Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Chiu Wai is set to star in another Western movie after his Hollywood debut in Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings (2021).
One of Hong Kong’s top actors, Leung played the titular character’s father Wenwu in the Marvel superhero flick. He has joined the cast of Silent Friend, which is directed by Hungarian film-maker Ildiko Enyedi.
According to American entertainment magazine Variety, Silent Friend is written by Enyedi and produced by German banner Pandora Film.
It is set in the botanical garden of Marburg, a medieval university town in Germany, and tells three stories connected to a tree over a period of more than 100 years.
Leung, 61, will play a renowned neuroscientist travelling from his home town of Hong Kong to the Marburg Faculty in the third segment of the film, according to Variety.
Enyedi, 67, said she wrote the role for Leung. “I was absolutely humbled that from the first read of the script, he became such a great partner in the thinking, not just about his role, but also about the whole project.”
Leung, who will be starring in upcoming Hong Kong action crime thriller The Goldfinger, said he has been an avid fan of Enyedi since watching all her works.
Silent Friend, which is now in pre-production, will begin filming in April 2024.
It is Enyedi’s follow-up to The Story Of My Wife (2021), which competed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2021, and On Body And Soul (2017), which won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2017.
Leung is set to receive a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the upcoming Venice Film Festival.
He has starred in three movies that have won the Venice Golden Lion: A City Of Sadness (1989) by Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-hsien, Cyclo (1995) by French-Vietnamese director Tran Anh Hung, and Lust, Caution (2007) by Taiwanese director Lee Ang. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
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