The fact that actress Truong Ba Chi booked all 18 screenings for Chau Tinh Tri's upcoming movie - "Kungfu Soccer" - is attracting attention. The close relationship between the two is also being discussed again.
The friendship between the "comedia king" and the 46-year-old beauty began in 1999. At that time, Cecilia Cheung was only 18 years old, just returned from Australia to Hong Kong (China) not long ago when she was invited by Stephen Chow to audition for the role in "Comedia King".
During the audition, Stephen Chow gave her a pen to pretend to smoke, but she immediately replied: "No need to pretend, just give me a real one". That naive but personality coincided with the image of Lieu Phieu Phieu that Stephen Chow wanted, helping her win the female lead role.
At that time, many people in the film crew opposed choosing a new face, but Stephen Chow still resolutely assigned the role to Cecilia Cheung. In the end, the two created a memorable love story on screen. The classic line "I raise you" has been repeated by audiences for decades.
After the film premiered and became the Hong Kong (China) box office champion that year, Cecilia Cheung was also nominated for Best New Actress at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
For many years, she has publicly called Stephen Chow benefactor, a leader in her career and has not only affirmed once: "If it weren't for Stephen Chow, there would be no Truong Ba Chi of today".
Truong Ba Chi is one of the very few "Tinh Nu Lang" who has never had a contract dispute with Chau Tinh Tri. Years ago, when many artists in the industry avoided him due to conflicts with "entertainment mogul" Tran Lam, she still publicly stood on Chau Tinh Tri's side.
In 2001, Truong Ba Chi was initially chosen to play the female lead in "Shaolin Football Team", but due to conflicts with the advertising contract signed earlier, she could not accept. In the end, the actress still agreed to play the guest role "Jade Face Song Phi Long" without taking a fee.
In 2004, the role of a mute girl in "Absolute Kung Fu" was originally intended to be given to Cecilia Cheung, but in the end it was unsuccessful due to schedule and remuneration issues.
After that, for more than 10 years, Truong Ba Chi and Chau Tinh Tri hardly appeared together and at one point were rumored to have broken up.
However, at the 2015 Weibo Night event, the two for the first time stood on the same stage after 17 years, and from then on the relationship gradually healed.
In 2016, when Cecilia Cheung participated in a television program and was cut 8 million CNY in cat-xe, Stephen Chow secretly compensated for that difference for her, even without keeping any papers or invoices.
When the "New Comedian King" made the Guangdong dubbed version in 2019, Cecilia Cheung immediately accepted without reading the script. She just jokingly said: "Probably in my previous life I owed him".
Last year, at the press conference to launch Truong Ba Chi's new TV show, Stephen Chow rarely filmed a video to cheer for her. For many years, he has almost not participated in public activities or TV shows, so the fact that he dedicated a video to Truong Ba Chi makes the audience understand that the relationship between them is very special.
When Truong Ba Chi gave birth to her 3rd son, there were rumors that the child was Chau Tinh Tri's child. The actress's side spoke out to deny it, while Chau Tinh Tri did not explain, but he still maintained a close relationship with Truong Ba Chi for many years.
