Profile | How Hong Kong star Gigi Leung went from innocent girl next door to all-round entertainer

This is the 50th instalment in a biweekly series profiling major Hong Kong pop culture figures of recent decades. Hong Kong singer and actress Gigi Leung Wing-kei, who is best known as a 1990s Cantopop sweetheart, has had a dynamic career spanning three decades. Initially viewed as an innocent “girl next door” following her appearance in Derek Yee Tung-sing’s action drama Full Throttle (1995) and the release of her first two music albums, she has since established herself as a well-rounded performer on the silver screen and stage. Born in 1976, Leung grew up in Hong Kong, where she attended Maryknoll Convent School. As a teenager, she was given the nickname of “tall girl” because of her height, and even joined her school’s basketball team. She developed a passion for drawing and painting, and after graduating from Maryknoll, attended Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Design. While Leung was still a student, she appeared in a commercial for a watch. She caught the attention of movie director Lee Chi-ngai and was cast in his comedy drama Doctor Mack (also known as Mack the Knife, 1995), her film debut. Later that year, Leung gained wider recognition with her appearance in Full Throttle. She played Annie, the kind-hearted girlfriend of Joe (Andy Lau Tak-wah), a young man who loves car racing. Leung was nominated for best new performer at the 1996 Hong Kong Film Awards. She then made her foray into the music industry and released her first Cantopop album, Love Myself, in 1996. A year later, she followed that up with a Mandopop album called Short Hair – a hairstyle she has yet to stray away from – and together the albums cemented her refreshing image. In the three decades since, Leung has released more than 20 Cantopop and Mandopop albums and appeared in over 50 films, and achieved popularity not just in Hong Kong, but also in mainland China, Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Among her most popular songs – many of which are about love – are 1998’s “Chicken Chic” (also known as “Coward”) and 2000’s “Cinderella”. One of Leung’s best-known films is Sylvia Chang Ai-chia’s romantic drama Tempting Heart (1999), which saw her star alongside Takeshi Kaneshiro. The pair reunited four years later in Turn Left, Turn Right (2003), which was directed by Johnnie To Kei-fung and Wai Ka-fai and tells a story about fate and missed opportunities. Never one to rest on her laurels, Leung has sought to take on varying challenges and evolve as a performer. For example, in 1999 she dabbled in theatre, taking part in the musical A Midsummer Night’s Fantasy directed by Samuel Hui Koon-kit. And in 2004 she appeared in The Great Entertainer, a play about show business that saw Leung take on more than 10 characters. That project prompted Leung to re-examine her own career. “I’m part of the showbiz industry,” she said in 2004. “But am I a great entertainer? What is entertainment? What kind of entertainment is the audience looking for? When I’m entertaining others, am I entertaining myself at the same time? “All these are questions that need to be examined. I think this production will be inspirational to my showbiz career, as well as my life.” As she became older, Leung sought to leave behind her initial good girl image, as seen during a 2007 Shanghai show where she donned sexy outfits and performed risqué dance moves. Fans were surprised, but she attributed the new direction to wanting to deliver something different. “To amplify your charm on such a huge stage, sexy dances and costumes are inevitable,” Leung told the Post. “Also when people come to your concert, they expect to see something they can’t get from listening to your records. There are lots of possibilities on stage – I don’t mind exploring these.” In 2014, Leung appeared in the Pang Ho-cheung film Aberdeen as Ceci, a model-actress navigating a variety of stereotypical perceptions in an industry that believes she is past her prime. The film was another departure from her pure image at the beginning of her career. “I’m quite happy that people see this as my acting breakthrough,” she told the Post in 2014. “After being an actress for so many years, I understand that the gist of acting is to delve completely into your character. Otherwise, what’s the point of taking a part?” In that same interview, she reflected on how her career has progressed. “It’s natural that we grow old,” she said. “When I get older, of course I won’t be looking to play young girls. It’s vital to find appropriate characters and not force the issue. “We have to understand that nothing lasts forever – every one of us has to accept the fact that we’ll be forgotten one day. It’s only a matter of sooner or later.” Leung has been involved in charity work throughout her career. She became an ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), and co-founded a non-profit called Hope Education Foundation which helped underprivileged children. With the support of prefectural governments, she has also helped build seven schools in mainland China, and written a children’s book called Little Yellow Flower for charity along with other celebrity friends. Leung was in a high-profile relationship for seven years with singer-actor Ekin Cheng Yee-kin, her co-star in films such as Feel 100% (1996) and We’re No Bad Guys (1997). When the couple first got together in 1999, they were subject to a flurry of love triangle rumours – Cheng had been linked to actress Maggie Shiu Mei-kei since the early 1990s – but they stayed together through the backlash before splitting up for good in 2006. Later that year, the singer released her Mandopop album Love Song for Oneself, which delves into her feelings about the break-up. Leung was then said to be in a relationship with a French furniture designer. After they separated, she embarked on a whirlwind romance with Sergio Crespo Gutes, who she met on a trip to Spain and married within six months of beginning dating him in 2011. The two share a daughter, Sofia, who was born in 2015. Today, Leung still performs on stage and appears in films from time to time, her most recent project being the Lunar New Year release Hit N Fun earlier this year. In it, she plays a washed-up actress who is married to a martial arts master played by Louis Koo Tin-lok, also her on-screen husband in Aberdeen. Outside her entertainment career, Leung is the founder of a luxury childrenswear shop called Mibonbón, which sells a variety of clothes made by Spanish artisans. 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;}With over 50 films, more than 20 albums, charity work and a business under her belt, Gigi Leung has packed a lot into her 30-year career

With over 50 films, more than 20 albums, charity work and a business under her belt, Gigi Leung has packed a lot into her 30-year career