Profile | How Carol ‘Dodo’ Cheng went from acting with Chow Yun-fat to interviewing Hollywood stars

This is the 72nd instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. What do Chow Yun-fat, Timothee Chalamet and Doh Kyung-soo have in common? They have all had to keep up with the razor-sharp mind of Hong Kong actress and television host Carol “Dodo” Cheng Yu-ling. From teaching Hollywood heartthrobs Cantonese to hosting the city’s most prestigious galas, Cheng’s presence is ubiquitous. Anyone who has watched the TVB anniversary awards or the local broadcaster’s annual Miss Hong Kong Pageant has likely seen her face. One may also remember the 68-year-old entertainer for her unique moniker, fitting for a woman who seems to be able to “do” it all. Named by her mother, she has even stated that she prefers Dodo over Carol. Cheng, who is fluent in both Cantonese and English, initially aspired to be a journalist like Chinese-American news anchor Connie Chung. When financial constraints derailed her studies abroad, Cheng pivoted to the acting programme at Commercial Television (CTV) in 1975. Following her acting debut in the 1976 TV series The Return of the Condor Heroes and CTV’s closure in 1978, she transitioned to TVB, where she would go on to dominate as both a performer and a host. By 1979, she was already playing leads in series such as Girl with a Suitcase and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, opposite the legendary Chow Yun-fat. Cheng and Chow would forge a friendship and star opposite each other as lovers in drama series such as The Brothers (1980) and The Fate (1981). At one point, “Yun-fat kept a photo of us in his wallet,” Cheng told Carina Lau Ka-ling in 2024, on the talk show Jia Ren Zi You Yue. “He was very into his characters and not in love with me!” As she focused on her personal growth in the 1980s, her television career flourished, eventually expanding into film roles and frequent emcee engagements. During the late 80s and early 90s, she was dubbed “Cheng Kau-cho” (or “Nine Films Cheng”) by the Hong Kong press for her relentless ability to shoot up to nine movies concurrently. In 1984, Cheng won the award for best new performer at the Hong Kong Film Awards for her first film role in The Last Affair. She later won best actress for the 1990 comedy Her Fatal Ways. Despite her thriving career in Hong Kong, Cheng relocated to Vancouver, Canada, in the early 90s. Scandal found her in 1997 when the Canadian government accused her of tax evasion. Upon her eventual return to Hong Kong, she admitted the move was a mistake, citing the overwhelming financial burden of life abroad. Nevertheless, as a perennial crowd favourite, she found her homecoming to TVB easy. In 2000, she was named best actress at the TVB Anniversary Awards for her role in War of the Genders alongside comedy legend Dayo Wong Tze-wah. Their undeniable chemistry as squabbling colleagues pushed the sitcom to record-breaking viewership ratings, making it TVB’s highest-rated drama at the time and cementing her character, Miss Mo, as a pop culture icon. Furthermore, this historic victory made her the first person ever to win the best actress honour at both the Hong Kong Film Awards and the TVB Anniversary Awards, affirming her rare dual dominance over the silver and television screens. By 2003, however, Cheng had pivoted to presenting, citing disillusionment with repetitive scripts and gruelling production hours. She also ruled out Hollywood, noting the scarcity of good roles for Asians. “I’ve been working too hard for the past 28 years – I just want to take things one at a time now,” she told the South China Morning Post in 2004. Despite the pivot, her momentum did not slow down. Cheng anchored the Hong Kong edition of the British game show The Weakest Link (2001-2002) and TVB’s reporting on the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She went on to front multiple Miss Hong Kong and Mr Hong Kong pageants, as well as the TVB Anniversary Gala Show – one of the most significant annual events in Hong Kong entertainment – where awards are handed out to the city’s most popular television stars. Comparing acting and hosting, she explained in a 2000 SCMP interview: “When I was acting, I was not Cheng Yu-ling any more. Hosting a show is the opposite. I need to distinguish myself from others, to retain my own identity. I have to control the atmosphere as well as manage the time and make the show enjoyable.” Indeed, for nearly 20 years, it seemed she loved being the emcee matriarch of TVB, and she was a magnetic host to celebrity guests on her travel and food show Do Did Eat (2016-2020), which was nominated for several awards at the 2018 TVB Anniversary Awards. Cheng made headlines in 2022 when she left TVB after 44 years to reinvent herself as a content creator. Nowadays, the entertainer is thriving on her own terms with her YouTube channel The Do Show, which has amassed nearly half a million subscribers. The channel features high-profile interviews with global stars including Tom Cruise, Austin Butler and Benedict Cumberbatch, as well as Hong Kong icons such as Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Louis Koo Tin-lok. In early 2024, she gained widespread praise for her interviews with the cast of Dune: Part Two in Los Angeles, even teaching them Cantonese. Beyond her career, the media remains fascinated by Cheng’s romantic life. Although she had two heavily publicised, long-term romances – a decade-long relationship with media veteran Kam Kwok-leung in the 1980s and a 16-year partnership with singer Lui Fong that ended in 2008 – she has notably never wed. Her fierce independence stems from a turbulent childhood. “My dad left the family when I was seven. He came back when I was 14. My parents divorced when I was 20,” she told HK Magazine in 2005. “By the time my father walked out, I already knew exactly what I wanted. I knew I didn’t want a family.” She also serves as a beacon for female empowerment. Reflecting on the industry’s evolution with Prestige magazine in 2023, Cheng said: “In the early days of my career, a cameraman was always a man … but by the time I left TVB, I saw many more camerawomen, and women working in lighting and audio. It’s great to see.” In her 2005 interview with HK Magazine, she playfully remarked, “The day when I look in the mirror and I see an unbearable number of wrinkles looking back, then it’s time to isolate myself from the cameras.” Two decades on, she remains as visible as ever. Instead of stepping away from the spotlight, Cheng has simply built her own – in the process proving there is always something new to “do”. Want more articles like this? Follow SCMP Film on Facebook

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Hong Kong icon Carol “Dodo” Cheng has worn many hats – actor, television host, content creator – continually reinventing herself across five decades

Hong Kong icon Carol “Dodo” Cheng has worn many hats – actor, television host, content creator – continually reinventing herself across five decades