HONG KONG - Many Hong Kong netizens were up in arms after singer-actor Nicholas Tse missed out on an acting nomination at this year's Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA).
The list of nominees was unveiled on Wednesday (Feb 16), with Tse's father Patrick Tse, Gordon Lam, Francis Ng and new actor Leung Chung Hang vying for the Best Actor award. The ceremony will be held on April 17.
The omission of Nicholas Tse, 41, from the shortlist is controversial as he has been widely praised for his role as a former policeman who turns rogue in the crime action thriller Raging Fire (2021). Some movie critics called it one of his best performances in recent years.
For the same role, Tse won Best Actor at the Macau International Movie Festival and was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at China's Golden Rooster Awards last year.
Raging Fire also stars Hong Kong actor Donnie Yen and Chinese actress Qin Lan. It was directed by Benny Chan, who died of cancer at the age of 58 in August 2020.
The movie received eight nominations at the HKFA, including for Best Film, Best Director and Best Action Choreography.
Some netizens wondered how it could be in the running for Best Film without acting nominations for its leads.
"Does that mean a film can be considered 'the best' without relying on the actors' performances?" asked one.
Others speculated that Tse's omission was due to his father's Best Actor nomination - the first for the 85-year-old, who played a retired assassin in the black comedy Time (2021).
In comparison, the younger Tse has already completed a clean sweep of the HKFA's acting awards, having won Best New Performer in 1999, Best Supporting Actor in 2010 and Best Actor in 2011.
Several dismayed netizens said Tse was already Best Actor in their minds. Some even called for a boycott of the HKFA due to its alleged "lack of credibility".
Tse's manager Mani Fok earlier told the Hong Kong media that she was surprised and disappointed that the actor had missed out on the nomination, adding that he was very dedicated during filming and took part in the action scenes personally.
