Kevin Cheng

Kevin Cheng
Kevin Cheng in 2007.
Chinese name	鄭嘉穎 (traditional)
Chinese name	郑嘉颖 (simplified)
Pinyin	Zhèng Jiāyǐng (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Zeng6 Gaa1-wing6 (Cantonese)
Ancestry	Nanhai District, Foshan, Guangdong, China
Origin	Hong Kong
Born	(1970-08-15) 15 August 1970 San Francisco, California, United States[1]
Occupation	Actor, singer
Genre(s)	Cantopop
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Voice type(s)	Baritone
Label(s)	PolyGram UMG
Years active	1993–present
Official Website	www.kevincheng.com.hk Official TVB Blog
Awards TVB Anniversary Awards Best Lead Actor 2006 Under the Canopy of Love 2011 Ghetto Justice My Favorite Male Character 2011 Ghetto Justice tvb.com Microblog's Popularity Award 2011 Other awards My Astro On Demands Awards Best Actor 2011 Ghetto Justice My Top 15 Favourite Characters 2011 Ghetto Justice

Kevin Cheng Ka-wing (born 15 August 1970) is a Hong Kong American actor and singer who is currently under the management of the Hong Kong television network TVB. Cheng rose to fame in late 2004 after playing his first lead role in the TVB drama Hard Fate. He is best known for his role as "Law Lik-ah" in the 2011 TVB legal drama Ghetto Justice, which earned him a TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actor.

Early life

Cheng was born in San Francisco but he moved to Hong Kong at a very young age and spent most of his childhood there. He attended Pun U Association Wah Yah Primary School, Wah Yan College and the Hong Kong International School in Hong Kong, and in Alhambra High School^{[citation needed]} in the United States. During his school days, his mother sent him back to San Francisco, where he lived with his uncle for two years before returning to Hong Kong after his mother changed her mind about migrating to the United States. He completed his high school education in Canada. He pursued a civil engineering degree at the California State University in Los Angeles,^[2] but did not finish his studies because his father died and he wanted to move back to Hong Kong to be with his mother.

Career

1993–2005

When Cheng was 16 years old, he participated in a singing contest organised by the Hong Kong television network TVB but dropped out halfway because he felt that he was not ready to be a singer at that time. Later, after he moved back to Hong Kong in his early 20s, he decided to continue his pursuit of a singing career. He signed a contract with the record label PolyGram in 1993 and released his first album in the same year to mixed reviews. He was seen as a newcomer with good potential and managed to win several Best New Artist awards in 1994. Cheng's manager later helped him launch his career in the Taiwanese entertainment industry. In Taiwan, Cheng released several Mandarin albums and acted in some television dramas, but all of them were only moderately successful.

Cheng was noticed by TVB after he portrayed the villain "Jiang Yulang" in the 1999 Taiwanese television series The Legendary Siblings. He returned to Hong Kong and signed a management contract with TVB in the following year and started playing minor roles in some television series produced by the network. In 2004, he played a leading role for the first time in the TVB drama Hard Fate.

2006–present

Cheng soared to popularity after portraying "Alan Shum" in the 2006 romantic drama Under the Canopy of Love, for which he also won the TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actor that year. His singing career also gradually improved after the Taiwanese musician Liu Chia-chang composed a single, "Helpless" (無可奈何), for him. In the same year, he also released a Cantonese compilations album and held his very first mini concert. Niki Chow, Raymond Lam and Miriam Yeung were among the guest singers who appeared at his concert.

Cheng's first critical breakthrough role was in the 2007 crime drama The Ultimate Crime Fighter, in which he played the villain "Aaren Chong" and earned good reviews for his performance. In the 2008 thriller-suspense drama Last One Standing, his portrayal of the ex-convict "Sing Hei" earned him further critical acclaim and widespread praise from viewers. He was also one of the top five nominees for the TVB Anniversary Award for Best Actor in 2008, but the award went to the veteran TVB actor Ha Yu.

In 2010 Cheng took up the role of 8th Prince in Startling by Each Step (Bu Bu Jing Xin) which later brought his career to greater heights and has since gained him recognition in China.

Filmography

Films

Television series

Discography

Albums

TVB drama songs

Others

Awards

TVB Anniversary Awards

Won

Nominated

Others

References

External links

• Kevin Cheng at the Internet Movie Database
• Kevin Cheng Official TVB Blog