Vincent Zhao Wenzhuo (born 10 April 1972), sometimes credited as
Vincent Chiu or Chiu Man-cheuk, is a Chinese actor and martial artist.
Zhao is best known for playing the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung in
the Once Upon a Time in China film and television series and for his
films The Blade, True Legend and God of War.Zhao was born in Harbin,
Heilongjiang, China the youngest of three boys. His father was a
martial arts practitioner, and his mother was a professional sprinter,
who broke the record for being the fastest female sprinter of Harbin.
Under the instruction of his father, Zhao attended martial arts
lessons at the age of eight but he never completely devoted himself to
his lessons as he was more interested in singing. In the early 1980s,
Zhao was sent to a martial arts academy in Harbin and began to train
vigorously, where he started to love the sport. He soon became the
youngest member of the Harbin wushu team, which was established in
1985. Trained in various wushu techniques, Zhao mastered t'ai chi
ch'uan, especially the Chen and Yang styles.Zhao maintained high
academic standards, and in 1990, he was accepted by Beijing Sport
University to study martial arts. Throughout his university career, he
joined many national championships, winning first place titles and
gold medals for the National Junior Championship, the National
All-Around Championship, and also the National Martial Arts
Championship. He was also qualified to be in China's national martial
arts team, and his classmates gave him the nickname, "Kungfu King".In
1992, Hong Kong film producer Corey Yuen went to Beijing Sport
University to find a martial artist to play the role of the antagonist
for his 1993 film Fong Sai-yuk. Yuen found Zhao through the latter's
instructor and was immediately impressed with Zhao. Initially, Zhao
was uninterested, but Yuen insisted on offering him the role because
he had "the skill and looks." After further encouragement from peers
and mentors, Zhao accepted the offer and shooting began in the same
year. Zhao was often teased for looking too nice and young for the
role of the villain, the Governor of Kau-man, but under the
instruction of Yuen and other directors, he learned the easiest way to
"look evil". He said,
Vincent Chiu or Chiu Man-cheuk, is a Chinese actor and martial artist.
Zhao is best known for playing the Chinese folk hero Wong Fei-hung in
the Once Upon a Time in China film and television series and for his
films The Blade, True Legend and God of War.Zhao was born in Harbin,
Heilongjiang, China the youngest of three boys. His father was a
martial arts practitioner, and his mother was a professional sprinter,
who broke the record for being the fastest female sprinter of Harbin.
Under the instruction of his father, Zhao attended martial arts
lessons at the age of eight but he never completely devoted himself to
his lessons as he was more interested in singing. In the early 1980s,
Zhao was sent to a martial arts academy in Harbin and began to train
vigorously, where he started to love the sport. He soon became the
youngest member of the Harbin wushu team, which was established in
1985. Trained in various wushu techniques, Zhao mastered t'ai chi
ch'uan, especially the Chen and Yang styles.Zhao maintained high
academic standards, and in 1990, he was accepted by Beijing Sport
University to study martial arts. Throughout his university career, he
joined many national championships, winning first place titles and
gold medals for the National Junior Championship, the National
All-Around Championship, and also the National Martial Arts
Championship. He was also qualified to be in China's national martial
arts team, and his classmates gave him the nickname, "Kungfu King".In
1992, Hong Kong film producer Corey Yuen went to Beijing Sport
University to find a martial artist to play the role of the antagonist
for his 1993 film Fong Sai-yuk. Yuen found Zhao through the latter's
instructor and was immediately impressed with Zhao. Initially, Zhao
was uninterested, but Yuen insisted on offering him the role because
he had "the skill and looks." After further encouragement from peers
and mentors, Zhao accepted the offer and shooting began in the same
year. Zhao was often teased for looking too nice and young for the
role of the villain, the Governor of Kau-man, but under the
instruction of Yuen and other directors, he learned the easiest way to
"look evil". He said,
Share this
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
SUBSCRIBE OUR NEWSLETTER
Join us for free and get valuable content delivered right through your inbox.