Roy Cheung (born 20 July 1963) was born in Hong Kong to a Huizhou, Guangdong family and began as a model, making cameo appearances in Story of Rose (1986) and other mid-1980s films. His sturdy build caught the eye of director Ringo Lam, who cast him as a treacherous inspector in City on Fire (1987) and a vicious prison guard in Prison on Fire (1987), building a menacing villainous image; his turn in Prison on Fire earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 7th Hong Kong Film Awards, and a triad boss in School on Fire (1988) set his path as a screen heavy. In later films, from gangster dramas to comedies, he mostly played underworld figures, appearing in Fight Back to School (1991) and other pictures. Seeking to break out of typecasting, he took leading roles in two early-1990s films with more romantic material, and played an impulsive but loyal mob boss in Triads: The Inside Story (1989). His most famous role was the villain Ugly Kwan in Young and Dangerous 3 (1996), followed by a similar part in Young and Dangerous 4 (1997); moving between genres, he showed both the ferocity of gangster pictures and a quieter side in art-house films. He won Best Supporting Actor at the 5th Hong Kong Film Golden Bauhinia Awards for The Mission (1999), his other films including Beast Cops (1998), In the Mood for Love (2000), Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone (2000), Infernal Affairs II (2003), Exiled (2006) and Kung Fu Dunk (2007). He stepped back from the screen after a 2008 back injury, later working mainly on the mainland.
Through City on Fire, Prison on Fire and Young and Dangerous 3, Roy Cheung built a sharply defined villainous image and became one of the representative faces of Hong Kong triad and gangster cinema in the 1980s and 1990s, later striving to move beyond typecasting into more layered roles.
Achievements
- 1987 · Cast by Ringo Lam as villains in City on Fire and Prison on Fire, the latter earning him a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the 7th Hong Kong Film Awards
- 1996 · Played the villain Ugly Kwan in Young and Dangerous 3, his signature role
- 2000 · Won Best Supporting Actor at the 5th Golden Bauhinia Awards for The Mission