Michelle Reis/Michelle Lee Kar-yan

Born 6/20/70

Good lord, Michelle Reis is gorgeous. Every time I see her in a film and the camera swoops in for a ravishing close up I think for a second that this has got to have one of the most beautiful faces in the world. It is elegant, classy and refined – yet it still is a pooky kind of face - not at all cold or remote. She is like a tall, slender drink of champagne tickling your nose. And talking about noses – Michelle does have a long thin one that I quite like – it sets off the beauty of her face – and is a slight needed imperfection on an otherwise perfect face – but in the hands of Wong Kar-wai in Fallen Angels it does become an object of amusement at times as the super-wide angle lens of Christopher Doyle’s camera ended up exaggerating it enormously and famously, in Doyle’s words, made her look like Pinochio!

I find it difficult to judge how good an actress Michelle is. Too often she allows herself to be cast in films in which she is able to glide through the film only on her beauty and lovely pout and doesn’t really have to act at all. There have been a few occasions though in which I was quite impressed with her acting – she tends to rise to a challenging role – but has had too few of them in her career.
She was brought up on the island of Macau – the child of a Portuguese father and a Chinese mother. In 1988 Michelle was the winner of the Miss Hong Kong contest – and as is the custom began working at TVB. Her film debut was in 1990 – Declaration of Help – and she very quickly went on to make other films – some of them absolute classics.
In this same year she was Joey Wong’s sister in A Chinese Ghost Story II and the streetwise tough beauty in Perfect Girls. Two years later she looked lovely in A Kid from Tibet and sultry in Wicked City. Her full-mouthed looks in Wicked City were just right for that anime inspired film. Other popular films followed – Royal Tramp II, Swordsman II (she replaced Cecilia Yip in the Kiddo role -- on a trivia note, Michelle Reis has named her Swordsman II co-star, Brigitte Lin, as her favorite actress), and Fong Sai Yuk I & II (as Jet Li’s character’s beloved Ting Ting).
Though she had to some degree acquired an Idol image, she played a professional killer in both Black Morning Glory and The Other Side of the Sea. In 1995, she made her bravest film choice departing dramatically from her clean cut image in Fallen Angels. In this film she plays an agent to a killer and allows herself to be filmed at odd angles, in peculiar colors and often looking as if she was on a one week drinking binge. She also has two scenes (likely shocking to many of her fans) in which she pleasures herself. By doing this Michelle truly declared that she was an actress – not just a cutie pie on celluloid – and it is perhaps her very best performance.
Afterwards though her film output fell dramatically – only 8 films over the next 5 years – and most of them were not particularly terrific films and her characters were not very challenging - Young and Dangerous IV, Prince Charming, When I Fall in Love with Both (though she is the best thing in the film), Armageddon and July 13th.  She did appear in the Stanley Kwan film, The Island Tales, but it was Kwan’s worst film in years, maybe ever.
Interestingly, she was chosen by the artistic Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao Hsien to be one of the characters in Flowers of Shanghai (1998). Her arrogant and restrained performance was my favorite among a cast of terrific actors. With three films in 2000, hopefully it is a sign that she is planning on stepping up her film production – and as she shows in Healing Hands (2000) she is still a stunner.


Michelle Saram/Michelle Mok Nga Lun

Born in 1975

This young actress/model recently came to Hong Kong from Singapore and was quickly cast in two high profile films. She has an Indian father and Chinese mother and after graduating from primary school she went on to study at the Nanyang Technology University.

In 1997 she came to work in Hong Kong as a model with no Chinese language skills – but still managed to become a hot model and get a TV commercial with Aaron Kwok. This led her to getting a spot in the TVB series Threshold of an Era – and then in 1999 she was in the Wilson Yip film Bullets Over Summer as Louis Koo’s sister and in 2000 starred in Skyline Cruisers.


Michelle Wong Man

Feel 100% (Eric Kot’s girlfriend), Hu-Du-Men, July 13th, F**** Off (1998), Legendary Heroes (1999).


