Hong Kong Actress Maggie Cheung
Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk, best known to Western audiences for her role as Jackie Chan''s ever-suffering girlfriend May in the popular Police Story series, was born in Hong Kong in 1964. Her family emigrated to England when she was eight, but she returned back to Hong Kong in 1981 to pursue a career in modeling. In 1983, she placed second in the Miss Hong Kong contest and also appeared in the Miss World pageant, which led to a contract with TVB (the television arm of the Shaw Bros. studio). It was during one of her TVB appearances that she caught the eye of Jackie Chan, who thought "she wouldn''t mind me kicking her down a flight down the stairs." Chan cast Cheung as May in Police Story (1985) which turned out to be a huge hit and made Maggie a star almost overnight.
However, as with most young actors, Cheung became stereotyped in the role of the weak, clumsy May, reprising the role in the next Police Story film as well as several other Chan movies, including Project A Part 2(1987). Noting this, Cheung sought to break out of her stereotype by taking more dramatic roles. Her work with noted director Wong Kar-Wai garnered her critical praise, first in 1988 with As Tears Go By and then in 1990 with Days of Being Wild (1990). She also won a Best Actress award the same year at Taipei''s Golden Horse Festival for her work in Full Moon in New York. In 1991, she became the first Chinese performer to win a Best Actress Award at the prestigious Berlin Film Festival for her work in Center Stage.
Cheung did not forget where she got her start though, and in 1992 she returned to working with Jackie Chan in Police Story 3: Super cop, where she once again reprised the role of May, this time being upstaged not by Chan, but by Michelle Yeoh. Cheung got a little "revenge" in the sci-fi martial arts smash hit Heroic Trio (1992) and its'' sequel Executioners (1993), where she proved she could be more than just a punching bag in an action movie, impressing both critics and audiences with her martial arts skills as she stood toe-to-toe with Yeoh.
Cheung''s busy schedule eventually began taking its toll. Not only was she shooting several films a year, the HK tabloid press began hounding her incessantly. In 1994, she took a break from making films, during which time the HK press spread all sorts of wild rumors about her. Cheung had reached the age where most HK actresses retired or moved to singing or television, and most people thought Cheung would never work in films again. However, she came back to movies in 1996, completing several movies such as Irma Vep (she later married the film''s French director, Olivier Assayas, and now spends most of her time in France) and The Chinese Box (both 1997). Cheung recently won critical acclaim and a Tawianese Golden Horse award for her role in art house darling Wong Kar-Wai''s In the Mood for Love (2000).
Awards:
1989 Taiwan Golden Horse Award, Best Actress: "Full Moon in New York"
1989 HK Film Award, Best Actress: "A Fishy Story"
1990 Taiwan Golden Horse Award, Best Supporting Actress: "Red Dust"
1991 Turin Film Festival, Special Jury Award, Best Actress: "Farewell China"
1991 Taiwan Golden Horse Award, Best Actress: "The Actress"
1992 HK Film Award, Best Actress: "The Actress"
1992 Berlin Film Festival, Best Actress: "The Actress"
1992 Chicago International Film Festival, Best Actress: "The Actress"
1992 Hong Kong Annual Artistic Award
1996 HK Film Critics Society Award, Best Actress: "Comrades - Almost a Love Story"
1996 HK Film Award, Best Actress: "Comrades - Almost a Love Story"
1997 Golden Bauhinia Award, Best Actress: "Comrades - Almost a Love Story"
Filmography:
2000 In the Mood for Love Movie Posters
In the Mood for Love
Center Stage
Days of Being Wild
1998 Augustin King of Kung Fu
1997 Beijing Summer
Chinese Box, The
1996 Comrades, Almost a Love Story
Irma Vep
Soong Sisters, the
1994 Ashes of Time
In Between
1993 Barefoot Kid, The
Boys Are Easy
Eagle Shooting Heroes, The
Enigma of Love
Heroic Trio 2 : Executioners
First Shot
Flying Dagger
Green Snake
Holy Weapon
Mad Monk
Millionaire Cop
1992 Actress
All''s Well, Ends Well
Heroic Trio
Moon Warriors
New Dragon Inn
Police Story 3 : Supercop
Rose
Too Happy for Words
True Love
Twin Dragons
What a Hero
1991 Alan and Eric - Between Hello and Goodbye
Banquet, The
Heart Against Hearts [Cameo]
Perfect Match 1991, The
Today''s Hero
Will of Iron
1990 Days of Being Wild
Dragon from Russia
Farewell China
Full Moon in New York
Heart into Hearts
Red Dust
1989 Bachelor''s Swan Song
Doubles Cause Troubles
Fishy Story, A
Hearts No Flowers
Iceman Cometh
In Between Love
Little Cop
My Dear Son
Song of the Exile
1988 As Tears Go By
Call Girl ''88
Fat Cat
Happy Fat New Year
Last Romance
Love Army
North and South Mamas
Paper Marriage
Police Story Part 2
Soldier of Love
Sun, Moon, and Star
1987 Game They Call Sex, The
Heartbeat 100
Heavenly Fate
Project A, Part 2
Romancing Star, The
You''re My Destiny [Cameo]
1986 Happy Ghost 3
Seventh Curse, The
Story of Rose, The
1985 It''s a Drink, It''s a Bomb
Modern Cinderella
Police Story
1984 Fate
Frog Prince, The
Unknown Lovelorn Expert
