Raymond Lam (;
Jyutping
The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme, also known as Jyutping, is a romanisation system for Cantonese developed in 1993 by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK).
The name ''Jyutping'' (itself the Jyutping ro ...
: lam4 fung1; born 8 December 1979) is a
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
actor and singer who is best known for roles in the television dramas ''
A Step into the Past'', ''
Twin of Brothers'', ''
Moonlight Resonance'', ''
Highs and Lows'' and ''
Line Walker'' and was dubbed the King of Chok after his role in ''
The Mysteries of Love''.
Early years
Raymond Lam was born in
Xiamen, China, on 8 December 1979, but moved to Hong Kong at the age of 2. His father, Lam Kwok-Wah (林國華), is a real-estate property developer in the mainland referred to as "Xiamen's Li Ka-shing" (廈門李嘉誠; ) who sits on the board of seven real estate and construction companies.
While his first languages are Cantonese and
Hokkien
Hokkien ( , ) is a Varieties of Chinese, variety of the Southern Min group of Chinese language, Chinese languages. Native to and originating from the Minnan region in the southeastern part of Fujian in southeastern China, it is also referred ...
, Lam studied in
Kiangsu and Chekiang Primary School, a primarily Mandarin-speaking primary school in pre-
Handover Hong Kong and is thus also fluent in Mandarin and English. Raymond Lam's childhood dream was to become a professional singer and dancer. He studied in
St. Paul's College, Hong Kong for Secondary School. Following that, he studied
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
in
Xiamen University for 1st Year, and then completed the rest at
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
, majoring in architecture and minoring in music.
Career
Success in Hong Kong
Lam attended the 13th TVB artists training class in 1998 as an auditing student and was offered a contract with TVB upon graduation in September 1998. In the earlier part of his career, Lam appeared as a walk-on in numerous television series and as a host for TVB8.
Lam rose to fame for his portrayal of the ruthless
Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang (, ; February 25912 July 210 BC), born Ying Zheng () or Zhao Zheng (), was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of China. He is widely regarded as the first ever supreme leader of a unitary state, unitary d ...
in the historical/science fiction drama ''
A Step into the Past'' (2001). He was then offered his first lead role in ''
Eternal Happiness'' (2002). In 2003, Lam won the
TVB Anniversary Award for "Most Improved Male Artiste" for his performance in the legal drama, ''
Survivor's Law''.
In 2004, Lam gained fame in China for his role as Kou Chong in ''
Twin of Brothers'', and won several awards.
After a one-year hiatus in 2005 due to inner conflicts in TVB, Lam made his comeback in ''
La Femme Desperado'' (2006), which became the highest rated drama of the year.
In 2007, Lam was cast in ''
The Drive of Life'', a grand production by TVB to commemorate the 10th anniversary of
Hong Kong reunification.
The following year, Lam returned to star in the ''
Moonlight Resonance'', the sequel to ''Heart of Greed''. The series was met with critical acclaim, and subsequently became the highest rated Hong Kong drama since 1991.
Also in 2008, Lam starred in the wuxia drama ''
The Four''. His portrayal of the character "Wu Qing" was met with critical acclaim from fans of the original novel by
Woon Swee Oan. This was followed by a starring role in the martial arts series ''
The Master of Tai Chi'', for which he won "Best Actor" at the
Asian Television Awards
The Asian Television Awards, founded in 1996, is an appreciation to recognize and reward programming and production excellence in the Asian television industry. Held every December, it comprises 56 categories across news, documentaries and curre ...
.
In 2010, Lam starred in ''
The Mysteries of Love'', where he portrayed a genius
physics professor. Lam's portrayal of a professor was described by audience using the slang word "Chok", which means "cool or handsome, to the point of electrifying". Lam stated that he thinks the word means "professional/serious" instead. Subsequently, the term went viral and Lam was named as the "King of Chok".
The same year, Lam also made his foray into films, starring in ''
Perfect Wedding'' with
Miriam Yeung
Miriam Yeung Chin-wah (born 3 February 1974) is a Hong Kong singer and actress. As of 2020, she has released more than 35 albums and has starred in more than 40 films. In 2012, Yeung won the Award for Best Actress at the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awar ...
and ''
The Jade and the Pearl'' with
Charlene Choi
Charlene Choi Tsoek-jin ( zh, link=no, t=蔡卓妍; born 22 November 1982) is a Hong Kong and Canadian actress and singer. She is a member of Hong Kong pop duo Twins (group), Twins, along with Gillian Chung.
Early life
Choi was born in Vancouv ...
.
Breaking into China
In 2011, Lam starred in the Chinese film ''
The Sorcerer and the White Snake'', portraying
Xu Xian. The film was one of the top 5 grossing Chinese films of the year, and Lam was ranked on
Forbes
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...
China Celebrity List for the first time.
In 2012, Lam played a policeman for the first time in ''
Highs and Lows''. ''High and Lows'' was the most watched Hong Kong drama in China that year, and Lam won "Best Actor" at the
Huading Awards. The same year, Lam starred in the comedy film, ''Love Is...Pyjamas''. The same year, he took on the role of
Zhuge Liang
Zhuge Liang () (181September or October 234), also commonly known by his courtesy name Kongming, was a Chinese statesman, strategist, and inventor who lived through the End of the Han dynasty, end of the Eastern Han dynasty ( 184–220) and t ...
in the time-travel historical drama, ''
Three Kingdoms RPG''.
In 2013, Lam starred in ''
Saving General Yang'', portraying the fifth son Yang Yande. He also headlined the horror film, ''Baby Blues''. On the small screen, he starred in historical drama, ''Loved in the Purple''.
