According to Sohu, the famous actor, Vincent Chiu, has recently launched a program named Vincent Chiu: The Legend of the Movie Industry, in which he reflects on past experiences related to the Hong Kong film industry.
The Golden Age of Hong Kong Cinema
Vincent Chiu is a prominent actor in Hong Kong known for contributing to the creation of many classic works during the golden era of the film industry. Alongside Chow Yun-fat, he has greatly influenced the development of cinematic culture during that time.
According to Vincent Chiu, he met Chow Yun-fat in 1989 when the latter’s career had yet to take off, while Chiu was already an established actor participating in the production of the film Blood on the Last Day, directed by Lau Kar-leung. Chow Yun-fat had approached Vincent with the intention of collaborating.
However, Vincent Chiu did not realize that Chow Yun-fat would later become a significant figure in the industry. Vincent’s first collaboration with Chow was in the film God of Gamblers (starring Chow Yun-fat), released in 1989, which later made a comedic reboot called God of Gamblers 2 (1990), achieving remarkable success almost immediately.
Vincent Chiu admitted that taking inspiration from stars or productions was quite common in the entertainment industry in Hong Kong. Chiu also produced films during that time. However, his manager at that time, Hung Wah-tang (brother of Hung Wah-kung), was very strict and required Vincent to clarify matters, as the box office revenue of God of Gamblers had surpassed that of God of Gamblers 1.
Hung Wah-tang was worried because Chow Yun-fat did not have time to shoot God of Gamblers 2, but Vincent Chiu decided to leverage the success of God of Gamblers 1, quickly writing the script for God of Gamblers 2 and completing the film within a month, aiming to release it during the Lunar New Year in 1990.
Vincent Chiu and Chow Yun-fat collaborated on several films such as God of Gamblers 3, The Lucky Star Series, and The Expert. They were often seen as close friends, sharing many secrets with each other. Therefore, Vincent Chiu always knew Chow Yun-fat’s hidden feelings.
In his program, Vincent also humorously revealed that Chow Yun-fat had once cut his hair in front of him during their first meeting, causing a funny situation with his girlfriend, who was La Huy Quyen.
Vincent shared that after nearly 10 years of collaboration, Chow Yun-fat’s ambition grew larger. The comedy king did not like to have anyone control him on set, preferring to complete his films independently. While Vincent became known as a famous actor, he was primarily focused on box office revenues.
End of Friendship Due to Financial Disputes
According to Vincent Chiu, Chow Yun-fat has a difficult personality, especially when collaborating; he wanted to control everything. On the set of Lucky Star 2: The Legend of the Dragon (1992), Chow Yun-fat had a dispute with Vincent, which led to the production team becoming very tense.
At the same time, the management company, Jia Hua, wanted to produce the film Teenager Lee Tiao Long with a more humorous approach. Chow Yun-fat was also supposed to play Lee Tiao Long but wanted to be the main lead. However, when it came to profit-sharing, the male actor was not satisfied.
“When we got paid around HKD 8 million (over USD 1 million), I took 4 shares while he took 6 shares. However, Chow Yun-fat was not satisfied. He wanted 8 shares. I told him, ‘If that’s the case, we can’t work together anymore.’ He said he would definitely cut me off but wouldn’t contact me again,” Vincent recalled.
However, after that, Chow Yun-fat met separately with the company’s executives and proposed the project Teenager Lee Tiao Long to produce the film Legend of the Dragon. Eventually, Chow Yun-fat succeeded in getting the new project. But Vincent believed that Chow Yun-fat had backstabbed him.
“He is someone who values money a lot. Although he is a close friend, if it comes to personal benefits, he won’t hesitate. Chow Yun-fat and Ngô Mạnh Đạt used to have a period of sadness dealing with the financial disputes. When it came to profit-sharing, Chow Yun-fat blamed Ngô Mạnh Đạt multiple times, which made Ngô Mạnh Đạt unhappy. The money itself is just a material thing, but with Chow Yun-fat, it’s always high above everything, even friendships,” Vincent remarked.
The disputes between the two have been numerous and have culminated in the film The Wok of Fame 2000. Vincent recounted that after the pressure, he had to pay Chow Yun-fat HKD 10 million (over USD 1.2 million) for Chow Yun-fat to participate in just 7 days of filming.
“When we got paid, he said to me that he was running short of money, so we agreed. But when I went on set, his attitude was not cooperative. I haven’t been friendly with him since 1992, but I’ve accepted that in many years. I’ve never been this rude to him. I told him, ‘Chiu, if we’re still friends, why do you act like this? I see you too much; if you don’t want to act, just let me know, and we won’t need to collaborate anymore.’ In the end, he didn’t apologize and went to the dressing room without saying a word. We haven’t been in touch since then,” Vincent stated.
However, according to Hong Kong traditions, Vincent Chiu wanted to hire the newcomer, Cheng Jia-hui, to replace Chow Yun-fat as the new king of comedy. In the main film starring Cheng Jia-hui, Chow Yun-fat had to become an extra, but when the shooting took place, Vincent always mentioned Chow Yun-fat’s name to attract audiences. Cheng Jia believed that Vincent Chiu had become a backstabber, which led to the end of their collaboration.
Vincent still holds some grudges against Chow Yun-fat, often mentioning the male actor in his interviews, while also expressing his disdain for the king of comedy’s soaring popularity in the entertainment industry over the past 30 years.
Vincent believes that anyone wanting to work with Chow Yun-fat must be someone unrelated to the male actor’s interests, for example, like the comedian, Chiu Chi-kong. When his daughter, Vincent Tzu-ham, wanted to collaborate with Chow Yun-fat, Vincent made it clear that he considered Chow Yun-fat merely a common friend.
“My father has known Chow Yun-fat since he was just a regular guy until he became a superstar. He always craved that fame. But my father understands very well that Chow Yun-fat is just a person,” Vincent told his daughter.
In conclusion, Vincent Chiu acknowledges that Chow Yun-fat is a talented actor. The film Underworld Heroes was Chow Yun-fat’s first major role as a lead actor, while the actor, Lee Lick-chi, was merely an extra. Therefore, Vincent believes that Chow Yun-fat is more deserving of the Golden Horse Award than anyone. Additionally, in The Legendary Hero, during a scene where he had to change expressions within 15 seconds, Chow Yun-fat managed to change 7 different expressions, which Vincent praised as “incredible.”
