Hong Kong — Aaron Kwok, Andy Lau, Jacky Cheung and Leon Lai are named the Four Heavenly Kings who were very popular back in the ’90s. All of them have successful music careers as well as acting careers. It was not surprising then that comparisons were made between them.
Cheung and Lau were often pitted against each other the most. Cheung was named the “God of Songs” and in an interview, he once shared that he was often left playing second fiddle to Lau when it came to acting.
According to Cheung, “We are friends who are competing with each other. [I have] no issues working [with Lau], but when it comes to movies, he will always play the lead. Most of the time, when he’s around, I’ll play the supporting role.” Cheung worked with Lau in a number of films such as 1988 action flick As Tears Go By, 2004 crime drama Jiang Hu, and 2016’s From Vegas To Macau III.
Cheung did not mind as he thought that it was more crucial for an actor to interpret a role well rather than bother about who got top billing. Cheung was more concerned by how the media would purposely make them out to be rivals.
“They made it seem as though [Lau] really has something against me. So in our hearts, there was a little distance between us. It could be a personality issue too,” said Jacky.
It appears the sentiment is mutual, as reported by 8days.sg.
In another old interview, Lau once admitted that he cares a lot about what the public thinks of his singing and the reason he is not particularly good at it still is because he could not put down his pride and approach Cheung aka the God of Songs for advice.
Born on July 10, 1961, Jacky Cheung Hok-yau is a Hong Kong singer, songwriter and actor. With more than 25 million records sold as of 2003, he is regarded as one of the “Four Heavenly Kings” and has been deemed the “God of Songs” of Hong Kong.
Cheung is known for his lengthy, sell-out tours, his best-selling album The Goodbye Kiss and his personal Private Corner album project, for which he coined the phrase ‘Canto-jazz’./TISG