Michelle Yeoh Choo Kheng/Michelle Khan/Michelle Kheng/Yeung Chi King

Born 08/06/62 in Ipoh, Malaysia

Reading Jane Ding’s biography (link below), I was surprised to find out that Michelle is only 5’4’’ and 98 pounds. 98 pounds – I have dirty laundry bags that weigh more. It hardly seems big enough. On the screen she seems so much larger. Clearly it isn’t her physical size that creates this impression – it is the incredible confidence and inner force that naturally flows from this woman that does it. Rarely, have I seen an actress so dominate the screen when she is on it – her strong presence simply fills it up and owns it.

Take for example the film Moonlight Express made in 1999. As a favor to a friend, Michelle appeared in this film for some ten to fifteen minutes - for free, and really doesn’t have much to do – but as soon as Michelle appears the film takes on weight and her quiet presence makes everyone else seem to disappear. A few winsome looks later and her part is over – and the film moves on, but you are left wanting to know more about that character, wanting to stay with her – not the ones you are following.
She always looks to be in total control – not just physically with a grace and co-ordination perhaps unmatched ever on the screen – but emotionally as well. This is a woman who needs to be challenged – needs to constantly push herself – and is rightfully extremely proud of what she has accomplished – and this serious attitude has marked her career and it is reflected in her film performances.

Like many Hong Kong actresses, Michelle was discovered after winning a beauty contest (Miss Malaysia -- something her mother entered her for without the daughter, then at university in England, knowing about it until she had made the preliminary cut and into the semifinals -- in 1983 at the age of 21) and invited to Hong Kong to try her luck (The story goes that casually hearing the people in charge of casting for some luxury watch commercials lamenting their needing a fresh good-looking face, a friend of theirs and Michelle’s told them that she knew of just the person they were looking for and -- as luck would have it -- happened to have Michelle’s photo in her handbag...). After a couple of them (one each with Jackie Chan and Chow Yun-Fat) and a non-action role in Owl vs. Dumbo in 1984, she could likely have settled for a reasonably successful acting career with her wholesome beauty by doing many more flower vase roles – but anyone could do that! She wanted more – and the opportunity came from her friend Sammo Hung.

Sammo had recently formed a film company (D&B) along with the wealthy entrepreneur Dickson Poon and they were looking for a breakout film. Action heroines were of course a tradition in Hong Kong film – going back to the beginning of film in HK – but truly taking off in the 1960’s and 70’s with stars like Cheng Pei Pei, Polly Shang Kwan Lin Fong, Angela Mao, Judy Lee and Kara Hui Ying Hung. These women were astonishing – but most of their films were of the kung fu variety and with the passing of that era most of them were retiring. This was a new action era – the action felt faster and more immediate – and Sammo wanted to make a modern day female action film – not kung fu – but women with guns and attitude. He spotted an American, martial arts champion, Cynthia Rothrock, giving a kung fu demonstration on TV and made her an offer – but he wanted to make this film, Yes Madam, a female buddy film and so he needed one more actress.
He thought back on the lovely Malaysian actress who had co-starred with him in Owl vs. Dumbo – she had no martial arts training – but had a strong background in dance (and thus had the requisite flexibility and suppleness that would be of help) – and so he thought why not – we can always use doubles for the more difficult action scenes. So Cynthia would do her action scenes and Michelle would watch hers being done by men – I don’t think so thought Michelle – if they can do it why can’t I? Sammo was a bit skeptical – but allowed her to train with his stunt team – Lam Ching-ying in particular – and Michelle went through training in hell to get ready for the film – but does it ever show in this film. From the opening scene in which she runs down a car of thieves – Michelle burns across the screen – she is amazing (as is Cynthia) and it is obvious soon into the film that a star had been born (Though she didn’t win a HKFA award, she did get nominated for Best New Performer for this performance). The balcony scene in which Michelle does a backward flip over the railing – then comes crashing head first through the glass pane and grabs two guys and throws them over the railing is astonishing. This is a ballet dancer? This is a beauty queen?
 

