Actors exceeding their acting skills

[DiP]

Which actors do you think set the bar high in terms of their own acting abilities to delivering an original performance after they became famous?

I would go with:

Tony Leung - Hard Boiled - The scene where he betrays his boss is possibly the best acting I've seen from him.

Lau Ching-Wan - Mad Detective - Broke away from his ordinary-man-with-principles-roles to playing a "nut", a role I usually associate with onscreen comedians. I think no one else has or can do as convincing of a performance of such a character as that.

Simon Yam - Sparrow - Went through his performance most of the time by just smiling and looking happy.

Anthony Wong - Punished - Wong is known for playing psychopathic, malicious and subdued characters but here he gets to stretch his acting like never before as a hot-headed businessman who changes drastically after going through hardships in his life. A definite win for Wong acting-wise.

Richard Ng - Winners & Sinners/The Millionaires' Express - Known for playing characters that hustles people and makes funny moments through physicality. I haven't seen alot of his movies outside of Sammo's work but I feel the latter was the one who pushed Ng to the limit as far as physical comedy goes. The inflatable-cheeks moment and the invisibility scene in Winners & Sinners as well as the hotel room scene in The Millionaires' Express where Ng makes up a story to his wife about spies that "becomes real" remain unforgettable to me. True brilliance in comic timing there.

[luckystars]

Sammo and Jackie are phenomenal in Heart of Dragon.

Jackie Cheung in Bullet in the Head.

Yuen Wah in Eastern Condors...though he's always good.

Yuen Biao is great in the Wing Chun series...he's become really humble in his older years.

[DarthKato]

Jackie Chan in the first Police Story. I think its one of his best movies. The action, comedy, and acting are all great and the fight at the end is amazing.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Chow Yun Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Jet Li, Tony Leung,Gong Li, Zang Ziyi, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Jackie Chan, Donnie yen, Shawn Yue and the whole cast of Infernal Affairs, phenomenal acting in that movie!!!

[AlbertV]

Andy Lau truly has a versatile style IMO...He was great in Infernal Affairs 1 & 3, did some great comedy in Tricky Brains with Stephen Chow and did a great job in Dance of a Dream. Of course, As Tears Go By showcases one of his greatest performances in my opinion.

Richard Ng did quite a great job in Bodyguard: A New Beginning as the Triad boss whose loyalty is tested by his son, played by his real-life son Carl. Ng really did a great job in that film in a more dramatic fashion.

Nick Cheung truly has excelled as well. He went from being practically Stephen Chow's heir apparent in the gambling comedy to one of the greats today with his work in Johnnie To's films (Breaking News, Election) as well as The Stool Pigeon and Beast Stalker. And to think, he was a HK police officer before he began acting.

[Sheng]

I put a word in for Nick Cheung as well, he has really matured into a terrific actor. The roles he plays nowadays are outstanding, be it the Triad turncoat in ON THE EDGE, the stoic cop in CONNECTED, the slavishly following, press-button assassin in the ELECTION movies, the glass-eyed kidnapper in BEAST STALKER… And STOOL PIDGEON was simply a career defining performance, probably my favorite movie in 2010.

[DiP]

I just recalled more:

Yuen Biao - On the Run - Usually played lone characters with strange/subtle personalities mixed with comic elements. On the Run changed my view of him forever as an overall performer and proved that action stars can also act.

Sammo Hung - Heart of the Dragon/Eight Taels of Gold - Sammo was known for playing miserable characters getting tangled with danger which ends with him fighting back. At the time, Sammo was in total control of many productions for both Golden Harvest and his own company as an actor, director, producer, action director, writer etc and wanted to change people's impression of him. Thus this gave him opportunities to show versatility in other kind of movies. HotD and EToG showed his dramatic side and that he could/can do very well.

Jackie Chan - Crime Story - Jackie has played serious characters before like in the first two Police Story movies but thought there was too much melodrama in his acting which I didn't find convincing. Crime Story makes that up with more subtlety and less melodrama in his performance making this his best acting performance to date.

Donnie Yen - Bodyguards & Assassins - Ip Man showed everyone that Donnie could indeed act very good. But it remained whether or not he could play more challenging roles and what was next in store so it was interesting for me to see what direction he'd take to elevate his skills. Despite a small role (composed to just 10-15 min of screen-time), Bodyguards & Assassins was a good start and delivered a performance that made me convinced that he can do better in more movies if given more effort into acting. Since then he's been doing well with his acting but those movies (haven't seen Wu Xia in its' whole yet) weren't that challenging compared to Ip Man and B&A.

Charlie Chin - Coolie Killer/On the Run - Famous for playing romancing and girl-chasing characters. Roles of hitman in Coolie Killer pushed him into other types of classic movies (including On the Run playing a corrupt cop which was a definitive change of his screen-persona) with an impressive filmography left behind after his retirement in 1992.

