Kevin Cheng

Kevin Cheng (, born 15 August 1969) is a Hong Kong American actor and singer. Cheng rose to fame for his first lead role in the TVB drama Hard Fate. His other notable works include Ghetto Justice (2011) and Scarlet Heart (2011).

Early life Cheng was born in San Francisco, California, but spent most of his childhood in Hong Kong. He attended Pun U Association Wah Yah Primary School, Wah Yan College, the Hong Kong International School, and Alhambra High School in the United States. During his school days, his mother sent him back to China, where he lived with his uncle for two years before returning to Hong Kong after his mother changed her mind about migrating to the United States. He completed his high school education in Canada. He pursued a civil engineering degree at the California State University in Los Angeles, but did not finish his studies because his father died and he wanted to move back to Hong Kong to be with his mother.

Career

1993–2005 When Cheng was 16 years old, he participated in a singing contest organised by the Hong Kong television network TVB but dropped out halfway because he felt that he was not ready to be a singer at that time. Later, after he moved back to Hong Kong in his early 20s, he decided to continue his pursuit of a singing career. He signed a contract with the record label PolyGram in 1993 and released his first album in the same year to mixed reviews. He was seen as a newcomer with good potential and managed to win several Best New Artist awards in 1994. Cheng's manager later helped him launch his career in the Taiwanese entertainment industry.

Cheng was noticed by Mediacorp after he portrayed the villain "Jiang Yulang" in the 1999 Taiwanese television series The Legendary Siblings. He returned to Hong Kong and signed a management contract with TVB in the following year and started playing minor roles in some television series produced by the network. In 2004, he played a leading role for the first time in the TVB drama Hard Fate.

2006–2010

Cheng soared to popularity after portraying "Alan Shum" in the 2006 romantic drama Under the Canopy of Love, for which he also won the TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actor that year. His singing career also gradually improved after the Taiwanese musician Liu Chia-chang composed a single, "Helpless" (無可奈何), for him. In the same year, he also released a Cantonese compilations album and held his very first mini concert.

Cheng had another critical breakthrough role in the 2007 crime drama The Ultimate Crime Fighter, in which he played the villain "Aaren Chong" and earned glowing reviews for his performance. In the 2008 thriller-suspense drama Last One Standing, his portrayal of the ex-convict "Sing Hei" earned him further critical acclaim and widespread praise from viewers. He was also one of the top five nominees for the TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actor in 2008, but the award went to the veteran TVB actor Ha Yu.

2011-present In 2011, Cheng clinched the "Best Actor" award for his role in the legal drama Ghetto Justice at the 16th Asian Television Awards (ATA) as well as winning the Best Actor award at the 2011 TVB Anniversary Award.

In 2016, Cheng starred in the drama Blue Veins, in which he played the role of undead human and vampire hunter, Ying Wut-zoek, who had been given super powered immortals during 500 years ago.

In 2021, Cheng starred in the medical drama Kid's Lives Matter, for which he is placed among the top 5 nominees for the Best Actor at the 2021 TVB Anniversary Award.

Personal life On 12 August 2018, Cheng married his girlfriend of three years, actress and Miss Hong Kong 2013 Grace Chan, in Bali, Indonesia. The couple have three sons born in 2019, 2020 and 2023.

Filmography

Films Year Title Role Notes 1993 The Tigers – The Legend of Canton廣東五虎之鐵拳無敵孫中山 Rickshaw Puller 1995 Hong Kong Graffiti香江花月夜 Kelvin Cheung 1996 Boy's?假男假女 Jaffee 2001 Fing's RaverFing頭K王之王 2003 Twilight Tubes Part III不可思議星期二(第三輯) 2004 Instant Marriage新婚告急 2007 Super Fans甜心粉絲王 Yee-cheng Wonder Women女人．本色 Dr Yim Hok-fung 2010 72 Tenants of Prosperity七十二家房客 Firefighter guest star 2011 The Woman Knight of Mirror Lake競雄女俠秋瑾 Wang Tingjun 2013 Ip Man: The Final Fight葉問-終極一戰 Ip Man (young) Badges of Fury不二神探 Lee Tin-chi cameo 2016 Poor Rich Dad 2018 Super App Lucid Dreams L Storm Ching Tak-ming Master Z: The Ip Man Legacy叶问外传：张天志 Tso Sai Kit 2019 P Storm Ching Tak-ming The Invincible Dragon Tso 2021 G Storm G風暴 Ching Tak-ming 2022 Burning 焚身

Television dramas

Discography

Albums Year Album title Notes 1993 Kevin 鄭嘉穎 Self-titled Debut Album 1994 全因身邊有 2006 Kevin 鄭嘉穎新曲加精選 Compilation + New Songs 2013 說來話長 Mandarin Album