From this fabulous moment on Michelle became the Goddess of action films in Hong Kong – and that means the world. As good as Michelle is in Yes Madam, the film suffers from way too much time being spent on a corny subplot  - and you groan every time the film’s focus shifts away from the two women – but her next film, Royal Warriors (aka In the Line of Duty I), is absolutely terrific and even more physically demanding. Just check her final gut wrenching and exhausting fight against Pai Ying to see how incredibly tough and durable this woman is.

In 1987, she made two more films – Magnificent Warriors (an enjoyable stab at a female Indiana Jones character) and the fairly weak Easy Money that is a remake of the Thomas Crowne Affair. At the time Michelle was hurting from various injuries and Easy Money was almost like giving her time off for good behavior. But then dreadful news came to her film fans – Michelle marries Dickson Poon in 1988 and he asks her to retire. Understandably, he didn’t want to see his wife risking life and limb – but what a shame. One shouldn’t say thank god for unhappy marriages, but – well what the hell – thank goodness this one didn’t work out!  Still one can’t help but wonder what terrific films she might have made during those three years of retirement.
When she came back though she did it with a bang – somehow looking leaner and tougher and more beautiful than ever. She had lost her baby fat – and had acquired a very grown up sophisticated manner about her. And she was ready to rock. Her choice for her comeback was the Jackie Chan film – Police Story III. Jackie has made clear a few times that he doesn’t think that women should do action films – in fact Jackie tends not to give women very good roles in his films period, but Michelle trusted the director, Stanley Tong (the action choreographer of Magnificent Warriors and a friend of hers), to make her look good. But did she still have it after three years of the soft life? In the film that question is resolved fairly early on as Michelle performs some stunning mid air kicks to take out a number of foes. Oh ya – the Goddess of Action was back and kicking! Perhaps more than Jackie had envisioned – as she clambers and rides on top of a speeding van while being shot at – tumbles off onto a car and the road – and later motorcycles on to a moving train (though never having ridden a motorcycle before this film) – and basically makes you think this is her movie. This gets us back to my early point – Michelle owns the screen when she is on it – it doesn’t matter if her co-star is Jackie or Jet or Chow Yun Fat.
Over the next couple of years, Hong Kong went on a binge of great films – and Michelle was in her share of them. Tai Chi Master in 1993, the corny but totally wonderful The Heroic Trio, the underrated Project S, the imaginative Wuxia film Butterfly and Sword and Wing Chun in 1994. Parts of Wing Chun are totally sublime  – Michelle is grace personified in her movement and action choreography – the tofu scene never fails to leave me in a state of gasping amazement - a few minutes of complete perfection on celluloid.
After 1994 the Hong Kong film scene began to implode – too much product – too few money making films – and audiences had tired of the action and fantasy films and were staying away in droves. On everyone’s mind was also the Handover that was to take place in a few years. Michelle got an opportunity to finally act in a dramatic film – Ah Kam directed by Ann Hui – and though Michelle is quite good in it the film lacks energy. Ironically, it is in this primarily dramatic film in which Michelle nearly lost her life performing a stunt. Although her role is but a secondary one, Michelle further showed her acting chops - and garnered a HKFA Best Supporting Actress nomination for her dramatic performance - in The Soong Sisters.

With films in HK on the downward slide – Michelle – who speaks perfect English – started looking towards the West to see if there were any opportunities for a female action star. One would not naturally think so – the West generally has the same mindset as Jackie Chan – women should leave the action to the guys – but another Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies, was being made – and an offer was made to Michelle. She accepted it under the conditions that she wasn’t going to be a typical Bond girl – and she definitely isn’t as she gets completely involved in the action. To a large part of the world, this was their introduction to Michelle Yeoh – and lots of people came out of that film saying “just who was that woman?” – this time Michelle had even blown James Bond off the screen! Her action in it is of course pretty basic stuff for Michelle – she has done so much more interesting action choreography in her HK films – but it looked good to American audiences – and I have to say Michelle looked lovelier and more elegant in this film than in any of her HK films.

