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Maggie Cheung
Born in Hong King on the 20 September 1964, Maggie Cheung (Cheung Man-Yuk) emigrated with her family from Hong Kong to the United Kingdom when she was a child. Cheung spent part of her childhood and adolescence in the UK. She returned to Hong Kong in 1982 for vacation, but ended up staying for modeling assignments. Soon she got a salesgirl job at a Japanese department store as well. In 1983, she entered the Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant contest. She won second place and also bagged the Miss Photogenic award. She was a semi-finalist in the Miss World pageant the same year.[1]
Prior to 1988, Maggie’s screen appearance was often limited to eye candy roles. One of Cheung's notable movie roles then is that of "May", the girlfriend of police detective "Kevin" Chan Ka Kui in Jackie Chan's Police Story movies (however, she did not reprise the role in Police Story 4: First Strike or New Police Story). Maggie frequently cited her performance in the movie As Tears Go By (1988), her first of many collaborations with film director Wong Kar-Wai as the piece that truly began her serious acting career. Maggie Cheung is famous for being a talented multi-lingual actress. In Centre Stage, she performed in Mandarin, Cantonese and Shanghainese fluently, switching languages with ease. In Clean, she performed in fluent English, French, Cantonese and a smattering of Mandarin. Unlike most traditional actors in Hong Kong who are Cantonese monolingual, she is a polyglot as a result of her cosmopolitan upbringing.
Audiences outside Asia have become increasingly familiar with her work, including her roles in Centre Stage (as Ruan Lingyu), In the Mood for Love, Irma Vep, 2046, Hero, and, most recently, Clean.
She married French director Olivier Assayas in 1998 but divorced him in 2001. Their relationship remained amicable, however, as in 2004 Cheung made her award-winning movie Clean with him. As part of her portrayal of the drug-addicted aspiring singer Emily Wang in Clean, Maggie Cheung performed songs written by David Roback of Mazzy Star.
On 7 February 2007, The New York Times rated Maggie Cheung as one of the 22 Great Performers in 2006 for her Cannes winning role Emily in Clean. After 25 years of making movies, Cheung is deciding to retire from acting and pursue a career as a film composer. She allows that there might be room for an occasional comedic role, but she would like to paint and compose music, after fulfilling her acting potential.
What members say |
Filmography
Maggie Cheung - what members say
review by SAI81 from Tonbridge
New Dragon Gate Inn 15 April 2006
review by from Manchester
Absolutely Bloody Gorgeous 28 November 2004
review by SAI81 from Tonbridge, England
Moon Warriors 11 April 2006
Maggie Cheung - filmography
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Ashes of Time Redux
on DVD
(2008)
Starring: Li Bai, Jacky Cheung, Leslie Cheung
Director: Kar Wai Wong
Certificate: 
In ancient China, on the edge of a vast desert, swordsman Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung) lives the life of a vagabond, controlling a network of deadly assassins. Pitiless and cynical, his heart has long been wounded by a love he neglected then lost. But as seasons, friends and enemies come and go, he ..read more »
 
54%
from 1,055 member
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Ashes of Time Redux - Blu-ray
(2008)
Starring: Li Bai, Jacky Cheung, Leslie Cheung
Director: Kar Wai Wong
Certificate:
In ancient China, on the edge of a vast desert, swordsman Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung) lives the life of a vagabond, controlling a network of deadly assassins. Pitiless and cynical, his heart has long been wounded by a love he neglected then lost. But as seasons, friends and enemies come and go, he ..read more »
52%
from 344 members
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Clean
on DVD
(2005)
Starring: Maggie Cheung, Mary Moulds, Nick Nolte
Director: Olivier Assayas
Certificate:
Awarded the Best Actress Award at the 2004 Festival de Cannes for her performance, Maggie Cheung (In the Mood for Love, 2046) stars as the conflicted and confused Emily Wang in writer/director Olivier Assayas’ film.
