Lee Byung-hun Profile

Name: Lee Byung-hun
DOB: July 12, 1970
Place of birth: Seoul, Korea
Height: 177cm
Blood type: O
Religion: Buddism
Family: Mother and younger sister
Language spoken: Korean, English and French
Education: Hanyang University (French literature)
Education: Graduate School of Joongang University (Theater and Cinematography)
Profession: Actor
Hobby: Travelling

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Lee Byung-hun Biography

Lee Byung-hun was signed by KBS in 1991 after passing their public audition test for new TV star. He made his debut in the same year, starring in TV drama Asphalt My Hometown.

Lee Byung-hun continued to star in some TV dramas, and was already quite popular when he made his movie debut in 1995 with Who Drives Me Mad?

Lee’s breakthrough probably came in 2000 with movie Joint Security Area, co-starring Song Kang-ho and Lee Young-ae. The movie was the highest grossing film in Korean history back then.

Lee Byung-hun then starred in movie Bungee Jumping of Their Own in early 2001. These 2 movies had won him multiple awards, including the prestigious Blue Dragon Award and Dae-jong Award.

Lee Byung-hun also achieved good results in TV dramas. Happy Together (1999) and Beautiful Life (2001) were popular in Korea; and later on built his international fame when the dramas were shown in other Asian countries.

Lee Byung-hun became one of the most talk-about stars in Asia for his love relationship with popular Korean actress Song Hye-kyo, his co-star in highly rated TV drama All In (2003). Their relationship ended in 2004.

Lee’s later movie like Everybody Has Secrets (2004) and A Bittersweet Life (2005) were quite well received as well.

Ken Watanabe Profile

Name: Ken Watanabe
DOB: October 21, 1959
Place of birth: Uonuma, Niigata prefecture, Japan
Profession: Actor

(Also credited as Watanabe Ken)

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Ken Watanabe Biography

Ken Watanabe was nominated for the Academy Awards in 2004 for the best supporting actor category in The Last Samurai, co-starring Tom Cruise.

Ken Watanabe moved to Tokyo to start his acting career after graduating from high school. He started gaining notice as a stage actor before making his TV debut with Michinaru Hanran (Unknown Rebellion) in 1982.

Ken Watanabe made his movie debut in 1984 in MacArthur’s Children.

Ken’s breakthrough came in 1987, portraying as a Samurai in TV drama Dokuganryu Masamune (One eyed dragon, Masamune). The drama is still one of the highest rated Samurai-related series in Japan history; and Ken became quite a star since then.

Ken’s acting career suffered a setback in 1989 when he was diagnosed with leukemia. He went into hiatus to undergo chemotherapy treatments, and only made his comeback in 1994, but suffered a relapse.

Ken Watanabe made another comeback in 1997 in award winning movie Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald. He then starred in Kizuna in 1998, which won him a Japanese Academy Awards for best supporting actor.

Ken Watanabe also managed to claim another 2 Japanese Academy Awards for best supporting actor in 2002 and 2003.

2003 also signalled Ken’s international breakthrough with The Last Samurai. He was nominated for multiple awards as best supporting actor. His popularity also led to his inclusion in People Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People 2004 edition.

Ken’s popularity continued to rise in Hollywood with popular movies like Memoirs of a Geisha, Batman Begins and Letters from Iwo Jima.

Zhang Yimou Profile

Name: Zhang Yimou
DOB: November 14, 1951
Place of birth: Xi’an, Shaanxi, China
Education: Beijing Film Academy (graduated in 1982)
Profession: Director

(Also credited as Zhang Yi Mou, Yimou Zhang)

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Zhang Yimou Biography

Zhang Yimou is internationally acclaimed Chinese director. His famous movies include Red Sorghum, Raise the Red Lantern, Hero and Curse of the Golden Flower etc.

Zhang Yimou is also credited for discovering famous Chinese actresses Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi.

Zhang Yimou started as a cinematographer after graduating from the prestigious Beijing Film Academy in 1982. Zhang was also an actor; he actually made his acting debut (Old Well in 1986) prior to his first directed movie Red Sorghum in 1987.