In 2014, he portrayed
Han Wudi in the drama ''
The Virtuous Queen of Han'', which won him the "Top 10 Most Popular Actor" award at the 9th Chinese TV Audience Festival. He also starred in the hit Hong Kong drama, ''
Line Walker'' (使徒行者). His character Sit Ka-keung "Bao Seed" was praised by critics for being the "soul/essence" of the drama. His onscreen partnership with
Charmaine Sheh was also favoured by viewers. He became a stronger contender for "Best Actor" award in 2014 TVB Anniversary Awards. Lam won the "Best Actor" award at the 15th
Huading Awards for his performance in both dramas.
In 2015, Lam portrayed
Lu Xiaofeng in the wuxia drama, ''Detectives and Doctors''. He is the fourth Chinese actor to portray the character, and was praised by critics for being the most outstanding Lu Xiaofeng.
In 2016, Lam starred in the wuxia drama, ''Six Doors'', acting as a constable detective. In 2017, Lam starred in the palace drama, ''Rule The World'', playing
Huang Taiji.
In 2018, Lam is set to star in ''The Legends of Monkey King'', playing the titular
Sun Wukong. He was also cast in the police procedural drama, ''Police Tactical Unit''.
In 2021, Lam starred as the main lead in Female-centered business drama, Star of Ocean.
Return to TVB
In 2018, Lam signed with Louis Koo’s (古天樂) management agency Sky High Entertainment.
In 2019, Raymond Lam announced he would be working with
TVB and The
Voice Entertainment Group (星夢娛樂) during the press conference of TVB Homecoming on 17 March 2019.
In 2020, Lam reprised his role as "Bao Seed" Sit Ka-keung in ''
Line Walker: Bull Fight'' (使徒行者3).
Music
Apart from his acting career, Lam also performed some of the theme songs for the television series he acted in. In 2007, Lam signed on with
EEG under its Music Plus Label, and released his debut album, ''
Finding Love in Memories'', on 23 November. The title track of the album served as one of the theme songs for
TVB's ''
The Drive of Life''.
On 10 September 2008, Lam released his second album ''
Your Love''. The album secured a double IFPI Platinum Award. A song from the album, ''Love With No Regrets'', became the theme song of ''
Moonlight Resonance'', and won many awards including the Gold Song award at the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award and Jade Solid Gold Awards Presentation.
In 2009, Lam released his third album ''
Let's Get Wet'' and stepped on the
Hong Kong Coliseum for his first concert, held on 17 and 18 June.
On 17 July 2010, Lam released his fourth album ''
Come 2 Me''.
On 4 March 2011, Lam released his first Mandarin album ''
First''. On 22 July 2011, Lam released his sixth album ''
LF'', which includes the hit single "CHOK".
The same year, Lam held his third concert, ''Light Up My Live'', which was also his first world tour.
In 2012, Lam continued his ''Light up my Live'' World Tour at other countries such as Macau and several cities in America.
On 17 August 2012, Lam released his seventh album ''
Self-Portrait
Self-portraits are Portrait painting, portraits artists make of themselves. Although self-portraits have been made since the earliest times, the practice of self-portraiture only gaining momentum in the Early Renaissance in the mid-15th century ...
''.
On 26 January 2013, Lam held his fourth concert and world tour, ''A Time 4 You'', with his eighth album of the same name released one day before the concert.
In 2016, Lam released his ninth album, ''Trap''. From 29 April until 1 May 2016, Lam held his fifth concert, ''Heart Attack LF Live In HK''.
Lam left
EEG in 2017 after contract expired.
Lam has signed with TVB’s record label, Voice Entertainment on 17 March 2019. Also, in 2020 will be Lam’s 20th debut anniversary, and he plans on doing a concert tour to commemorate it
On 20 May 2021, Weibo Starlight Awards 2020 ceremony was held online. The winners were all over the world, including Lam,
Louis Koo,
Takuya Kimura
is a Japanese actor, singer, and radio personality. He is regarded as a Japanese icon after achieving success as an actor. He was also a popular member of SMAP, one of the best-selling boy bands in Asia. In the media, he is known as a huge hea ...
and his two daughters,
Katy Perry
Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...
,
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
, etc.
In 2021, Lam has signed with Warner Music.
In 2022, Lam joined the cast of reality tv show
Call Me by Fire (season 2) as a contestant.
Personal life
Lam married Carina Zhang, a Chinese model, in December 2019. They had a daughter in September 2020.
[ Sohu. 2020-09-26]
Filmography
Film
Television series
Variety show
Discography
Albums
Soundtracks
Awards
Acting awards
TVB Anniversary Awards
TVB Star Awards Malaysia
StarHub TVB Awards
Huading Awards
"Next" Magazine TV Awards
Music awards
Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards
RTHK Top 10 Gold Songs Awards
Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards () is one of the main C-pop music award in Hong Kong. The award is sponsored by RTHK. Beginning in 1978, it is the oldest major award in Hong Kong, even earlier than the Jade Solid Gold Awards. The ceremony is ...
IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music Award
Global Chinese Music Awards
China Music Awards
9+2 Music Pioneer Awards
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lam, Raymond
1979 births
20th-century Hong Kong male actors
21st-century Hong Kong male actors
21st-century Hong Kong male singers
Living people
Cantopop singers
Hong Kong male film actors
Hong Kong male singers
Hong Kong male television actors
Hong Kong male dancers
Hong Kong dancers
Male actors from Fujian
People from Xiamen
TVB veteran actors
Chinese male film actors
Chinese male television actors
Hong Kong idols
Warner Music Hong Kong artists
University of Southern California alumni