Profile | How Hong Kong star Deanie Ip went from best actress to banned in mainland China
The acclaimed actress and singer who rose to screen fame playing Andy Lau’s mother is one of Hong Kong’s most outspoken entertainers
For an acclaimed movie star whose accolades include best actress at the Venice Film Festival, Deanie Ip Tak-han has surprisingly little regard for fame and fortune.
Known for standing up for her views even if it affects her career, the actress and singer is one of the most outspoken entertainers in Hong Kong.
She spoke out against the June 4, 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and joined protesters in Hong Kong in 2019 who opposed a law change to allow extraditions to mainland China. As a result, the 77-year-old’s music has been banned on the mainland.
This does not appear to have bothered Ip, who is never one for compromise – she does not accede to directors’ wishes or chase after scripts, she has said.
Born an illegitimate child in 1947, Ip had two mothers: one was her biological mother, a mistress, the other her father’s infertile wife, who detested having to raise another woman’s child.