Do we like Tony Leung Ka-fai?
Our score: 6 out of 10. Plenty of talent and a clean-looking record, but one contested political moment and a thin public file keep this in the middle.
First, the mix-up. This is Tony Leung Ka-fai, nicknamed Big Tony, not Tony Leung Chiu-wai of Wong Kar-wai fame. Plenty of the gay-cinema glory and Venice lifetime-award coverage that comes up under 'Tony Leung' belongs to the other bloke, so don't credit one with the other's CV.
The reason he's in the news: in April 2026 he took Best Actor at the 44th Hong Kong Film Awards for playing the villain in The Shadow's Edge. It was his fifth win in the category, which puts him second on the all-time list behind Tony Leung Chiu-wai, who has six. Reporting on the night carried no speech quotes, so we can't tell you what he said on stage.
The one stoush on his record is political. On 30 June 2019 he turned up to a Hong Kong rally backing the police, amid the extradition-bill protests, and posed with a sign reading “Support the Police”. He didn't speak, and the reports we read carried no statement from him.
Fans were cross. Oriental Daily reported they condemned his appearance online and some said they'd stop watching his films. Separately, Sin Chew Daily reported that his film Midnight Diner was approved for screening two days after the rally; netizens alleged a link, but no official or Leung was quoted and nothing confirms it.
On the harm test, that's the lot. We found no remarks from him about LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants, vaccines or climate, and no run of films with people who push harm. Where you land on the rally depends on whether you read it as a show of support for officers or as backing a force protesters were angry with.
On the good-person side the file is thin. No court cases, lawsuits or credible allegations against him turned up in what we read, but we also found no charity work to point to. That's honestly the whole list, and it's why he lands mid-table rather than higher.