Do we like Andy Lau?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Decades of charity work and no harmful words found, held back by one politically contested song row and no record either way on LGBTQ+ issues.
Andy Lau is the Hong Kong entertainment machine in one person. He began in TVB's actor training programme in 1981 and had his first leading role by 20. He has since made over 160 films, put out more than 100 albums, and picked up three Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actor, per his university's citation.
The harm check first. Searching his name against LGBTQ+ issues, women, migrants, vaccines and climate turned up no harmful statements, no campaigning and no dodgy company. I also couldn't find him speaking up for LGBTQ+ people, or on climate, so that part of his record is silent, not good. That's the honest gap.
His one proper political stoush was in Taiwan in late 2024. He sang the 1997 song “Chinese People” on tour, and Taiwanese legislator Wang Ting-yu, of the DPP, called him a “pro-Communist Party artiste” and slammed the stage design. Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office accused Taiwanese politicians of political manipulation, while a KMT legislator said to “let music be music”. The same song went down at his 2013 Taipei show without an outcry, so where you land depends on whether you read it as politics or just a setlist.
Back in 2014, as the Hong Kong protests ran, Lau posted to fans urging protesters not to be swayed by people sowing discord. He called for “no tear gas, no violence, no abuse”. Supporters read that as a plea for peace; others wanted him to say more, and that reading is yours to make.
On the court side, the only decided case we found is old and civil. Taiwanese airline Daily Air sued over a helicopter damaged during a 1997 film stunt. In 2014 a Taiwan court ordered him to pay NT$2.67 million, after finding him partly responsible but saying the pilot should have kept passengers out of the cockpit. That's an accident bill, not a character flaw.
The good stuff is the real stuff. He set up the Andy Lau Charity Foundation in 1994. His university lists donations to disaster relief, funding schooling for children in poor areas of mainland China and particular concern for people with disabilities. The university president praised his “humility and enthusiasm in giving back to the community”, and director Wong Jing says Lau knocked back Hollywood roles he judged demeaning to Chinese people.