Maggie Cheung Believes Carina Lau Will Win HKFA Best Actress

Despite past nominations for the Best Actress in the Hong Kong Film Awards, Carina Lau Ka Ling has never won the award. Nominated for the sixth time in the Best Actress category at the 30th Annual Hong Kong Film Awards, Carina will be competing for the award with actresses from a younger generation: Josie Ho Chiu Yee, Tang Wei, Miriam Yeung Chin Wah, and Fiona Sit Hiu Kei!

Regarded as the favorite to win the Best Actress award at this year’s Hong Kong Film Awards, Carina was even supported by rival, Maggie Cheung Man Yuk.  Having won the HKFA Best Actress title five times in the past, Maggie appeared at a press conference in Beijing yesterday. At first Maggie did not want to predict the awards outcome since she did not watch the majority of the nominated films.  However, when it was mentioned that Carina was nominated for Best Actress, Maggie wished that Carina would win. “There is no reason; I just believe in her. I hope she wins the award!”

Dispelling rumors that Maggie had separated from her architect boyfriend, Ole, the pair was spotted holding hands. Maggie also denied rumors that she was retiring from acting; she was only selecting roles carefully.

Source: Orientaldaily

Jayne: I also think that Carina has a good chance in winning the HKFA Best Actress Award this year. I haven’t watched the films nominated in this year, but Carina has good acting credentials. I think this year is finally her year to win the award.

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Responses

  1. Is the win based on that particular performance or the body of work? Because she is nominated for that Detective Dee? The one she is the Emperor Wu Zetian? Sorry but she is the wrong cast. It’s like people taking turns to win.

    1. Another agreement with you. These awards always seem to rotate amongst a limited few actresses and its just a matter of who and when gets the award. Never saw Carina as a talented actress so I can never understand why there is so much hype about her acting abilities. In the Detective Dee movie, she was only giving an average performance. Award for that? Naaaaaaaaaaaa.

      1. Because no way Carina is Wu zetian. I hear her speak and I couldn’t hear any commanding voice, etc

      2. Well I don’t know how Wu Zetian is and my Chinese history is quite basic. Any sort of ‘domineering’ effect was due to her makeup and costume. Everything else Carina did didn’t add much more to her clothing. Harsh but true for me anyway.

    2. That what i feel with HongKong film industry. They take turn winning and also favoritism plays such a huge part in deciding who gets to bring home a worthless trophy that has no credibility behind it. And my foremost observation, HK hasn’t released any good movies for years now. All the movies i seen lack of good storyline and plausibility. Everytime i watch a gun fight, the bullet hit the car and ricochet off somewhere or if it glass, it doesn’t even break it. Korean movies are definitely high production compared to Hongkongese counterpart. Oh yea, i feel HongKong hasn’t released any movies that have impact on the viewers like global issues. I definitely want HK film industry to commit something of that extent. Oh please, don’t add kungfu in every movies. That brings me to Andy Lau’s new movie, Shaolin. It was good that it depicted the turbulent time of China and i wished it could go more into the history and the realism of the time. But no, it went downhill with all these lame wire fighting and monks that aren’t monks. WoW I totally rant there. Oh well =D

      1. They only take turns winning because there’s not enough actors/actresses that are employed and given proper roles.

        In all honesty, I don’t think HK films aren’t really the type of films you’d take a bunch of film critics to in order to find out which wrote the best screenplay to adapt literature or who injected a direction that combines contemporary global issues into believable characters.

        HK films are mostly ‘guilty pleasures’ for the film critic. Now to create an awards system for guilty pleasures using supposed criteria aimed at comparing depth and substance is incomprehensible. Hence we all watch HK film awards for the celebrities and what they do that night, and less about the prestige the award itself should have brought.

      2. Yes that brings me to the next point: HongKong music industry. That must be the biggest charade runs by music companies and their worker bees(artists). Remember back in the late 80s and early 90s? Jade award held in a coliseum with attendance over thousands and all the songs were well versed and with good melody; also sung by artists who actually could sing. The awards they received had ‘weight’ to it. Nowadays, the artists have to be on good term and do what they are asked by the station in order to earn the awards. Shame that the music industry turns into such a shamble.

      3. That’s why I stopped watching HK music award shows. One word.. CRAP!

      4. Hmm well they are HK singers that can sing, just the music aren’t very good nowadays and music companies promote those who can’t sing because they tend to be more obedient. But yea, on the whole I would agree that HK music awards are charades.