Her past riddled with drug use, crime and the recent death of her (once famous rock-..read more »
51%
from 1,330 member
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Hero - Blu-ray
(2002)
Starring: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung
Director: Yimou Zhang
Certificate: 
Set 2,000 years ago, during the time of the Warring States, when seven kingdoms were battling for dominance, and one leader--the king of Qin (Chen Dao Ming)--was determined to end up victorious and unite all of China as one nation. The proud king is forced to live trapped alone in his palace as a ..read more »
74%
from 919 members
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Hero
on DVD
(2002)
Starring: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung
Director: Yimou Zhang
Certificate:
Jet Li stars in this Academy Award-nominated martial-arts masterpiece takes place amidst the turmoil of China's "Warring States" period. An orphan fighter (Jet Li) presents himself to an avaricious king, bearing the weapons of three assassins (Donny Yen, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung) in exchange ..read more »
64%
from 56,011 members
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In the Mood for Love
on DVD
(2000)
Starring: Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Rebecca Pan
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
Certificate: 
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE centres around Chow Mo-Wan (Tony Leung) and Su Li-Zhen (Maggie Cheung), neighbors living in a crowded apartment building in 1962 Hong Kong. Both married to people who are always away, they spend many nights home alone. The two make each other's acquaintance and soon find that ..read more »
69%
from 12,543 members
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Chinese Box
(1997)
Starring: Jeremy Irons, Gong Li, Maggie Cheung
Director: Wayne Wang
Certificate: 
Watch now: Unavailable
John (Irons) is an English photojournalist who has spent over a decade in Hong Kong; his friend Jim (Blades) often crashes in his cramped apartment. John's unrequited love is Vivian (Gong Li) whom he aches for but has not the nerve to possess. Concurrent with England's transfer of Hong Kong back to ..read more »
53%
from 26 members
Currently unavailable
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Comrades - Almost a Love Story
(1996)
Starring: Leon Lai, Maggie Cheung
Director: Peter Chan
Certificate: 
Jun arrives in Hong Kong from mainland China, hoping to be able to earn enough money to marry his girlfriend back home. He meets the streetwise Qiao and they become friends. As friendship turns into love, problems develop, and although they seem meant for each other they somehow keep missing out.
70%
from 22 members
Currently unavailable
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Irma Vep
on DVD
(1994)
Starring: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Maggie Cheung, jean-Pierre Leaud
Director: Olivier Assayas
Certificate:
Written and directed by Olivier Assayas, Irma Vep tells the story of has-been French filmmaker René Vidal (Jean-Pierre Léaud). In an attempt to reinvigorate his career, Vidal decides to remake Les Vampires, the classic silent serial featuring the adventures of jewel thief Irma Vep. Playing herself, ..read more »
58%
from 691 members
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The Eagle Shooting Heroes
on DVD
(1993)
Starring: Leslie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Maggie Cheung
Director: Jeffrey Lau
Certificate:
Jeff Lau's film "The Eagle Shooting Heroes" is based upon the same famous Louis Cha novel as Wong Kar Wai's own "Ashes of Time", which was shot concurrently and shares much of the same star-studded cast. A complete subversion of the Wu Xia Pian martial arts genre, Lau's film is a wickedly funny ..read more »
59%
from 93 members
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Flying Dagger
on DVD
(1993)
Starring: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung, Jimmy Lin
Director: Kevin Chu
Certificate:
Bounty hunters The Han Brothers would be making good money tracking down criminals... except they keep getting beaten to the catch by the female duo the Two Witches. But when both camps want to catch the ultimate fugitive, they realize the only way to do it is to join forces. An inspired sense of ..read more »
48%
from 283 members
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Twin Dragons
on DVD
(1992)
Starring: Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Teddy Robin Kwan
Director: Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