Red Sorghum was the debut for Gong Li as well; it was a great success and won the Golden Bear for Best Picture at the 1988 Berlin Film Festival. Zhang was recognized as one of the world best artistic directors since then.

Zhang Yimou continued to direct some great movies that won him numerous recognitions. His 1999 movie the road home was the breakthrough role for Zhang Ziyi.

Zhang Yimou also starred in a few other movies, including the acclaimed Fight and Love with a Terracotta Warrior in 1989.

Zhang made some significant change in 2002 with movie Hero; a huge-budget movie compared to his normal small productions. It’s also his first epic-like movie compared to his previous real-to-life movies.

Hero won mixed reviews, but was a great box-office success. Zhang made another 2 high profile epic movies with House of Flying Daggers in 2004 and Curse of the Golden Flower in 2006.

Zhang is appointed to film the official Beijing Olympic 2008 theme videos.

Jung Woo-sung Profile

Name: Jung Woo-sung
DOB: March 20, 1973
Place of birth: Seoul, Korea
Height: 186cm
Blood type: O
Profession: Actor

(Also credited as Jung Woo-seong, Jeong Woo-sung, Jeong Woo-seong)

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Jung Woo-sung Biography

Jung Woo-sung is one of the most popular Korean actor in Asia. Different from most other actors that made fame in TV drama, Jung Woo-sung is mostly a movie actor.

Some of his famous movies include Musa, A Moment to Remember, Daisy and The Restless.

Jung Woo-sung made his acting debut in 1994 in The Fox with Nine Tails. He starred in a few more movies before becoming a star with movie Beat in 1997.

Jung’s international breakthrough was in 2001 in Musa, co-starring international renowned Chinese star Zhang Ziyi. The movie wasn’t really a success considered of its production cost, but Asian audiences started to notice Jung Woo-sung.

Jung Woo-sung then starred in award winning movie A Moment to Remember alongside Son Ye-jin in 2005; and again caught the Asians’ attention in 2006 with Daisy, co-starring Jun Ji-hyun and directed by famous Hong Kong director Andrew Lau.

Jung Woo-sung also starred in 2006 big-budget movie The Restless with another Korean beauty Kim Tae-hee. The movie did win the acclaims from movie critics, but somehow performed poorly in box office.

Ken Hirai Profile

Name: Ken Hirai
Birth date: January 17, 1972
Birth place: Higashiosaka, Osaka prefecture, Japan
Height: 183cm
Blood type: A
Profession: Singer and songwriter

(Also credited as Hirai Ken)

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Ken Hirai Biography

Ken Hirai is popular Japanese R&B singer. He is one of Japan’s best selling singers in recent years.

Ken Hirai was signed by Sony Music in 1993 after a successful audition, and released his debut single, Precious Junk in 1995; followed by debut album Un-Balanced in the same year. Not superhit yet, but Ken was gaining a unique group of fans with his soulful voice.

Ken Hirai only released a few singles and another album in the 90s, while spending most of his time learning about music and improving his voice.

Ken’s effort paid off in early 2000s; his music was getting more and more popular and he finally got some #1 singles and sold millions of albums.

Ken’s compilation album 10th Anniversary Complete Single Collection ‘95-’05 was the best selling album of the year in 2006.

Hins Cheung Profile

Name: Hins Cheung
DOB: February 1, 1981
Place of birth: Guangzhou, China
Height: 175cm
Profession: Singer and songwriter

(Also credited as Cheung King Hin, Zhang Jing Xuan, Zhang Jingxuan)

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Hins Cheung Biography

Hins Cheung is well known in Hong Kong and China for his talent in both singing and song-writing.

Hins released his debut album, My Way in 2003; and gained immediate recognition in the music industry. It took Hins another 2 years to release his 2nd album, am/pm.

Hins released another 2 albums in 2006, namely Spring Summer Autumn Winter and Hins First Cantonese Album.

Buy Hins Cheung albums.

Aaron Kwok Profile

Name: Kwok Fu Shing, Aaron
DOB: October 26, 1965
Birth place: Hong Kong
Height: 171cm
Blood type: A
Education: St. Joseph High School
Profession: Actor, dancer and singer

(Also credited as Kwok Fu Sing, Guok Fu Sing, Kuok Fu Xing, Guo Fu Cheng, Guo Fucheng, Sing Sing)

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Aaron Kwok Biography

Aaron Kwok is Hong Kong famous artist. Aaron was mainly a singer since early 90s, but switches his focus into acting in recent years and is the winner of prestigious Golden Horse Best Actor Award twice in a role (2005 and 2006).

