Stephen Fung

[AlbertV]

Stephen Fung is a jack of all trades...he's a well known actor, screenwriter, director, and even musician/songwriter. Born on August 9, 1974 in Hong Kong, Fung is the son of 60's Shaw Brothers actress Julie Shih Yeh. He didn't reveal this until 1999, when Gen-X Cops was a hit film. He made his film debut in a 1990 TV-movie entitled Forbidden Nights, playing the 12-15 year old version of Robin Shou's Liang Hong, who had a romance with Melissa Gilbert's teacher in China.

After graduating with a degree in graphic design at the University of Michigan, Stephen returned to Hong Kong and would form a musical duo called Dry. Fung is not only a singer, but he also plays some pretty good guitar. In 1995, he made his Hong Kong film debut in Summer Snow. However, he gained his breakthrough role as Jet, a gigolo who falls for Daniel Wu's closeted police officer in Bishonen. The film would lead to the long-lasting friendship between Wu and Fung and it was also where Fung would meet his future wife, actress Shu Qi.

Aside from acting, Fung wrote and directed the 2004 action comedy Enter the Phoenix, also playing the film's villain. He followed that up with the 2005 film House of Fury, also playing one of the main characters, who must rescue his father, a bodyguard for retired agents. Fung has also directed the hip hop kung fu comedy Jump, produced by Stephen Chow and the Tai Chi  films in 2012, which was the first production for Diversion Pictures, founded by he and Daniel Wu. Fung recently worked as action unit director and executive producer on the AMC series Into the Badlands and the loose remake of Once a Thief, aka The Adventurers, starring Andy Lau, Shu Qi, and Jean Reno.

In September 2016, Fung and Shu Qi got married in Prague while shooting The Adventurers. The two have been friends since making Bishonen and Shu has credited Fung with being there for her especially when her high profile relationship with Heavenly King Leon Lai went bust.

 

The last two photos are screengrabs from Fung's debut performance in Forbidden Nights in 1990.