        “And the best HK singer nominees are: Eason Chan, Eason Chan, 陳奕迅, Eason Chan, Joey Yung, 容祖兒, 陳奕迅, Eason Chan, Eason Chan, Eason Chan, Joey Yung, Eason Chan, Eason Chan and Eason Chan. And the winner is… Maggie Cheung… oops wrong envelope, that was meant for the other ceremony we fix. Ummm its probably Eason Chan anyway so we’ll just give it to him.”

      5. @SDS,

        What about Leo Ku? I thought I see him in every award ceremony as well?

      6. Well, I guess that was a couple of years ago. Anyway, your speech is awesome.

    3. Also agree with you about Carina. Like others have said, she’s very mediocre…no star power, no charisma, no real beauty…

      She’s just got a more curvy-than-normal-HK-girl body, but even so it’s nothing spectacular.

    4. Carina is overrated. I don’t see her as charismatic as well or possess extraordinary acting skills. She’s just average. Her looks is average too.

    5. People don’t always win for talent which is sad, but I also think that talent is in the eye of the beholder as well. Some may think that she is not good for that role while others think she is great. Carina has been acting for many many years, so even if she didn’t have the skils,she has the experience. She may win not because she was great in that role but because she hasn’t won yet. She is also considered a veteran actress and is married to a great actor. Even though that should not apply to whether she should win or not, others may think that that is a good reason for her to win… Lets see if she does win though.

  2. That’s hilarious SDS! I also think that Eason and Joey winning every year is such a big joke – you wonder why all the nominees bother going to the ceremony each year since they all know who’ll win anyway!

    1. Well technically there are 4 music award ceremonies, two of which are no brainers because one of them is rigged and the other one gives 6trillion awards anyway so nobody really cares. The other two ceremonies are ‘alright’ since they have a little bit more credibility- one because the way it determines the awards and the other because of its history.

      So I guess there is ‘some’ reason to go to ‘some’ of the ceremonies if your name isn’t Joey or Eason. And there’s even more reason to go to the rigged one if you don’t belong to certain music labels whose singers cannot go because ummmmm they have no costume.

  3. e? she got nominated? her acting not even that significant in detective dee. I mean not really memorable. Looks like the award getting down hill.

    1. Overrated Carina. Fiona Sit overrated too. How is her acting in that movie warrant a Best Actress nomination?

  4. You Chinese people never seem to satisfy at anything. I am not Chinese but I do like Carina very much. She is definitely not a beauty but she have the persona/air that when you look at her you like her right away.

    She was in the movie with her husband (Duke of Mount Deer) and she is not a great beauty and just got a smaller role in that movie but you cannot seem to forget her either.

    I think she was superb in her role with Alex and Derick in another movie (forgot the name of the movie) but she came from a very rich family and Alex was an orphan and worked 2-3 jobs to support his brother getting into law school. Later they got married but he made mistake by trusting his evil brother, who later try to kill his brother’s family so that he can inherit their fortune but he killed his nephew instead.

    That movie was in the 80’s and I still watch that movie over and over. To me her acting was far bypass Gigi but to everyone in Hong Kong think Gigi is so beautiful. To me Gigi is also average and nothing special.

    I know this is a forum and everyone is up for their opinion but most of the time when I read your comments I don’t think you guys ever seems to satisfy at anything.

    I had been following Hong Kong movies since they just started their series and I am not even Hong Kong citizen. I always like Carina and her husband. They are not a beautiful/handsome couple but they are very likable when you first look at them.

    1. @JN,
      Sorry to repeat myself, but once again besides beauty, talent is also in the eye of the beholder. I personally think that Carina’s acting is ok, depending on the role. However, aren’t many actresses and actors who don’t even act(or even sing that well for singers and singer/actors)are overrated anyways??

