Profile | How Chow Yun-fat became a Hong Kong cinema superstar without losing his humility
The professed ‘country bumpkin’ made it big in Hong Kong movies and broke Hollywood. But that doesn’t stop him from living a ‘simple life’
For five decades, Chow Yun-fat has been two people.
And then there is the man Hongkongers simply call “Fat Gor” (Big Brother Fat), the down-to-earth celebrity spotted running marathons, riding the MTR and buses, eating in traditional Hong Kong-style cha chaan teng cafes, and cheerfully taking mobile phone selfies – with his own left hand – with anyone who asks for one.
This humility, a defining feature of his public persona, is rooted in a past far removed from the glamour of Hollywood or the neon-lit streets of his films.
Chow grew up in a farming community on Hong Kong’s Lamma Island and dropped out of school at 17 to help support his family. He worked a series of odd jobs, from bellboy and factory hand to taxi driver and postman.