Hawick Lau

Hawick Lau (劉愷威; born 13 October 1974) is a Hong Kong Chinese actor and singer. He is one of the 5 Fresh Tigers, best known for his performances in TVB series A Kindred Spirit (1995), Virtues of Harmony (2001) and My Family (2005).

He then expanded his career into mainland China, acting in several notable series. He is best known for his appearances in Sealed with a Kiss (2011), A Clear Midsummer Night (2013), The Wife's Secret (2014), Lady & Liar (2015) and Chronicle of Life (2016).

Biography

Hawick grew up in Hong Kong, China. He is the son of Hong Kong actor Lau Dan, with whom he co-starred in A Kindred Spirit, Virtues of Harmony and Virtues of Harmony II.

Hawick studied architecture at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.

Career

Hawick debuted in the 1995 drama A Kindred Spirit. He starred alongside his father Lau Dan in the drama, co-incidentally portraying father and son. The same year, he signed on with Hong Kong's Sony Music as a singer.

In 1997, he released his first Chinese album LALA I Love You. In 1998, he released his first Cantonese album A Boy's Story.

Hawick continued acting in Hong Kong dramas and started to gain fame locally. In 2000, he starred in youth romance drama Aiming High with Nicholas Tse. He also had a supporting role in epic financial thriller At the Threshold of an Era. From 2001 to 2002, he starred in the historical sitcom Virtues of Harmony and later its sequel in 2003, which had a modern twist. In January 2005, he starred in modern comedy drama My Family, in his first leading role.

TVB named him as one of the 5 Fresh Tigers – a group of promising young actors that the network pushed to become stars.

In 2005, after having a significant amount of success at TVB, he left the company and traveled to mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore, where he participated in some of the productions. He filmed his first Mainland production The Hui Merchants of Qing (which aired in 2007). He also starred in the Mediacorp production Destiny; following which he participated in the Taiwanese drama Letter 1949.

In April 2006, Hawick signed with ATV, the other main television station and production studio in Hong Kong for one year. In November 2006, Hawick's first series with ATV, No Turning Back began airing.

In order to fully immerse himself into the Chinese market, Hawick insisted on speaking Mandarin Chinese instead of Cantonese for his media appearances. He started to gain attention from the Chinese audiences for his appearance in the 2008 drama Royal Embroidery Workshop. Following which, he won the Audience's Most Favorite Actor Award at the Annual Fujian TV Station I Love My Drama award ceremony in 2009.

In 2009, he starred in the republican drama Niang Qi, which won him the Best Actor Award at the Jiangsu TV Drama Awards.

Hawick gained mainstream popularity after starring in romance angst drama Sealed With a Kiss, gaining recognition from his portrayal of Mo Shaoqian, who was likened to the Asian version of Christian Grey.

In 2012, Hawick starred in the romantic comedy film Holding Love alongside Yang Mi. The movie was released on the day of Qixi Festival, also known as Chinese Valentine’s Day, and topped the box office charts.

Hawick then established his personal studio, and took on the role of a producer for the first time in the contemporary romance drama A Clear Midsummer Night. The drama aired in 2013 and quickly became popular with the audience, becoming the first drama in 2013 to surpass 100 million views. In April, he starred in the drama version of the 2012 hit movie Painted Skin: The Resurrection. His performance in the series won him the Best Actor in the Ancient Drama genre at the 13th Huading Awards. In August 2013, he returned to TVB, filming the Hong Kong-China joint production Master of Destiny, which aired in 2015.

In 2014, he starred opposite Zhao Liying in The Wife's Secret. The drama achieved high ratings.

In 2015, Hawick paired up with Tiffany Tang in the idol drama Lady & Liar, which broke records to become the most viewed republic era period drama online. His character Bai Zhengqing was popular with the audience, and gained him a large number of fans. Following Lady & Liar, Hawick then starred in The Cage of Love, written by famed writer Tong Hua.

In 2016, Hawick starred in period romance drama Chronicle of Life, portraying the Kangxi Emperor. The series gained huge popularity upon its premiere, placing #1 in ratings nationally for 16 days. In April, the second production by Hawick's studio, entitled Road to the North premiered on CNTV.

Personal Life

Hawick announced his relationship with Chinese actress Yang Mi on January 8, 2012 through Weibo. The two have previously co-starred in Ru Yi, Holding Love and A Clear Midsummer Night.

On January 8, 2014, Hawick and Yang got married in Bali, Indonesia. On June 1, 2014, Yang gave birth to her their daughter nicknamed Little Sticky Rice (小糯米) in Hong Kong.

Filmography

Film

Television drama

Sources and links

• Hawick Lau Weibo
• IMDb entry