Hong Kong — Legendary late Cantopop diva Anita Mui may have passed away but fans of hers will soon be able to see her life on the big screen.
Based on those who knew the idol well, the showbiz legend had always wanted to make films that could leave lasting legacies.
Director Zhang Yimou created a role specially for Mui in 2003 in his wuxia epic House of Flying Daggers. Unfortunately, Mui passed away from cervical cancer before she could film any of her scenes.
The latest news is that film producer Bill Kong who produced Daggers as well as the Oscar-nominated Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, will honour Mui’s wish by turning her dramatic life into a film. Titled Anita, the release date for the biopic has not been announced. Searching for an “actress who possesses Anita’s aura” was not easy. It was reported that the production team spent more than three years looking for a suitable actress to play Mui before casting 31-year-old Hong Kong model Louise Wong, according to 8days.sg.
It would be Wong’s first time acting in the movie and she was worried about not being able to do the part justice as she has to play someone so famous and well-loved. Wong revealed in an interview that she locked herself in a hotel room for two days to get into the right state of mind. She also had to go for intensive singing and dance training for more than half a year.
She later realised that it is “fate that allowed her to be part of this movie”.
The self-professed Anita Mui fan said: “[Anita] is an example to our generation that success does not depend only on talent, hard work is equally important.”
Wong grew up in a single-parent family like Mui. After winning the 2006 Elite Model Look Asia Pacific competition when she was just 16, she started modelling after that. In 2020, she tied the knot with Australia-born singer Sheldon Lo after dating for five years. Wong is a mum and has a seven-year-old daughter from a previous relationship./TISG