And then Hollywood hell. Projects were offered, disappeared – rumors thrown about (one which has recently resurfaced concerns her involvement in Indiana Jones IV) – but it became clear after some two years of nothing happening that Hollywood really had no idea what to do with an Asian action actress. She didn’t fit the right demographics that Hollywood always looks for – and I started having nightmares that Michelle would end up in some awful low budget action film  - but a Taiwanese director named Ang Lee who had had some success making films in America – wanted to make a film like the movies of his childhood memories. A film full of heroic and gallant warriors – flying and fighting through the air – based on a Wuxia novel – and having strong female characters. One of these female characters (Yu Shu Lien) is an older world-weary warrior – wanting at this point in her life only to settle down with the man she secretly loves. No one else on earth but Michelle could have played this demanding role. For the most part, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has received worldwide adulation – but it is without a doubt Michelle’s performance that is the heart of this film – and in a few splendid action sequences she shows the world just how incredible she still is.

I had only planned on writing a few paragraphs on Michelle and directing you to the website of one of her biggest fans – but I got carried away. Michelle has that effect on me – but still for much more information and some wonderful pictures of Michelle as a child – please check out Jane’s great site.

Michiko Nishiwaki

Though this Japanese beauty appeared in only a few top quality films, the images of her from two small roles – as the Yakuza tattoo covered gambler in God of Gamblers and her kimono muscle bound appearance in My Lucky Star - are two of the more enduring ones in HK film - and make her someone you don’t forget.  Rarely has any woman combined strength and sexuality the way that Michiko does. Her stunning looks and the seething sexuality that lies right beneath the surface made her a fan favorite in the “girls with guns” genre in the 80s and early 90s.

Some of her better films are: In the Line of Duty III, Magic Cop, Hero Dream, Angel Terminators, Princess Madam, Avenging Quartet and Passionate Killing in the Dream. In all but the last one Michiko plays the villain – something that she could do with a wonderfully arrogant cold sneer. She did get to play the heroine in a number of films, but those characters rarely had the same sizzle as did her villains.
A friend wrote up a large profile of her career that is on this site – so rather than me saying any more about Michiko – click on this link to read lots more about this intriguing femme fatale.

Miki Lee Ting-yee

Born 09/18/77

This cutie was Jackie’s girlfriend in Mr. Nice Guy (unfortunately looking much too young for him).

She has also appeared in Red Rain, Eternal Love and City of Angels (2000).


Mimi Chu Mi-mi

Stephen Chow's mother in Flirting Scholar, the "mother" in Sexy and Dangerous, the maid in Justice My Foot, Ekin's mother in Mean Street Story, Gigi Lai's mother in To Live and Die in Tsimsatsui and Anita Yuen's mom in Whatever You Want.


Miriam Yeung Chin-wah

Born on 02/03/74 in Hong Kong

Over the past couple of years, few Hong Kong actors have shown more box office appeal than Miriam – and to many this is something of a mystery. First, she achieved success as a Cantopop singer after entering a contest in 1995 and signing with the Capital Artist label. Though she was in a few films in 1998 (Rumble Ages and The Group), none of them made much of an impact. It wasn’t until after a three-year film hiatus that she had a major film breakthrough. Her underdog less than glamourous characters who overcome obstacles in both the workplace and in love seem to hit both a comedic and sympathetic note in Hong Kong film goers.

