Kwok’s breakthrough came when he ventured to Taiwan in the early 1990s.
10:46
Cantopop: a genre for Hong Kong that went global among music lovers
Cantopop: a genre for Hong Kong that went global among music lovers
In 1990, he did a television advertisement in Taiwan for a Honda motorcycle. The advert made him hugely popular with Taiwanese women.
It was also there that he released his debut album, Loving You Never Stop. The album’s title track, which highlighted Kwok’s charm and air of vulnerability, became an instant hit.
The 1990s saw the high point of Kwok’s singing career – he won his first major awards in 1991, and became known as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop alongside Andy Lau Tak-wah, Jacky Cheung Hok-yau and Leon Lai Ming.
Of the four, Kwok was the most flamboyant showman. His 1994 album The Wild City sparked a men’s fashion trend for denim shorts and leather vests, and he would perform wearing acid green- and fuchsia-coloured feather boas.
Kwok’s dance moves were not popular just because they were sexy – the choreography for his 1994 hit “Temptation of the Iron Mask” was a meticulous work of coordination between him and a dozen dancers. The result was a military-style number that has yet to be replicated.
In 1998, Kwok became the Asian spokesman for soft-drinks company Pepsi, and an advertising campaign was launched that put Kwok alongside other big names associated with the brand, such as US singers Janet Jackson and Michael Jackson, and US model Cindy Crawford.
In a recent YouTube interview with fellow Hong Kong actress Carol Cheng Yu-ling, Cheng talked about working with Kwok on the 1991 film The Queen of Gamble. At the time, the singer was still on the ascendant.
“I remember you telling me that you’d stop making films after you make a million [Hong Kong] dollars. I recall feeling that was a very low bar,” Cheng recounted.
“You can only imagine how much tougher life was back then,” Kwok replied. “All I wanted to do was make enough to buy an apartment.”
Since that time, Kwok has developed a passion for a sport that requires deep pockets, car racing – he was crowned the 2009 Clio Cup China series champion at the 11th Beijing Auto Show – amassed a collection of racing cars and become the owner of Formula Three racing team FS Sports.
As an actor, Kwok has appeared in 68 films and taken on diverse roles that have included an amnesiac detective investigating serial killings in the 2009 thriller Murderer, a top officer in police procedural thrillers Cold War and Cold War 2, and a homeless man in 2020 social drama I’m Livin’ It..He has regularly been nominated for best actor in the Hong Kong Film Awards and the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan. He was named best leading actor in the latter for two years in a row, 2005 and 2006, for his roles in Divergence and After This Our Exile.Kwok finally won his first best actor prize at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2016 for murder mystery Port of Call.
His transition from music to the silver screen was initially a source of much suffering, as he told Edmund Lee, the current Post film editor, in an interview in 2013.
“At the time, I put my entire emphasis on the music profession and, because I was young, I was [classified as] an idol,” he recalled.
“There were many layers of packaging [on me]. The record company gave you an image to do your job. They’re extremely protective. They made you think that your image is very important; it’s so firmly linked to your work that the two simply couldn’t be separated.”
Kwok added: “When I was [just] a singer, it was easy to rest on my laurels. I would often hide myself from the world. But when your mind matures, you don’t want to stay as an apple in a greenhouse; you want to venture outside.
“From 1990 to 2000 was one stage [of my career]; for the following decade, I hoped to find something in movies that better matches my thoughts, my level of maturity and my work ethic.”
He concluded: “I’ve been building up a [trusting relationship] with people who love movies. [I want to] let them know that I’m not just a singer, but also an actor. I want to be a professional actor – a completely professional actor.”
In recent years, Kwok’s personal life has proved almost as noteworthy as his professional accomplishments.
He surprised fans in 2017 by announcing his marriage to Moka Fang Yuan, a Chinese model and actress 22 years his junior.
The couple welcomed their first child, a daughter named Chantelle, the same year and their second child, a daughter named Charlotte, in 2019. Kwok has embraced fatherhood with joy and dedication, often sharing heartwarming moments with his children on social media.
While usually tight-lipped about his family, Kwok did reveal in an interview during a promotional event for the 2018 film Project Gutenberg: “I don’t think about race cars or supercars any more. I drive family cars around now.”Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on FacebookncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51kuaqyxKyrsqSVZLKvwMSrq5qhnqKyr8COmqmtoZOhsnB%2FkWxoa2tiZK6ivs6nZKSvn6B6pa3NnJyrZaOeu6ix0WaYnKyfp3qpwdKbmKecXaK8rK2Mn5inn12Wu6V5xZqroZ2iYrWww4yhnGavlaPBbq7EoqWgZZ%2Bjsm6yzq6pZqCVlsOmusuy