Ha Guorong, a foreign actor known as Hong Kong's "Queen Foreigner", committed suicide by burning charcoal on the 2nd at the age of 58. Hong Kong media reported that Ha Guorong was originally a medical student in Australia. He came to Hong Kong alone in 1988 to pursue his acting dream because he fell in love with Hong Kong culture in college. Later, Ha Guorong caught up with TVB (TVB) to recruit foreign actors who could speak Cantonese, and became the first foreigner signed by TVB. He has appeared in about 300 TV series, often playing roles such as police superintendent, priest, consul and lawyer.
In addition to Ha Guorong, there are many foreign faces in Hong Kong film and television dramas. For example, Zhuang Yufei, who was born in 1963, is from the United States. He became interested in Hong Kong and Cantonese when he was sent to Hong Kong by the church to preach. After seeing Ha Guorong, he came up with the idea of becoming an actor in Hong Kong. He was active in the 1990s and participated in movies such as "Fight Back to School 2". German-born Hong Kong actor Yi Yuhang was born in 1987. While on a boat trip to Norway, he was deeply curious about the card games played by Chinese tourists. He then wanted to know more about Chinese culture, so he began to learn Mandarin and Chinese Kung Fu. He has participated in TV series such as "Walker 3". Yasuaki Kurata can be said to be one of the Japanese actors most familiar to Chinese people. In 1972, he joined Hong Kong Shaw Brothers and co-starred with David Chiang, Ti Lung and others in the action movie "The Bad Guy". In the movie "Fist of Heroes", the showdown between Fumio Funakoshi and Chen Zhen, played by Jet Li, was Action movie classic.
These foreign actors not only left many impressive film and television images, but also witnessed the changes in the Hong Kong film and television industry. For example, in the 2021 drama "Tenmu Crisis", the 77-year-old Yasuaki Kurata is still insisting on filming fighting scenes. On the one hand, it provides the audience with full emotions, but on the other hand, it also reflects the serious issue of the generation of Hong Kong actors. Taking TVB as an example, its artist training model and casting process set many restrictions for newcomers. Whoever succeeds in playing the role of a policeman will always play the role of a policeman, and whoever does not look like the protagonist can only continue to play supporting roles, which will inevitably lead to audience fatigue. (Ye Lan) ▲
