Chin Ka-lok was born in Hong Kong on 6 August 1965 and grew up in Healthy Village, North Point; his elder brother is the martial-arts actor Chin Siu-ho. He entered the industry in 1979, first learning action direction under Hon Yee-sang, and between 1983 and 1984 worked as a stuntman on Project A, Winners and Sinners and Wheels on Meals, and was recruited by Sammo Hung into the Hung Stunt Team as its youngest member, also serving for years as Andy Lau's regular double. He signed an acting contract with Golden Harvest in 1988 and became familiar to audiences as Dai Tau Jai in the Young and Dangerous films, later playing memorable roles in TVB's Journey to the West and Gods of Honour. In 1996 he won Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Bauhinia Awards for Full Throttle, and began hosting the Super Trio series the same year, winning a TVB anniversary award for most improved artiste in 1998 and becoming its long-running host. He directed his first film in 1997. While shooting One Nite in Mongkok in 2004 he conceived his own outfit, the Chin Stunt Team, specialising in car stunts, and designed many dangerous driving and explosion sequences for local pictures. In 2009 he won Best Programme Host at the TVB Anniversary Awards, and in 2012 he married the actress Tavia Yeung after a six-year courtship. The same year he shared the Best Action Choreography prize at the 49th Golden Horse Awards for Motorway with Wong Wai-fai and Ng Hoi-tong, and received TVB's Anniversary Award for Outstanding Artist. Besides performing, he has long served as an action director, and his team has trained a new generation of stunt performers; he also represents the Hong Kong Stuntman Association as a director of the Hong Kong Film Awards board, and is an amateur racing driver.
Chin Ka-lok went from stuntman to action director and television host, embodying the multi-track careers open to behind-the-scenes talent in Hong Kong action cinema. His Chin Stunt Team specialises in car stunts and gives local films a dependable action crew, and his Golden Horse award for Motorway shows professional recognition of home-grown driving-stunt design; on television, the long-running Super Trio series cemented his popular profile.
Achievements
- 1983 · Recruited by Sammo Hung into the Hung Stunt Team
- 1996 · Won Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Bauhinia Awards for Full Throttle
- 1997 · Directed his first feature, a Mad Mission spin-off comedy
- 2012 · Won Best Action Choreography at the 49th Golden Horse Awards for Motorway with Wong Wai-fai and Ng Hoi-tong