Some have accused her - maybe unfairly? – of modeling her screen persona after Sammi Cheng (certainly not a bad model!) by starring in a spate of romantic comedies (that often have involved her collaborating with producer-director Joe Ma). Like Sammi she often plays a slightly dithering but adorable woman looking for love and always finding it. She also seems to these ears to mumble like Sammi does and often goes for the same shade of red hair.
Her first Joe Ma collaboration was 2001’s Feel 100% II (of which the first film in that series had starred Sammi) and then hit box office gold with Dummy Mommy Without a Baby). As a workingwoman who pretends to be pregnant in order to save her job and also manages to snag the wealthy boss, she created an appealing character that women identified with in Hong Kong. She followed up this hit with the popular Love Undercover  and Dry Wood Fierce Fire in which she was again the amiable single woman overcoming obstacles to win her man and pursue her career goals.  In 2003, she continued to show her ability to pull in crowds with her appearances in the Chinese New Year offering, My Lucky Star, and the summer opening Love Undercover 2.


Miu Kiu Wai

This fellow began his film career in the early 80’s with Centipede Horror, but got a nice break when he replaced Charlie Chin in the Lucky Stars series for the film Twinkle Twinkle Little Star in 1985. Over the next decade he was in many good if slightly “B” films that tended to be comic or action oriented.

Some of his best are Scared Stiff as the fellow in the coma, News Attack, Return of the Lucky Stars, Burning Ambition, Fatal Termination, Outlaw Brothers, The Tigers, Magic Cop (one of the two cops) and How to Meet the Lucky Stars in 1996.

Mondi Yau Yuet-ching

She was Simon Yam’s main customer in Friday Gigolo, the female vampire in Romance of the Vampires, the villainess in Ghost Punting who mixes it up with Elaine Lui, Pretty Woman and My Neighbors are Phantoms.

Here is some information and a picture derives from Sanney's Entertainment site regarding this actress:

Former CAT-III actress and Miss Asia 1987 Mondi Yau Yuet-Ching (right) was sued yesterday by a financial company for an outstanding debt of HK$2.64   million. Contacted by reporters yesterday, Yau said that she was not sure exactly what was going on but that she has handed the matter over to her lawyer and is confident that it will be resolved shortly. These days, Yau is making her living by making stage appearances and television serials in the
Mainland.


Money Lo Man-yee

This fairly normal looking woman has shown up in a few horror films - Red to Kill (the social worker), Daughter of Darkness, Brother of Darkness, July 13th and Web of Deception (1997). She has now retired from acting to pursue a law degree and legal career!


Monica Chan Fat Yung

After winning the Miss Hong Kong contest in 1989, Monica settled into a very successful career at TVB. One of her biggest hits was My Days in Perth in which she starred with Jacky Cheung. Before becoming Miss Hong Kong, she had studied fashion design at university.

She has shown up in a number of films though generally in small but thoughtful roles –often playing the wife or girlfriend. She always comes across very well and one wonders why she seems to be relegated to supporting roles. Some of her films – Full Alert (Lau Ching-wan’s wife), My Name is Nobody (Wong Jing’s girlfriend), Double Tap (Alex Fong’s wife), Those Were the Days (one of the old-time actresses), Option Zero, Casino Raiders II (the girlfriend from America), Perfect Girls (the cop), Love and Sex of Eastern Hollywood (the lesbian) and God of Gamblers II.


Moon Lee Choi-fong

Born on 02/14/65 in Hong Kong

The term “cute as a bug in a rug” must have been created for Moon Lee. She is just drop dead adorable and one of the least likely action stars that one could imagine. That is part of the reason why she has attracted a legion of fanatic fanboys in the West. Unlike Michelle Yeoh who looks to be much bigger on the screen than she really is, Moon looks just as small as she really is. Looking at her being dwarfed at times by her fellow actors, one almost feels as if they could pick Moon up and put her in your hip pocket – something no doubt a few of us have thought about!