      You also seem to be basing your opinions on a lot of her past series(not movies) from the 80s. I am guessing you are a big fan of that time period so of course you would like her since she acted in a lot of series during that time period. I am personally a big fan of the 80s and felt that my childhood would not have been complete without the series and celebs of the 80s. I am guessing that is why you are heavily defending Carina. I like Carina overall too and think that her acting is above average and can be good in certain roles too. But her recent acting may not be that good in some people’s eyes. Also, what does being Chinese or not have to do with anything?? EVERYONE has different opinions so what does being CHinese or not have to do with how anyone feels about Carina’s acting?? But since you said that you aren’t Chinese, then I am guessing that you watch her works dubbed so you don’t really hear her real voice and can’t really judge her acting 100%. Is that why you are bringing whether being CHinese or not as an issue to why some people feel a certain way about Carina???

    2. “I think she was superb in her role with Alex and Derick in another movie (forgot the name of the movie) but she came from a very rich family and Alex was an orphan and worked 2-3 jobs to support his brother getting into law school. Later they got married but he made mistake by trusting his evil brother, who later try to kill his brother’s family so that he can inherit their fortune but he killed his nephew instead.”

      I think you mean Felix and Deric. The series you are talking about is ‘Looking Back in Anger’.

    3. While it’s true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, I wonder if our tastes for and opinions on beauty will change over time, and as we grow older. What I saw as pretty and good-looking before is not necessarily pretty anymore. A couple years back when I first developed an interest in HK celebrities, Carina was pretty. But now, she is just another normal actress who is average, but I do agree with JN that she gives off an air that makes me like her. She appears charming or charismatic in some of her pictures and when she chooses the appropriate gowns/dresses?? I also believe her personality and life experiences brings her more confidence in her everyday life which is reflected in her smile, which in turn makes her more charming than amateur actresses who are starting out in the industry. There is just this sparkle in her that I like, though technically speaking, I find her nose to be a bit too big.

      1. I never enjoyed watching her even during her TVB age. I always thought she was not pretty enough to be the main and her acting wasn’t great even till now. She always looks old for some reason even though she was young. Also she looks like Charmaine Sheh so much that it bothers me because I don’t like both of them. They both look old when there aren’t. I’m talking about when Carina was young and looking old; same thing as Charmaine looking old when she’s isn’t. But they both look a like.

      2. Well charm, charisma and the aura that someone gives out is based on way more than just looks. There are some that physically look good, but don’t give out a good aura and lack charm. But then there are others that are only average to above average looking at best, but they give out a great aura and charm that really attracts people. Maybe Carina is one of those types?? IT is true that our preception of beauty changes over time. For example, my friend and I also love the 80s and never thought that Elaine Chow was that great looking back then. However, now that we look back, we think that she was actually really pretty.

  5. OK I’m almost afraid to post my comment.

    I watched Detective Dee and I thought Carina was superb in it! The movie was mediocre but she had this charisma. I think she deserves the win.

  6. Its abt time they give it to her. A much talented actress but under appreciated. Bravo…Carinaaaa….

  7. Does Maggie’s opinion matter at all ? Who is she to say that ?

    1. Because she in the circle and has won best actress before I think… What is wrong with her stating her opinion??

  8. I hope she’s not winning for the sake of winning. They tend to make people wait and then give them awards 5 to 10 years later so it can be some big story.

    I personally do not like Carina Lau’s acting.

    1. None of them. Scrap off the award or the category until someone actually deserves the win FOR that performance.

      HK’s problem is its inability to differentiate acting in arty films concept and in popular films. Just because someone is in an arty sort of film doesn’t mean he or she can act and just because someone is in a popular film doesn’t mean she or he can’t.

      Carina Lau can act BUT I don’t see her as Wu Zetian. Her voice is weak.

  9. And she won. I thought what she said about Fiona was in bad taste. Does she have to rub it in to the losers? Her speech at the beginning was to be sorta arrogant.

    Nic won as well and his speech was rather very honest. I always had the impression he never liked his father and I suppose his speech said that as much although with age and children comes wisdom and patience. He looked fantastic. Please someone tell Cecilia she is not going to some family function. She looked so dowdy. Esther Kwan by comparison looked elegant.

    Best dress is Kara Hui.

    1. Kara Hui and Carina Lau were tied for best dress, but I haven’t seen the whole thing yet. Kara’s hair was beautiful, absolutely want that for my own wedding!!

      Esther Kwan carried the bright red lipstick really well. 🙂

      I don’t know what Carina said in her speech, but I will watch it and see if I came to the same conclusion as you.

      Loved seeing the red carpet gala filled with some of my childhood faves: Teddy Robinson, Raymond Wong … can’t wait till the video is available online. 😉

    2. just watched it.. i didn’t sense any arrogance. she was being very real. i think of all people, she knows best of what nominating and not winning means.