TVB drama songs Year Song title Drama Notes 2005 與朋友共 (With Friends) Yummy Yummy duet with Raymond Lam 2005 三角兩面 (Three Corners With Two Sides) Yummy Yummy 2006 愛平凡 (Love Ordinary) Trimming Success 2006 請講 (Please Say) Under the Canopy of Love duet with Niki Chow 2007 活得寫意 (Live an Enjoyable Life) Life Art 2007 強劍 (Sacred Sword) Devil's Disciples duet with Bosco Wong 2008 最美麗的第七天 (The Most Beautiful Seventh Day) The Seventh Day 2008 抱著空氣 (Embracing the Air) The Seventh Day duet with Niki Chow 2009 有意 (Intentions) Burning Flame III duet with Myolie Wu 2010 雪下思 (Thinking Under Snow) A Fistful of Stances 2012 一擊即中 (One-Shot Hit) Gloves Come Off

Others Year Song title Notes 2006 Put Your Hands Up 2006 World Cup Theme, performed with Raymond Lam, Ron Ng and Bosco Wong

Awards

TVB Anniversary Awards Won Year Award Performance Notes 2006 Best Actor in a Leading Role "Alan Shum Long" in Under the Canopy of Love 2011 Best Actor in a Leading Role "Law Lik-ah" in Ghetto Justice 2011 My Favourite Male Character "Law Lik-ah" in Ghetto Justice 2011 TVB.COM Popularity Award

Nominated Year Nomination Performance Notes 2004 My Favourite Male Character "Kent Leung Ka-Ming" in Hard Fate 2006 Best Actor in a Leading Role "Alan Shum Long" in Under the Canopy of Love 2006 My Favourite Male Character "Alan Shum Long" in Under the Canopy of Love 2006 Most Improved Actor Nomination 2007 Best Actor in a Leading Role "Ging Lui" in Devil's Disciples 2007 My Favourite Male Character "Aaren Ching Man-Hei" in The Ultimate Crime Fighter 2008 Best Actor in a Leading Role "Cheung Sing-Hei" in Last One Standing 2008 My Favourite Male Character "Cheung Sing-Hei" in Last One Standing 2008 Most Fashionable Charming Artist 2009 Best Actor in a Leading Role "Rex Cheuk Pak-Yu" in Burning Flames III 2009 My Favourite Male Character "Ko Hing-Yeung" in Beyond the Realm of Conscience 2011 My Favourite Male Character "Law Lik-ah" in Ghetto Justice 2011 Best Actor in a Leading Role "Law Lik-ah" in Ghetto Justice 2011 TVB.COM Popularity Award

Others Year Award Notes 1994 Metro Radio Golden Song Awards – Best New Artist 1994 TVB Jade Solid Gold Music Awards – Most Popular Newcomer (silver) 1994 RTHK Top 10 Chinese Song Awards – Most Promising Newcomer (bronze) 1994 Commercial Radio Music Awards – Best New Artist (gold) 2003 Men's Uno – Stylish Actor 2004 Hong Kong Designer Awards – Top 10 Best Dressed People 2005 Malaysia Astro Wah Lai Toi Awards – Favourite Character (Leung Ka-ming in Hard Fate) 2006 TVB Magazine Popularity Awards – Top 10 Most Popular TV Character (Alan in Under the Canopy of Love) 2006 TVB Magazine Popularity Awards – Most Popular Magazine Cover (with Niki Chow) 2006 Jessica Magazine – Extraordinary Charm 2006 TVB Children Song Awards – Top 10 Children Songs & Children Songs Gold Award for Keroro (军曹) 2006 TVB Jade Solid Gold Best Songs Round 2 – Most Popular Mandarin Song for Helpless (無可奈何) 2006 TVB8 Gold Songs 2006 4th Quarter Selections – Gold Song for Helpless (無可奈何) 2006 TVB 39th Anniversary Awards – Best Actor in a Leading Role (Alan in Under the Canopy of Love) 2007 Malaysia Astro Wah Lai Toi Awards – Favourite Character (Chan Ka-lok in Yummy Yummy) 2007 Hong Kong Media Top 10 Artist Awards – 4th Place 2007 Hong Kong Media Top 10 TV Program Awards – 9th Place (Under the Canopy of Love) 2008 Malaysia Astro Wah Lai Toi Awards – Favourite Character (Alan in Under the Canopy of Love) 2008 Malaysia Astro Wah Lai Toi Awards – Favourite Theme Song (請講 from Under the Canopy of Love) 2008 Malaysia Astro Wah Lai Toi Awards – Favourite On-Screen Couple (Kevin Cheng and Niki Chow) 2011 My Astro on Demand Awards – Best Actor (Ghetto Justice) 2011 My Astro on Demand Awards – My Top 15 Favourite Characters (Law Lik-ah in Ghetto Justice) 2011 Asian Television Awards 2011 – Best Actor in a Leading Role (Law Lik-ah in Ghetto Justice) 2011 Beijing's TV Drama Awards Made in China 2011 – Most Popular Network Actor of the Year Award (Ghetto Justice)