Tony Leung Ka-Fai - Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone - Before this movie, Leung often played second-fiddle characters and supporting characters to main lead actors such as Chow Yun-Fat. But Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone showed us what he was capable of playing a gang boss with many different sides. The most fortunate thing is also the fact that we get to hear his real voice which gave his performance and his later movies more *omph*.

Roy Cheung - The Mission - Considered the king of bad-ass villains in Hong Kong Cinema. But as any actor, he wanted a change. The Mission was the movie that changed it all for him and boosted him further into more memorable roles, including the loyal bodyguard in Jiang Hu: The Triad Zone and the well-disciplined gang boss in Beast Cops. Unfortunately, he hasn't been giving much attention in recent years (apart from Infernal Affairs 2 and Exiled) and has yet to give out a radical performance.

[ShaOW!linDude]

I personally enjoyed Sammo's performance as Aaron Kwok's trainer in Somebody Up There Likes Me.

[masterofoneinchpunch]

These are two I had on a list I submitted for top 75 male performances on a movie site awhile ago:

Francis Ng: Infernal Affairs II (2003: Andrew Lau Wai-Keung, Alan Mak Siu-Fai): I thought his performance here was one of the best I've seen from Ng and a brilliant use of a calm demeanor.

Leslie Cheung: Farewell my Concubine (1993: Chen Kaige): Superb.

[Sheng]

Jackie Chan in SHINJUKU INCIDENT, his best dramatic performance ever. (I summed up my thoughts on the film and JC’s part in it in the Review section).

[Keung]

Some very good mentions here.

I particularly enjoyed Nick Cheung's more recent roles as well. I look forward to seeing more from him. Has anyone seen Nightfall with Simon Yam?

Tony Leung Chiu Wai has always been a favourite of mine. The scene in Bullet In The Head where he's forced to kill the prisoners of war is the best I've seen from him.

[So High]

I saw Nightfall Saturday not a bad lil murder mystery whats really going on type movie.

[CatNap]

Eric Tsang - Infernal Affairs - especially part II.

Carina Lau - Days of Being Wild

Brigitte Lin - Red Dust

Maggie Cheung - Center Stage

Anita Mui - Eighteen Springs

Jacky Cheung - Bullet in the Head/Days of Being Wild

Ruby Wong - Where a Good Man Goes

Lau Ching Wan - Where a Good Man Goes/The Longest Night

[DarthKato]

Jackie Chan's performance in "New Police Story' was excellant and showed that he could do serious performances if given a chance.

[Reel Power Stunts]

I just recalled more:

Yuen Biao - On the Run - Usually played lone characters with strange/subtle personalities mixed with comic elements. On the Run changed my view of him forever as an overall performer and proved that action stars can also act.

Sammo Hung - Heart of the Dragon/Eight Taels of Gold - Sammo was known for playing miserable characters getting tangled with danger which ends with him fighting back. At the time, Sammo was in total control of many productions for both Golden Harvest and his own company as an actor, director, producer, action director, writer etc and wanted to change people's impression of him. Thus this gave him opportunities to show versatility in other kind of movies. HotD and EToG showed his dramatic side and that he could/can do very well.

Jackie Chan - Crime Story - Jackie has played serious characters before like in the first two Police Story movies but thought there was too much melodrama in his acting which I didn't find convincing. Crime Story makes that up with more subtlety and less melodrama in his performance making this his best acting performance to date.

.

It's no surprise really that these guys can act. Chinese Opera is the theatrical tradition in HK/China, rather like Shakespeare in the UK. In addition to acrobatics, and fighting, opera students learn how to create characters and convey different personalities and emotions. Opera is very stylised acting, but so is Shakespeare - however not too many people are shocked that Patrick Stewart, Ian Mckellan or Helen Mirren (all former Royal Shakespeare Company players) can deliver subtle, powerful performances when transferring their skills to the screen.

I think the surprise often comes when actors do something different and succeed. Perhaps film producers don't want to risk "fixing want ain't broke", so are reluctant to cast stars against type. Some stars too are afraid to take risks,and challenge their personas, less the audience not accept it. I felt Jackie kinda copped out with "Shinjuku Incident". Early on he claimed he'd be playing a villain, but in the finished film I thought he'd watered things down. It can be great when stars take risks. Stallone in "Copland", lumbering and overweight reminded many what a good actor Sly can be.

[mark187]

Jet Li in Danny the Dog, Fearless, and The Warlords. easily the peak period of his career, acting-wise.

[Guest Yi-Long]

- Leslie Cheung in Days of Being Wild. He's amazing throughout. Always a brilliant actor btw.

- Sammo Hung as the teacher in Painted Faces. A non-action role for Sammo, and he's great in it.

- Anita Yuen in The Chinese Feast. She's the heart of the movie, an outrageously funny peformance.

- Patrick Tam in Century of the Dragon. Great triad movie with Patrick Tam shining as an upcoming smart ruthless guy. The scene where he slams his hand on the table when provoked is brilliant.