Aaron Kwok started working in a gold retail store after graduation as his father would him to gain experience to run their own small gold retail store.

However Aaron decided that it’s not the path he wanted, and he joined TVB dancing class in 1984, where his dancing talent was being nurtured and recognized.

Aaron Kwok soon started performing in TVB shows and music videos, and slowly gaining notice from TV audience for his dance and obviously his good looking as well.

Seeing his potential, TVB decided to transfer Aaron to acting department, where he was offered some acting chances.

Aaron’s breakthrough came in 1990 when he appeared in a Taiwan TV commercial for a motorcycle brand that gave him instant popularity in Taiwan. Soon he inked a recording deal and released his first Mandarin album, Dui Ni Ai Bu Wan (Can’t Stop Loving You).

Aaron’s debut album was a huge success, not just in Taiwan, but in Hong Kong and all across Asia as well. Aaron becomes a superstar and remained influence in Asia music arena for a decade or so.

Aaron’s music career reached bottleneck in early 2000s, and Aaron decided to switch his attention to acting instead. Aaron was already an experience actor back then but his acting career was not as splendid as his music.

For the past few years Aaron has been choosing his script and movie appearance carefully, so that he would star in good quality movies only.

Aaron’s effort paid off as he won the Golden Horse Best Actor Award in consecutive years (Divergence in 2005; After This Our Exile in 2006), and is recognized as one of Asia’s best actor at the moment.

Aaron Kwok has a quiet love life; he was previously linked with Japanese star Norika Fujiwara after their collaboration in movie China Strike Force in 2000. Aaron is currently in relationship with a Chinese supermodel, arguably his first official girlfriend since making his fame.

Aaron Kwok Trivia

Aaron Kwok is a fan of sports cars; he has a car collection of Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and Mercedes etc.

Bowie Lam Profile

Name: Lam Bo Yi, Bowie
DOB: September 4, 1965
Place of birth: Hong Kong
Height: 178cm
Blood type: B
Family members: Parents
Languages spoken: Cantonese, English and Mandarin
Profession: Actor and singer

(Also credited as Lam Bo Yee, Lin Bao Yi, Lin Baoyi)

Hobbies: Cars research and mini-models collecting
Favourite animals: Cat, dog and dolphin
Favourite colours: Blue and silver
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite musical instrument: Drum
Favourite sports: Jogging, tennis, swimming and diving
Favourite singer: Sting

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Bowie Lam Biography

Bowie Lam is Hong Kong famous TV actor. He starred in numerous popular TV drama including File of Justice and Healing Hands series.

Bowie Lam had an interesting profile before venturing into full-time entertainment career. He worked in numerous fields, including servicing in the police force for a short period of time.

Bowie Lam made his acting debut in 1986 with movie Kiss Me Goodbye. He continued to star in a few movies, and made his singing debut in 1989.

Bowie Lam however only achieved real star-hood after he joined TVB (Hong Kong largest TV network) in 1991. Bowie’s first major success was probably in 1992 TV drama, The Greed of Man, co-starring Sean Lau, Vivian Chow, Adam Cheng and Amy Kwok etc.

The Greed of Man is one of the best rated TVB’s dramas ever; and although Bowie was playing as supporting role, he managed to catch the eye of the audiences as well.

Bowie Lam continued to star in numerous TV drama, including popular series like Files of Justice (1994-1997), Untraceable Evidence (1997 and 1999) and Healing Hands (1998, 2000 and 2005).

Bowie’s defining role was in 2004 with the highly acclaimed drama War and Beauty, co-starring Sheren Tang, Gigi Lai, Charmaine Sheh and Moses Chan etc. War and Beauty was a huge success in Hong Kong and China; and Bowie Lam became hugely popular in Chinese region.

Bowie Lam is still singing after his debut album in 1989; he released a total of 6 albums to date but never really achieved great success in his musical career.