Ng Man Tat owes his success to Chow Yun Fat
8 Aug - He may be known for his many comedy movies with Stephen Chow today, but according to Ng Man Tat, he actually owes his success to actor Chow Yun Fat.
As reported on Epoch Times, Ng and Chow met when they were still training as actors back in the late 70s, and quickly became best friends. Chow soon made a name for himself as one of the top stars of the 1980s, while Ng struggled to make ends meet.
Ng shared that he began to lose himself through his gambling addiction and drinking problem, to the extent that he was HKD 300,000 in debt by 1980. Burdened by debt and the need to support his family, the actor stated that he went to Chow for financial help, but was only told by the actor that he should resolve his issue on his own.
"At the time, I already regarded Chow Yun Fat as the most hated person in my life," said Ng, adding that he almost took his life out of desperation at the time.
He remained angry at Chow for ten years, until 1990, when he was offered a role in Benny Chan's movie, "A Moment of Romance", which starred Andy Lau and Jacklyn Wu. Sure enough, the movie was a success at the box office, enabling Ng to escape his financial problem and subsequently won Best Supporting Actor at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
However, Ng said that by that time he was still angry at Chow, even when the actor personally approached him to congratulate him for his success.
"But then Benny told me that I actually got the offer [for "A Moment of Romance"] because of Chow Yun Fat's strong recommendation. He told me that if I want to thank someone, I should be thanking him (Chow)," he said.
Ng said that after learning the truth, he quickly went to Chow and hugged him, and cried on the spot. He was told by Chow, "If I loaned you that money, I would just harm you even more. You will not quit gambling and will never make an effort on your own."
