Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Tony Leung Once Told Maggie Cheung To “Go Home” After Scolding Her For Not Knowing How To Act

He was definitely not in the mood... to deal with a rookie actress.

He was definitely not in the mood... to deal with a rookie actress.

He was definitely not in the mood... to deal with a rookie actress.

Hongkong actress — or should we say former actress? — Maggie Cheung may be a goddess of Asian cinema, but even she had a rocky start to her showbiz career.

When she was about 19 years old, Maggie, fresh from placing second in the Miss Hongkong pageant the year before, worked with Tony Leung for the very first time in Police Cadet ‘84 — 16 years before their iconic collaboration in In the Mood for Love.

However, Tony, who already had a few more years of acting experience, was definitely not in the mood to deal with a newbie.

1 of 3 Blast from the past: Tony and Maggie in Police Cadet ‘84

According to reports, Tony, then 21 or 22, had trouble getting used to rookie Maggie’s very green way of doing things, and allegedly once told her off by saying, “You don’t know how to act, go home.”

Instead of being discouraged by his surprisingly harsh words, Maggie was motivated to work hard and improve her acting skills.

Her efforts paid off and a few years later, she picked up her first Best Actress trophy at the 1989 Golden Horse Awards for her role in Full Moon in New York.

2 of 3 The power of Tony’s criticism (Photo: China Times)

Tony, 58, and Maggie, 56, also went on to star in many more shows together, including Days of Being Wild, The Eagle Shooting Heroes, Hero, and Ashes of Time.

And we presume there were no more instances of the former scolding the latter for a substandard performance.

Photos: China Times, IMDb

Related topics

Tony Leung Maggie Cheung

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.