    3. Look on the bright side, Tsui Hark won best director for Detective Dee. Hmmmm no actually Detective Dee wasn’t a very good film overall. I guess the competition wasn’t very fierce anyway.

      and Lol damn I didn’t know Carina won for best leading actress, I thought she was nominated for best supporting. Damn, I didn’t know you could lead just being in 1/4 of the film or less…

      1. I think Detective Dee is one of Tsui Hark’s worst products. It’s kinda lame. However, Tsui Hark is still a great director.

        For Carina’s best lead actress, actually I questioned the same one with Michelle Yip’s best supporting. She only be in the film for less than 12 mins. (Don’t get me wrong, I like Michelle but the role she won is only a kind of background for the movie).

        Think tat HK has different view on leading and supporting :P.

      2. @ Fox

        Dame Judi Dench won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Queen Elizabeth in ‘Shakespeare in Love’ and she only appeared for 8 mins in the movie.

        So, when it comes to the ‘Best Supporting’ category, the length of appearance doesn’t matter. HK Film Award is like this, Oscar is also like this.

      3. I thought I was the only one who perceived Carina’s role as “supporting”.

      4. @Fox & SDS

        I watched an episode of 星星同學會 with 陳嘉上as the guest and he explained a little on the reasoning to why certain artist win that year.

        He said it’s not based solely on the movie sometimes, as the audience may think. He argued, “Sometimes it’s the timing and what the voters feel. For example, Sean Lau won for 我要成名 but was he particularly good in it compared to his other nominated films from the past, probably not. It was just time for him this year to get it.” (rough translation).

        It was purely his speculation and reasoning, so please don’t take it out of context.

        Detective Dee was indeed trash. Haven’t directors learn that CGI filled films lack a good storyline? I’m glad Gallant won instead. It fitted the mold of Best Film, happy for Teddy Robin.

        Oh and I loved how HKFA finally showed the audience the crew behind the scenes. 🙂

      5. @kidd and pandamao: Oh ok, but this role is memorable. I don’t think Michelle Yip’s role is that memorable.

        Maybe Carina is HKer while Li Bing Bing is not?

      6. In Oscars, Carina would have been in supporting category. A movie can’t have 2 male leads, so either Nic or Nick should be in supporting category as well.

      7. Funn, sometimes a movie may have 2 billed male or female actor.

        Louis and Daniel in Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, both are categorized as main actor despite I think Louis is more main; perhaps due to his character.

      8. Yes I know but in an award category, or at least in Oscars and such, there can only be one best actor and the other must go to supporting actor. Which is why sometimes it can be controversial how come this guy got best actor nod and the other supporting when their roles are almost equal. This is in a way to ensure max win for one and least competition for both.

      9. I’m not sure about Oscar but this has been going on in HKFA since back then. So it might be normal for HKFA.

        Remember “Happy Together” in the 90’s? Both Leslie and Tony were nominated for Best Actor and Tony cliched the award.

      10. Yeah so I suppose there’s less lobbying in HK? Because how they nominate in OScars depends on who the studios put forward in which category.

      11. @Fox

        Yea I also remember being a bit baffled by Michelle’s win. I know best support awards don’t necessarily correlate with screentime but I didn’t think her acting there was anything special. She was just cold and emotionless… yipee…

        @pandamo

        Out of the 5 nominated movies for best movie, only Gallants was truly something different and well executed + acted. The other 4 movies were rehash of the same stuff.

        I particularly disliked Detective Dee (messy direction; uninteresting story as it unfolded; poor lead acting by *cough Mr Lau*; and yucky CGI AGAIN!). I also disliked, but to a lesser extent, Reign of Assassins and don’t really know why its nominated beside the fact they ran out of nominees. That movie also had a very uninteresting story with uninteresting characters and the cast all looked misplaced or miscast.

        @Masaharu; Funn

        I think its fair that two ‘lead’ actors in the same movie get nominated as lead if they earned it. That’s only fair because when you rate actors it shouldn’t matter whether they are from the same movie. So in that case i stick with HKFA (than Oscars).

    4. I just watch the clip of her speech. What did she say about Fiona? I didn’t hear her mention Fiona at all in her speech.

