3 character Ben Kingsley’s was actually a drunken actor named Trevor Slattery who supposedly was hired to play The character of Mandarin by Aldrich Killian, but it is only now that we are finally meeting the real deal. In the upcoming Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Marvel introduced the character of the Mandarin and he will definitely be played by none other than Tony Leung. 

There are so far no specific details about how The Mandarin fits into Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and therefore no particulars have been revealed yet. Although it is said to be a good bet that he will serve as the main villain, and there has definitely been speculation that he will substitute Fu Manchu/ Zheng Zu as the father of Simi Yu’s Shang-Chi. Regardless, Mandarin has been one of the oldest most villains in the Marvel Comics universe, who debuted in 1964’s Tales of Suspense #50. Well, that is definitely That’s a lot of history. 

Regardless, 'The Mandarin' has been one of the oldest most villains in the Marvel Comics universe, who debuted in the 1964’s Tales of Suspense #50. Well that is definitely a lot of history. When taking up a comicbook original role that has been special to fans for over 4 decades, there's an extraordinary responsibility on the person playing it. But, an actor of Tony Leung's calibre definitely understands this, or at least we hope he does. Because if the passionate Mandarin-Marvel audiences fail to see the actor playing him naturally, there's always going to be an uproar of rage. Fortunately though, we can all trust this to go well because Marvel has always been on point with their casting - so far, at least! 

Tony Leung will be the first-ever Hong Kong actor who will star in a Marvel film, and his casting basically reflects the decision to make a film with definitely China as the main target market. The Asian American actress Awkwafina and the Chinese Canadian actor Simu Liu have also been cast, and thus the film will not be featuring the controversial racist character Fu Manchu. As the first Marvel Comic Universe supervillain to have his associates included in a film title, Leung’s character is evidently of vital prominence to the storyline and quite possibly beyond the boundaries of the announced Shang-Chi film. Tony Leung, is thus a Hollywood debutant, who is a genuine demonstrative of Asian cinema.

The Marvel films have had Asian faces since long in very notable roles, for instance, Wong which was played by Benedict Wong in the movie Doctor Strange, Mantis by Pom Klementieff in the Guardians of the Galaxy, Minn-Erva by Gemma Chan in Captain Marvel. However, with Phase 4 films, we are seeing something which is even new to the MCU: the casting of Asian actors that are based in Asia. Tony Leung is easily the star with the highest-profile from Chinese language cinema who will be taking a leading role in a superhero movie. 

Tony Leung is at present an icon in China and a backbone in international art-house cinema, but his American debut will finally make him join the ranks of Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-fat as stars from Hong Kong who have taken on bona fide prominent roles in the typical Hollywood blockbusters. 

Not many people are aware of the Hong Kong actor also being a C-Pop singer and also a choreographer. Speaking of being an all-rounder this guy has not only stopped at acting and did all he could. He believed in himself and therefore has achieved so much in life. 

Tony Leung’s Net worth according to a lot of sources as of now is of 20 million dollars. His salary so far has not been disclosed but for now, we know that on an average his estimated net worth is 20 million dollars. 

I personally am a staunch believer of the fact that whatever happens, happens for a good reason. It is mostly up to the individual for how to get out of their bad circumstances. Not everyone can make the best out of the worst situation. Tony Leung has just been one of those dedicated individuals who decided not to settle for less and that should be great inspiration for anyone looking for motivation to do something with their lives. 

To achieve something in life requires hard work, enthusiasm and the will to not settle at lower standards and that is just what Tony Leung has done with his life. Not everyone is born with a golden spoon and such actors or such successful people just always amaze me. I believe we all should learn a big deal from this great actor and wish him all the best for future endeavors.  We all must be looking forward to seeing him in a Marvel cinematic universe, I know I am.