Hawick Lau was born in Hong Kong in 1974 and is the only son of an actor family. His father, Liu Dan, is a well-known actor in Hong Kong who has starred in many classic TV series. Growing up in such a family environment, Hawick Lau has had a strong interest and yearning for performing arts since he was a child.
When he was 12 years old, Liu Dan sent Hawick Lau to Canada for education. At that time, Liu Dan believed that his son should take the path of formal education, rather than follow in his footsteps and enter the entertainment industry.
However, Hawick Lau, who is in a foreign country, still goes his own way, and with his own musical talent, he won a Chinese singing competition in Canada at the age of 19.
In the eyes of his father Liu Dan, this is just childhood fun. Recalling his arduous journey of going abroad to perform, he believes that his son should study hard and get on the right track.
But for Hawick Lau, this has become an opportunity for him to enter the entertainment industry. did not gain his father's recognition and support, but pushed him to return to Hong Kong and find his own way.
In 1994, 20-year-old Hawick Lau passed layers of auditions and entered the TVB artist training class. Ironically, Liu Dan, who turned the tide and prevented his son from entering the industry, became his most important enlightenment teacher on the road of acting.
Under the care of Liu Dan, Hawick Lau began his career as an actor, but throughout his life, he could not really get out of his father's halo.
After years of painstaking operation, Hawick Lau has gradually gained a foothold in wireless, but he has never been able to really emerge. In the past ten years, he has starred in dozens of TV series from beginning to end, but without exception, Hawick Lau can only play supporting roles or play tricks.
Once upon a time, he also wanted to be a blockbuster and make the audience remember his name. But the innate aura has become the shackles that imprison him. Liu Dan's fame is too great, and under his backdrop, Hawick Lau's light has nowhere to fall.
Gradually, Hawick Lau became disappointed with his situation at this time. In 2005, when his contract expired, he decisively chose to leave his outstanding father and the familiar TVB, and went to nearby Singapore and Taiwan, China, to develop alone, hoping to find an opportunity to break through himself.
However, it backfired. In the years when he was begging for a life in a foreign land, Hawick Lau was still a trick that came and went in a hurry. The new environment and new partners did not make him change half a step.
Acting skills and strength are the key, but Hawick Lau, who has lost the shade of his father, is like a flat boat, ups and downs in the rivers and lakes of the entertainment industry.
After many unsuccessful encounters, he chose to return to Chinese mainland to develop. I always want to surpass my father Liu Dan, be reborn, and be a good actor in my own right.
Here, he wants to find a breakthrough and realize his dream.
In 2011, after several years of development in the mainland, Hawick Lau finally ushered in a turning point in his life. This year, he and the popular actress Yang Mi were fortunate to cooperate in the TV series "Ruyi", and the two soon had a hot fight on the set.
Maybe Yang Mi gave Hawick Lau confidence, or maybe Hawick Lau got rid of his supporting role fate for many years in order to please his sweetheart. This drama changed his long-dormant acting career in one fell swoop, and also allowed him to find true love.
Since his relationship with Yang Mi was made public, Hawick Lau's popularity has been soaring. He and Yang Mi have successively established their own studios and have collaborated on many performances, full of tacit understanding.
Under the protection of Yang Mi, Hawick Lau supervised a number of hit dramas and was successfully promoted to become a first-line actor.
In 2014, 40-year-old Hawick Lau finally married 28-year-old Yang Mi. After more than a year of marriage, he has been in the top 20 of the Forbes China Celebrity List for two consecutive years, and his career is in full swing, silencing everyone who once ridiculed him for being just "Liu Dan's son".
This period can be said to be Hawick Lau's most successful period from acting to the present. He relied on his own strength and was fortunate to meet the nobles of life. However, the good times did not last long, and the subsequent divorce hammer brought him back to the bottom, and also made Hawick Lau realize that he was just like that all these years - without Yang Mi's support, he was useless.
Divorce is not easy for anyone, let alone a star in the entertainment industry who was once in the limelight. At the end of 2018, Hawick Lau and Yang Mi's marriage ended in divorce, ending just 4 years of married life.
The two said in the divorce statement that it was a natural breakup, but public opinion at the time did not seem to buy it.
In the eyes of the public, this divorce marks the end of Hawick Lau's career. Sure enough, Hawick Lau's popularity plummeted after the divorce and gradually faded out of the public eye.
He participated in many entertainment variety shows, hoping to return to his past peak state, but all of them ended in failure.
The entertainment industry, which has been deeply rooted for many years, seems to have lost patience with him. At this point, Hawick Lau suddenly realized that he had stood at the top all these years, all of which were the result of Yang Mi's support.
Thinking of himself who couldn't be reborn when he first entered the mainland, Hawick Lau couldn't help but sigh that he missed the best opportunity to shine next to Yang Mi. Now Yang Mi is still active on the front line, but he was labeled as "eating soft rice" after the divorce, and he has no chance to turn over.
In fact, after the divorce, Hawick Lau also tried to transform by joining a new project, determined to embark on a path focusing on "artistry", hoping to regain his original intention of acting.
But he underestimated the reality of the entertainment industry - you are worthless without commercial value. Now he is no longer as bright as gold as before.
This is also a lesson that Hawick Lau needs to reflect on. Thankfully, there is still a long way to go, and he still has a chance to get back on track. Let's wait and see if Hawick Lau can write a new chapter in his life and whether he can be reborn.
After experiencing the double rout of commercial value and popularity, Hawick Lau re-examined his acting career for many years. He found that his initial dream of stepping into this industry was just to bring joy to the audience through performance.
To some extent, this is more in line with his identity as the son of an actor family.
But later, under the temptation of success and profit, he gradually lost himself. After divorcing Yang Mi, he finally regained his original intention of being an actor and made up his mind to only act in meaningful works.
This may bring a different understanding to his life.
Of course, the road will not be easier than it used to be. Without commercial packaging, the slightest carelessness will be abandoned by this circle again. And what he needs to face is the criticism and speculation of the outside world about "eating soft rice".
However, Hawick Lau understands that this is what he really wants.
What remains unchanged is his passion for acting and his persistent exploration of roles. We don't know where the road ahead will lead, but we can expect that Hawick Lau, who has only been up and down in the entertainment stream for many years, will have a different story to look forward to.