      I don’t find her speech arrogant or rubbing it to the losers. I find her speech very genuine instead. She comparing her past disappointment and her feeling now.

      1. The later part, where she said to Jackie in jest “Your predictions were quite right until you reached the BEst actress category. You didn’t predict me, you predicted Fiona Sit but then it is understandable considering your relationship with her” and Jackie shouted NOOOOOOOO!!!! NOT TRUE!!!!

        I know it is supposed to be funny and made in jest but I thought to say that AFTER winning is a bit like rubbing in to Fiona. Whoever wrote that line clearly didn’t understand that it wasn’t funny.

        I believe in her speech there were traces of such I believe unintentional arrogance too.

    5. Kara Hui looked gorgeous. Absolutely gorgeous.

      Lee Sin Jie was beautiful too.

      Tang Wei is just cool.

      Chow Yun Fatt’s wife looked like she was there to collect rent.

  10. I’m sincerely happy for Gallant’s and Gordon Lam. It’s very deserving 🙂

    Nic Tse’s win surprised me but I’m not against it. He may overacted in some movies but his performance in Stool Pigeon work well and matched up perfectly with Nick Cheung’s. I’m happy for him and he looked good but I think Cecilia can opt for a better dress haha 😛

    1. I actually think his performance in Shaolin is better than Stool Pigeon.

      1. That’s one’s cup of tea I guess. I think he leans towards overacting in Shaolin. He has more control in Stool from my POV.

        Fox, what do you think of Cecilia’s dress last night? 😛

      2. I’m kind of sick of these Nic & Nick films. Granted they bring out the best in each other but I need some new chemistry.

        It’s sad that you keep seeing the same people in Best Supporting Male and Best Male.

        I thought Jaycee was pretty good. 😉 It would have been great if won so he can give a “Nic” speech to his dad.

      3. Imo Jaycee still doesn’t have enough charisma as an actor. However he might be more charismatic as he grows older. I still appreciate that he’s not following his dad’s path of being typecasted.

      4. @ Masaharu

        I hate Jacky for always criticising Jaycee in public. I understand that it’s old school parenting, but, I still don’t like it.

        Does Jacky do this to show he’s a strict father?

      5. To a mother of 2 sons, Ceci has good figure :P. The dress, I have no comment. I think it’s better than Michelle’s. Michelle’s if can shorten will look better.

        Jaycee is mature a lot from Twins effects. I feel pleasure to watch him. But his look still make me think of Jackie. The shadow of Jackie is a bit too big then it’s hard for Jaycee to get better.

      6. Pandamao, that’s because certain producers and directors love using the the same formula and set of actors. Personally I wish for some fresh combinations too.

        Nic + Nick isn’t that overused, let’s count how many films have Louis + Daniel as the leading co-stars. I’m not against their films and is fond of some of them; but I welcome fresh cooperations too 🙂

      7. @Masaharu

        True dat. Louis + Daniel gets so boring as well.

        Hence why I love Gallant so much. Their cast is so fresh even though majority of them were 50+ years old. Lol.

        I’m glad Crossing Hennessey didn’t win anything. That movie was so boring, I had to try to finish the movie 3 times.

      8. Pandamao, to be honest there’s not many actors in HK to choose from too.

        Hence, I somewhat believe that Nic Tse’s win(besides his stellar performance along Nick) is somewhat contributed by HK film industry’s effort to push the younger actors up. Louis(and Daniel) need successors and Nic has the most potential so far. They maybe at the prime age now but in a few years to come they may already be reaching veterans status.

      9. @pandamao

        I watched Crossing Hennesy with ‘good’ hopes since I liked both leads but damn the movie was borderline boring in the middle. Whenever I watch something and the thought ‘when is this going to get anywhere’ goes repeatedly through my head, I know something is wrong.

        The problem I think is Ivy Ho (director) was way too subtle on how the romance develops. Despite trying to make a movie audiences can relate by using every-day style conversation between *most* of the cast, the relationship/connection between the leads was alienating. A true disappointment of 2010.

    2. I agree about Gallants. Very happy that the movie won the Best Movie Award. Congrats to Gordon Lam too for this achievement in his debut producer effort.

      1. Did anybody hear Daniel’s thank you speech to “Uncle Willy”? It was very funny, unintentionally. Something like “you’re like my close relative friend”

        which amounts to nothing really!!

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