It isn’t just her diminutive stature, sweet personality and honey pie looks that has made her so popular though – it is what she does on the screen. She simply amazes. She is wonderfully athletic and graceful – due to her dance background – but it is the ferociousness, determination and the “never surrender” attitude that she brings to her roles that simply capture your heart. In her fights she often gets as good as she gives and by the end of the film she is often battered and bruised – but never beaten. Watching Moon give it everything she has is one of the great pleasures of Hong Kong film.
After she finished school, Moon joined the RTV television studio – making her debut in a series called Affection on Earth – and went on to appear in a number of series for them during the early 80s. Her film debut took place in 1981 in the lightweight comedy To Sir with Love. She has a good supporting role – and she looks great and has one hilarious scene in which she teaches a fellow student how to be sexy.
Two years later in 1983 came her first significant role – in one of the most important films in HK history – Zu: Warriors of the Magic Mountain. Here Moon is one of Brigitte Lin’s female guards – and goes on with Yuen Biao and Mang Hoi to battle the evil that was loose in the world. Though she isn’t really involved in a lot of action – her by turns fierce and sweet demeanor was a hint of things to come. Just as important to her career was becoming friends with Yuen Biao and Sammo Hung. Over the next few years she was to team up with Yuen a few times.
She continued doing television and started doing action scenes on a regular basis in the series - Drunken Fist Boxing. In 1983 she co-starred with Yuen in The Champions – but her role was non-action and she also had very small cameos in three films that Yuen was involved in – Winners and Sinners (where she tries to break up a fight between Yuen and Jackie), Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars and Those Merry Souls. In 1985 though she had roles in two important films that boosted her career – the Jackie Chan vehicle The Protector and the classic Sammo produced film, Mr. Vampire. The following year, she teamed up again with Yuen for the sequel to Mr. Vampire. Again though, in none of these does she really get involved in the action – her profile up to then was basically as the cute chirpy girlfriend type with a bit of a comical attitude.
Then came Angel in 1988. A few years earlier, Michelle Yeoh had starred in the action film Yes Madam (1985) – and followed that up with Royal Warriors (1986) and Magnificent Warriors (1986). These films had brought the female action film into the modern age – but they didn’t spawn a genre – Angel did – with this film the “Girls with Guns” genre was born. The “Girls with Guns” has its fans and its detractors – but there is really nothing like it anywhere else in world cinema. Sure the budgets tended to be small – the plots often substandard – but the actresses in this genre are astonishing and the action is fast, furious and deliriously fun. Seeing women – whether playing the heroine or the villainess – standing toe to toe with men and depending only on their physical abilities to defeat them is a thrill. Many of these action scenes are the equal of any in HK film – and only their regretfully small budgets consigned them to a “B” film status.
Angel was a smash hit – and Moon along with her co-star Yukari Oshima were on their way to becoming action stars. As mentioned earlier, Moon had trained in ballet and modern dance – but had also studied kung fu upon becoming an actress under Tsui Siu Ming. So thankfully she was chosen to be one of Charlie’s Angels in this film and her fight scenes are fabulous and brutal – in particular the last one against Yukari. Before making Angel II, Moon made one more non-action film (her last one) – Midnight Whispers in which she plays a young girl reunited with her mother – but problems tear them apart. Moon still looks to be sixteen in this film – and gives a good accounting of herself – as a not particularly nice person. She has stated that she wished she had done more dramatic films – but that was not to be – her course as a femme fatale action queen was set.
Over the next six years Moon was to appear in approximately twenty five action films – some classics – some not very good – taking a lot of physical punishment and performing some seriously dangerous stunts. In Devil’s Hunters, an explosion was poorly planned and Moon had to spend a fair amount of time in the hospital. If anyone were to watch Fatal Termination – and the famous scene of Moon trying to rescue her daughter (who is being hung out the car window of a speeding car!) – and watch her jump on the windshield and hang on for dear life – knows what guts she has.
Here are some of my other favorite Moon films – Angel 2, Killer Angels (in which she gets to sing and dress up like Sheila Easton as well as kick a lot of butt), Princess Madam (goes up against the deadly Michiko Nishawaki), Nocturnal Demon (some great action but very funny as well), Dreaming the Reality (plays a trained killer gone good), Bury Me High (directed by her kung fu mentor Tsui Siu Ming), Kickboxers Tears (one of her more brutal fights against Yukari), Yes Madam 92: A Serious Shock (the only time Moon plays the villain – and damn is she chillingly evil) and Angel Terminators II.

