Chapman To (, born 8 June 1972), born Edward Ng Cheuk-cheung (), 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 The Diocesan Boys' School (DBS) is a day and boarding Anglican boys' school in Hong Kong, located at 131 Argyle Street, Hong Kong, Argyle Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon. The school's mission is "to provide a liberal education based on Christianity ...

. His stage name was adapted from the horse "Chapman River" () due to his previous hobby of horse betting. 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 Commercial broadcasting (also called private broadcasting) is the broadcasting of television programs and radio programming by privately owned corporate media, as opposed to state sponsorship, for example. It was the United States' first model ...

2(CR2). He hosted the show, ''On a Clear Day'' (在晴朗的一天出發), a 2-hour morning show 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 Cantopop (a contraction of "Cantonese pop music") is a genre of pop music sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production and consumption. The genre began in the 1970s and became associated with Hon ...

singer Prudence Liew's album '' Love Addict''. To stated that this was the first time he was paid for his photography work. On 3 August 2018, he founded a multimedia platform called "Chapman To's Late Show" (). 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 its satirical way of presenting current issues, it was widely praised by Hong Kong's netizens. In 2020, To announced that the platform would be pulling out of

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

, and subsequently established a paid platform a
lateshow.net
with the subscription fee being HK$60 per month and VIP subscription HK$600 per year; 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 in its shows.

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. To criticised the Chinese government and proudly stated to netizens to "Stop me from coming to the mainland if you've got guts." Chinese audiences reacted and To's first two movies after the incident, '' Let Go for Love'' and ''

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

'', flopped at the Chinese box office. 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. Exiled from the lucrative Chinese market, To focused on Malaysia and Singapore. 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.

Filmography

Television

Film

*'' Moonlight in Tokyo'' (2005) – Hoi ** Nominated - Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor * '' Wait 'Til You're Older'' (2005) – Policeman * '' Initial D'' (2005) – Itsuki Tachibana * '' Colour of the Loyalty'' (2005) * '' Confession of Pain'' (2006) – Inspector Tsui Wing Kwong * '' A Melody Looking'' (2006) – Chapman * '' Isabella'' (2006) – Shing ** Nominated -

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

Best Supporting Actor Award * '' Trivial Matters'' (2007) * '' Simply Actors'' (2007) – Crazy Sam * '' Lady Cop & Papa Crook'' (2008) * '' True Women for Sale'' (2008) * '' Parking'' (2008) * ''

Home Run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

'' (2008) * ''

Rebellion Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

'' (2009) – Blackie * '' Ex'' (2010) Entered into the 2010

Hong Kong International Film Festival The Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) is one of Asia's oldest international film festivals. Founded in 1976, the festival features different movies and filmmakers from different countries, and takes place in Hong Kong. HKIFF screens ...

* '' Once a Gangster'' (2010) (writer) * '' Triple Tap'' (2010) * '' La Comédie humaine'' (2010) Entered into the 2010

* '' The Jade and the Pearl'' (2010) – Eunuch Yeung * '' Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen'' (2010) – Inspector Huang Haolong (voice) * '' Who's the Hero'' (2010) (TV series) * '' The Kidnap'' (2010) * '' All's Well, Ends Well 2011'' (2011) * '' Mr. and Mrs. Incredible'' (2011) * '' Eternal Moment'' (2011) * '' Men Suddenly in Love'' (2011) * '' Hi, Fidelity'' (2011) * '' Love in Space'' (2011) * '' A Simple Life'' (2011) * '' The Sorcerer and the White Snake'' (2011) * '' A Big Deal'' (2011) * '' Turning Point 2'' (2011) * '' All's Well, Ends Well 2012'' (2012) * '' Mr. and Mrs. Gambler'' (2012) * '' Marry a Perfect Man'' (2012) * '' Love Lifting'' (2012) * '' The Bounty'' (2012) * '' Vulgaria'' (2012) ** Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor ** Nominated - Golden Horse Award for Best Actor * ''Diva'' (2012) ** Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor ** Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor ** Nominated - Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor * ''Bring Happiness Home'' (2013) * '' Hotel Deluxe'' (2013) * ''The Wedding Diary 2'' (2013) * '' SDU: Sex Duties Unit'' (2013) * '' The Midas Touch'' (2013) * ''Mr. and Mrs. Player'' (2013) * '' Hello Babies'' (2014) * '' Golden Chicken 3'' (2014) * '' From Vegas to Macau'' (2014) * ''

Black Comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

'' (2014) * '' Naked Ambition 2'' (2014) * '' Let Go for Love'' (2014) * ''

'' (2014) * '' Flirting in the Air'' (2014) * '' King of Mahjong'' (2015) * '' Sara'' (2015) (as producer only) * ''Impossible'' (2015) * '' The Mobfathers'' (2015) * '' Let's Eat!'' (2016) * ''The Empty Hands'' (2017) * '' G Affairs'' (2019)

References

External links

Official Blog of Chapman To
* *
Chapman To Man Chat
at the Hong Kong Cinemagic
Chapman To
at LoveHKFilm {{DEFAULTSORT:To, Chapman 1972 births Living people Hong Kong Buddhists Hong Kong Taoists Hong Kong male television actors Hong Kong radio presenters Converts to Buddhism from Christianity 20th-century Hong Kong male actors 21st-century Hong Kong male actors Hong Kong male film actors Hong Kong expatriates in Malaysia Naturalized citizens of Taiwan Hong Kong emigrants to Taiwan People educated at Diocesan Boys' School