HONG KONG - Hong Kong veteran actor Patrick Tse, who has been in the entertainment industry for almost 70 years, has received his first nomination at the Hong Kong Film Awards (HKFA) for Best Actor.
Tse, 85, was nominated for his role as a retired assassin in the black comedy Time, which also starred fellow veteran actress Petrina Fung Bo Bo, actor Lam Suet and former radio DJ Chung Suet Ying.
Lam, 57, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, while Chung, 27, was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and Best New Performer.
In an interview with the Hong Kong media, Tse said that there was no HKFA when he joined the industry in 1953. The awards were founded in 1982.
"I had cut down on my acting commitments when the awards were founded," said the actor known affectionately as Sei Kor or "fourth brother" in Hong Kong show business.
"I thought my acting career had reached 'lifetime" status when I received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the HKFA three years ago," he added.
Hong Kong actor Gordon Lam, the producer and co-screenwriter of Time, received two Best Actor nominations - for his roles as a former soldier in crime thriller Hand Rolled Cigarette and a policeman in the crime thriller Limbo.
The 54-year-old also received a Best Screenplay nomination for Time with Ho Ching Yi.
Tse and Gordon Lam are up against Francis Ng (Drifting) and Leung Chung Hang (Zero To Hero) for Best Actor.
Limbo leads the HKFA race with 14 nominations, including for Best Film and Best Director for Soi Cheang.
Anita, the biopic of late Cantopop superstar Anita Mui, is next with 12 nominations, including for Best Film and Best Director for Longman Leung.
Hong Kong model Louise Wong, who made her acting debut as Mui in the movie, was nominated for Best Actress and Best New Performer.
The 31-year-old is up against some heavyweights in the Best Actress category, such as Sandra Ng (Zero To Hero) and Gong Li (Leap).
Hong Kong actor Louis Koo, who played Mui's fashion designer Eddie Lau, and actress Fish Lew, who played Mui's elder sister Ann, were nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively.
Other notable nominations included Best Director for the late Benny Chan for the movie Raging Fire, which was also nominated for Best Film.
Raging Fire's Nicholas Tse, son of Patrick Tse, was not nominated for Best Actor even though he was considered a hot favourite.
Nicholas Tse's manager told the Hong Kong media that she was disappointed and surprised that the actor had missed out on an acting nomination.
While the 2020 ceremony was held online, last year's edition was cancelled due to the pandemic. This year's awards, to be held on April 17, will include films from 2020 and 2021.