By 1993 the “Girls with Guns” genre was played out (the box office results in Hong Kong for many of these films was very low and many of these films are much better loved in the West than at home in HK) – the budgets were getting even smaller – often being filmed in the Philippines – and Moon basically walked away from it. She was so typecast by now that it was impossible for her to get other more dramatic roles. Her last film was in 1995 – more a film focused on kung fu children than on Moon – called Little Heroes Lost in China. Moon went back to her first love – dance – she teaches it – and has occasionally been in a TV series. A recent one that I read about is Chinese Hero that was produced in Taiwan and also starred Chiu Man Cheuk, Gordon Lui and Kurata Yasuaki. At least to me – Moon is special  - one of a kind – and it is the kind of determination and toughness that she and other HK actors bring to their roles that is part of the reason that I love HK films so much.

Moon got married in December 2001 and has apparently moved to Colorado with her husband.

Moses Chan Ho

Moses started out in some UFO productions in the 90s – Twenty Something, Heaven Can’t Wait and Happy Hour – but it was his performance as Ironhead in Tsui Hark’s masterpiece The Blade that put him on the map.

Oddly though, this film didn’t really seem to boost his career as much as one might think. Since then he has appeared primarily in supporting roles – Intruder (Wu Chien Lien’s husband), Legend of Speed (Simon Yam’s main bad guy), Purple Storm (one of the cops), The Mistress (the boyfriend), Gen X Cops (the nasty cop) and Violent Cop (the injured cop).

Caroline Chai has sent in some information on his TV career:

I thought it might interest you to know that Moses Chan Ho has found the success that has eluded him for so long on the big screen at TVB.  Last year he was the second male lead in the historical drama Lok Sun (Where the Legend Begins - Ada Choi, Steven Ma, Lau Dan) and the male lead in Family Man (Paul Chun Pui, Flora Chan, Jay Lau Kam Ling) and was very well received by audiences in both series.  He picked up the Most Favourite Improvement Actor Award from TVB for his role as Cao Pi in Lok Sun at the 35th TVB Anniversary last year and was labeled "Si Lai" Killer (housewife killer) after his role in Family Man wowed audiences in HK.  He is now considered one of TVB's top leading men.  Also, I remember reading somewhere that Moses Chan did some corrective surgery on his vocal cords or something like that.  Apparently, his original speaking voice is kind of wierd and I think that if you watch him in one of his older films (I saw him again in Lost and Found and found this to be true), his voice is really quite hard to listen to.  Moses Chan was advised to correct this and he did and I remember him attributing some of his current success to this.


Mui Siu-wai

This amusing comedienne was very popular in the early 90s and had some nice comic roles in films. The few things I have seen her in have made me very much appreciate her slightly ditzy persona.

Some of these films are Pretty Ghost (the ping pong playing secretary), When Fortune Smiles (Anthony Wong’s mistress), Perfect Girls (the cousin), Look Out Officer, My Neighbors are Phantoms, No Risk No Gain.

Since the mid-90s her film roles have been scarce - but she has appeared in a number of TV shows. Here is some information that Caroline Chai sent to me regarding her TV career:

Mui Siu-wai is well known in TV but she's not exactly popular because she's not your typical beauty pageant contestant type that thrives in HK television.  However, people do recognise her and do enjoy watching her. She rarely plays the first female lead and if she does it's probably because it's an ensemble cast.  She does, however, get fairly meaty roles, mostly second leads. She is generally cast in comedies and usually as fairly jolly, good-natured characters... her segment was the best thing about Working Women, her other series include When Dreams Come True and A Matter of Business.