Chapman To

Chapman To
Chapman To
杜汶澤
	To at the 2010 Hong Kong International Film Festival
Born	Edward Ng Cheuk-cheung; 8 June 1972 (age 52); Yau Ma Tei, Kowloon, British Hong Kong
Citizenship	Taiwan
Years active	1995–present
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Spouse	Kristal Tin (m. 2005)
Awards	ATV Awards; 1999 Best Supporting Actor (My Date with a Vampire)
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese	杜汶澤
Simplified Chinese	杜汶泽
Hanyu Pinyin
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Dù Wénzé
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutping	Dou6 Man4-zaak6

Chapman To (Chinese: 杜汶澤, born 8 June 1972), born Edward Ng Cheuk-cheung (Chinese: 吳卓彰), is a Hong Kong-Taiwanese actor. He is best known for his roles in films such as Infernal Affairs and Initial D. He is also the founder of his own multimedia platform known as "Chapman To's Late Show". In 2022, To officially naturalised in Taiwan.

Early life and career

To was born at Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei. His father worked in a fruit shop in Yau Ma Tei. To studied at Diocesan Preparatory School and Diocesan Boys' School. His stage name was adapted from the horse "Chapman River" (澤汶渡) due to his previous hobby of horse betting.^[1] He began his acting career in TV soap operas and moved to the big screen in 2000. He is best known for playing Tsui Wai-Keung in the Infernal Affairs trilogy, as well as the role of Itsuki Tachibana in Initial D. He married Kristal Tin in 2005. In 2006, he starred in Pang Ho-Cheung's film Isabella with Isabella Leong.

Along with acting, To was also a radio personality for Commercial Radio 2(CR2). He hosted the show, On a Clear Day (在晴朗的一天出發), a 2-hour morning show which was co-hosted by Michelle Lo and Jan Lamb. However, after a fall-out with the key personnel of the radio company, Chapman lost the radio hosting job in 2006.

To is also an avid amateur photographer. In 2011, To was hired as the photographer for cantopop singer Prudence Liew's album Love Addict. To stated that this is the first time he is paid for his photography work.

On 3 August 2018, he founded a multimedia platform called "Chapman To's Late Show" (杜汶澤喱騷).^[2] The channel mainly made fun of current issues in Hong Kong. It also made tutorials for smores and interviewed famous politicians and actors/singers from Hong Kong. Due to the platform's content being daring, down-to-earth and it's satirical way of presenting current issues, it was widely praised by Hong Kong's netizens.^[3] In 2020 Chapman To announced that the platform will be pulling out of YouTube and Facebook, and subsequently established a paid platform at lateshow.net, with subscription fee being HK$60 per month and VIP subscription HK$600 per year; the VIP members get access to special content such as his stand-up comedy live performance of 2020. Celebrities such as Anthony Wong and Gregory Wong have appeared for its shows.^[4]^{[better source needed]}

Political positions and Chinese blacklist

In March 2014, To expressed support for the Sunflower Student Movement in Taiwan, which was skeptical of a proposed agreement to create closer ties between Taiwan and mainland China.

During Hong Kong's Umbrella Movement, he was involved in online arguments with some mainland netizens.^[5]

To criticised the Chinese government and proudly stated to netizens to "Stop me from coming to the mainland if you've got guts."^[6] Chinese audiences reacted and To's first two movies after the incident, Let Go for Love^[6] and Aberdeen, flopped at the Chinese box office.^[7] The production companies apologised and regretted casting To.

Hong Kong directors such as Wong Jing subsequently refused to work with To, resulting in him being blacklisted in both the Chinese and Hong Kong movie market.^[8]

Exiled from the lucrative Chinese market, To focused on Malaysia and Singapore.^[9] Despite not having any Chinese investment, his films have achieved success in their target markets. To acted as director, writer, and actor for these low-budget films.

To moved to Taiwan in November 2020, and announced in February 2022 that he had attained Taiwanese citizenship.^[10]

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role
1995	Fist of Fury	Jing Wu Men's student
1996	The Good Old Days
1998	My Date with a Vampire	Kam Ching-chung
2000	Showbiz Tycoon	Sing Lung
2000	My Date with a Vampire II	Kam Ching-chung
2004	Kung Fu Soccer	Lok
2010	OL Supreme	Sze Sap Yat
2010	Who's the Hero

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	House of the Damned
2000	Violent Cop	David Liu
2000	The Teacher Without Chalk
2001	Jiang hu: The Triad Zone
	Let's Sing Along	Long Hair
	Goodbye, Mr. Cool
	Never Say Goodbye
	The Cheaters	Chi-Wai
	Esprit D'Amour
	Prison on Fire - Life Sentence
2002	Golden Chicken	Club Owner
	Infernal Affairs	Tsui Wai-keung	Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
	The Mummy, Aged 19
	Just One Look	Villager No. 3
	The Wall
	Mighty Baby	Kassey
	The Irresistible Piggies
	Feel 100%
	Partners	Lee Tin-wah
	Dry Wood Fierce Fire	Autumn Sze-to
	Nine Girls and a Ghost	Basketball Coach
	Return from the Other World	Fai
	Black Mask 2: City of Masks	King (Cantonese voice)
2003	The Twins Effect	Ken
	Golden Chicken 2	Club Owner
	Master Q: Incredible Pet Detective	Old Master Q (voice)
	Infernal Affairs II	Tsui Wai-keung	Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
	The Spy Dad	Love Kwan
	Infernal Affairs III	Tsui Wai-keung
	Men Suddenly in Black	Chao	Nominated - Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Black White Forest	Toast
	Looking for Mr. Perfect
	Diva: Ah Hey	Huffman
	Cat and Mouse	Han Zhang
	My Lucky Star	Yip's stepmother boyfriend
	Honesty	Failure Fai
2004	The Attractive One	Butt
	Escape from Hong Kong Island	Policeman
	Six Strong Guys	Chai
	Super Model
	Jiang Hu	Brother To
	Love Is a M Stupid Thing	Yan
	Enter the Phoenix	Kin
	The Beautiful Country	Chingmy
	A World Without Thieves	Sha Gen (Cantonese voice)