Sean Lau

Sean Lau Ching-wan (born 16 February 1964) is a Hong Kong actor. He is best known for starring in the films C'est la vie, mon chéri, My Name Is Fame (2006), Mad Detective (2007), Overheard film series (2009–2014), and Life Without Principle (2011), for which he won the Golden Horse Award for Best Leading Actor. For his performance in Detective vs Sleuths (2022), he won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor. In 2025, he won a Hong Kong Film Award, a Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award, an Asian Film Award and an Asia Pacific Screen Award for his performance in Papa (2024).

Career Lau was born in Hong Kong in 1964. He joined the TVB acting classes in 1983 and made his first appearance on television in the following year in the drama Draw Out the Rainbow. Dark-skinned with no matinee-idol look, he struggled with minor roles until the immensely popular stock market drama The Greed of Man (1992), where he first achieved his leading man status, and acted opposite Adam Cheng. His wife, Amy Kwok, who won the Miss Hong Kong Pageant in 1991, is also a well-known former television actress and co-starred with him on The Greed of Man. Lau starred in two series with ATV in 1991 and again in 2000.

Lau made his film debut in 1986 and since then has been cast in numerous roles. His critically acclaimed roles include acting opposite Anita Yuen as a down-and-out musician in C'est la vie, mon chéri (1993) and in a number of cop thrillers such as Big Bullet (1996), Full Alert (1997), The Longest Nite (1998), Running out of Time (1999), Running Out of Time 2 (2001) and Mad Detective (2007).

Lau is known for his versatility as an actor, having acted in a variety of genres.

Lau joined Milkyway Image production house in the mid-1990s.

Personal life Lau is married to Miss Hong Kong 1991, Amy Kwok Oi Ming.

Filmography

Film

Television series Year English title Original title Role Network Notes 1983 Woman on the Beat 警花出更 TVB Jade Bit part Hong Kong '83 香港八三 TVB Jade Bit part The Man in the Middle 夾心人 TVB Jade Alternative title: Sandwiches Bit part 1984 The Fearless Duo 天師執位 TVB Jade Bit part The New Adventures of Chor Lau Heung 楚留香之蝙蝠傳奇 TVB Jade Bit part Rainbow Round My Shoulder 畫出彩虹 Law Ka-kan TVB Jade Police Cadet '84 新紮師兄 Ngai-fung / Fit Lo TVB Jade Qiu Jin: A Woman to Remember 秋瑾 Yeung Hok-ling TVB Jade It's a Long Way Home 家有嬌妻 Dang Hin-coeng TVB Jade The Smiling, Proud Wanderer 笑傲江湖 Mai Wai-ji TVB Jade The Duke of Mount Deer 鹿鼎記 Wan Yau-fong TVB Jade 1985 Take Care, Your Highness! 皇上保重 Chiu Nam-sing TVB Jade The Fallen Family 武林世家 TVB Jade The Pit Fall 種計 TVB Jade Police Cadet '85 新紮師兄續集 Ngai-fung / Fit Lo TVB Jade The Battle Among the Clans 大香港 Lam Cho TVB Jade 1986 Movie Maze 銀色旅途 TVB Jade Destined to Rebel 薛剛反唐 TVB Jade The Superlative Affections 赤腳紳士 TVB Jade 1987 Genghis Khan 成吉思汗 Chilaun TVB Jade When Silken Hands Get Rough 靜待黎明 TVB Jade The Grand Canal 大運河 TVB Jade Born to Be a King 大明群英 TVB Jade The Dragon Sword 天龍神劍 TVB Jade The Runaway 血網迷情 TVB Jade 1988 Twilight of a Nation 太平天國 Siu Chiu-kwai TVB Jade The Story of Two Women 藍色時份 TVB Jade And Yet We Live 當代男兒 TVB Jade 1989 The Shanghai Conspiracy 上海大風暴 TVB Jade The Fatal Game 遊戲邊緣 Mike TVB Jade My Son-In-Law 婆媽女婿 TVB Jade 1990 It Runs in the Family 孖仔孖心肝 TVB Jade A Time of Taste 燃燒歲月 TVB Jade A World Apart 水鄉危情 TVB Jade The Challenge of Life 人在邊緣 TVB Jade 1991 Heartbreak Blues 與郎共舞 TVB Jade Generation Empress 一代皇后大玉兒 Asia Television 1992 The Greed of Man 大時代 Fong Chin-bok TVB Jade 2000 Divine Retribution 世紀之戰 Fong San-hap Asia Television

Dubbing Lau has also done voiceover work for films:

Host

Year Event Notes201635th Hong Kong Film AwardsMaster of ceremonies

Awards and nominations Lau has won Best Actor Awards at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards in 1997, 2001, 2011, 2014 and the Golden Bauhinia Awards in 1999 and 2007. He also won his first Best Actor award at the Hong Kong Film Awards in 2007 for his performance in the film My Name Is Fame. He won his first Golden Horse Award in 2012 for his performance in Life Without Principle.