It is a tradition in the Hong Kong film community for actors and directors to donate their time and the profits from a film in order to raise funds for various causes. TWIN DRAGONS was part of an effort of the Hong Kong Directors Guild to build a new headquarters. Ringo Lam and Hark Tsui split the ..read more »
61%
from 1,581 member
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New Dragon Gate Inn
(1992)
Starring: Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Bridget Lin
Director: Li Hui Min
Certificate:
This action-packed Hong Kong film, produced by Tsui Hark, is a clear predecessor of CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. In the movie, an evil eunuch warlord (Donnie Yen) conspires against the Ming Dynasty and meets his match in the form of a motley band of acrobatic warriors led by the rebel Chow (Tony ..read more »
60%
from 811 members
Not currently released
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Dragon From Russia
on DVD
(1990)
Starring: Sam Hui, Maggie Cheung, Nina Li Chi
Director: Clarence Ford
Certificate:
Two lifelong friends, after having grown up together as orphans, are separated when one is abducted and reprogrammed by a cult of kung-fu fighting madmen. Undeterred, his chum (Maggie Cheung) risks certain death to save her pal--before his training as a mindless killer is complete. Based on the ..read more »
48%
from 240 members
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Days of Being Wild
on DVD
(1990)
Starring: Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau
Director: Wong Kar-Wai, Kar Wai Wong
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Set in 1960, the film centres on the young, boyishly handsome Yuddy, who learns from the drunken ex-prostitute who raised him that she is not his real mother. Hoping to hold onto him, she refuses to divulge the name of his real birth mother. The revelation shakes Yuddy to his very core, unleashing ..read more »
62%
from 1,646 member
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Police Story 2
on DVD
(1989)
Starring: Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Kenny Ho
Director: Jackie Chan
Certificate:
Like a cross between Buster Keaton and a blender, Jackie Chan is back in the second installment of the POLICE STORY series. This time Kevin (Chan) must once again face the mobster he caught in the first film--and the criminal's not too happy about his jail time. POLICE STORY 2 also stars Maggie ..read more »
69%
from 2,943 members
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As Tears Go By
on DVD
(1988)
Starring: Andy Lau, Maggie Cheung, Jacky Cheung
Director: Wong Kar-Wai, Kar Wai Wong
Certificate:
Watch now: Included in all packages with LOVEFiLM Instant
Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-wai makes his feature film debut with this gritty romantic crime-drama inspired by Scorsese's Mean Streets. The film opens with young gangster Wah (Andy Lau) getting a visit for the day from his beautiful cousin Ah-Ngor (Maggie Cheung), who is coming into Kowloon from the ..read more »
58%
from 959 members
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Project A - Part 2
(1987)
Starring: Jackie Chan, Rosamund Kwan, Maggie Cheung
Director: Jackie Chan
Certificate:
Jackie Chan finds a new set of adventures as Dragon Ma, the only good cop in turn-of-the-20th-century Hong Kong. This time he's assigned to clean up corruption in a local town while getting involved with a band of rebels. Chan wrote, directed, and stars in this exciting mix of action and comedy.
68%
from 1,853 member
Not currently released
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Police Story
(1985)
Starring: Jackie Chan, Bridget Lin, Maggie Cheung
Director: Jackie Chan
Certificate:
In Jackie Chan's POLICE STORY, Kevin (Chan), a heroic cop with the Hong Kong Police Department, is assigned to guard a key witness in the trial of a mobster he single-handedly captured. But the tables are turned when Kevin is duped by the comely witness. The drug boss is then released for lack of ..read more »
69%
from 4,484 members
Not currently released
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Green Snake
Starring: Maggie Cheung
Director: Tsui Hark
Certificate:
A vibrant fantasy set during the Southern Sung Dynasty about a monk who sets out to rid the world of evil spirits. He encounters "Green Snake," a spirit who takes the guise of a beautiful woman in order to benefit mankind.
51%
from 181 members
Currently unavailable
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Maggie Cheung facts
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...lly, remake of King Hu's 1966 film. The plot is a tad confusing but let me try. Maggie Cheung (sigh) owns the Dragon Gate inn, in the middle of the desert. For some reason b...
