One of the most well-known Hong Kong actresses of the 21st century, Cecilia Cheung Pak-chi’s trajectory in show business has taken many unexpected twists since her debut at the age of 18. The past 26 years have seen Cheung win two Hong Kong Film Awards, dabble in singing, survive various family-, work- and sex-related scandals, take long breaks for motherhood and subsequently become “box office poison”. Born on May 24, 1980 to a 19-year-old half-Chinese, half-British mother and a father from Hong Kong who was, for decades, a triad member, Cheung’s childhood was far from ideal.
It was her mother’s second marriage and her gambler father was often in debt, causing them to move frequently. “It’s not like we didn’t have good times,” Cheung recently reminisced on a Chinese talk show, “but the good times never lasted long.” Her parents divorced when she was nine and both had children with other partners.
In a 1999 interview with the Post, she said: “I don’t trust men very much.” She also said she loved her mother “very much” and that she would “take care of her no matter how and in whatever circumstances”. She did not have to spend all of her adolescence coping with her chaotic family situation in Hong Kong.
As a teenager, she spent about five years in Melbourne, Australia, where she went to a grammar school and then a technical college. The following year, Cheung was named best new performer at the 19th Hong Kong Film Awards for her role in the r.
