Cover Story: Hong Kong Actor, Vincent Wong Shows Perfect Poise

We were in the midst of a late-night dinner when Vincent Wong strode in to join the group. Dressed casually in black workout attire, he arrives without fanfare or entourage, almost incognito. After exchanging polite pleasantries with everyone, he takes his seat beside us, ponders a moment, before saying: “I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with L’OFFICIEL HOMMES.” 

Our Hong Kong colleagues remind us that Wong is a rising star back home. You’d recognise him from his breakout role in the 2016 drama Over Run Over, as well as his award-winning performance as a blind barrister in the critically acclaimed drama Legal Mavericks (2017) and Legal Mavericks 2 (2020). But sitting here with us he’s the picture of normalcy, neither putting on airs nor making a fuss even though it’s well past midnight. His demeanour is a little reserved, sure, but that’s to be expected of anyone who just touched down in the country earlier today.

Comfortably settled in, he begins to chat about work. He talks about expanding into the Chinese market, as well as taking on more roles like in the 2020 crime-comedy Al Cappuccino, citing it as his favourite as he’s always been inspired by Stephen Chow’s signature black humour. He even considers setting up his own production company. “I’m not one to stay in my comfort zones,” he states cooly. That apparently includes his fitness routine, as he’s currently working hard to shed the weight he’s put on over the years.

“I’m going to go for a run before our photoshoot tomorrow,” Wong declares. We joke about the miracle of Photoshop in achieving picture perfection, but he insists on being in the best state of body and mind for the photo session. A consummate professional.

Soon it was time to part ways for the evening (or rather, very early morning — the poor sous chef was falling asleep on his feet!). But it won’t be a few hours before L’OFFICIEL HOMMES SINGAPORE reconvenes with Wong for a post-photoshoot interview to revisit the conversations from the night prior.

Hello Vincent! How are you? 

I’m good! Working with the L’OFFICIEL HOMMES team has been a very pleasant experience. And I’m always happy to visit Singapore because of all the good people, good vibes and good food here. 

Are you still travelling a lot these days? 

Yes I’ve been busy travelling. I’m headed to Hangzhou and [Hengdian World Studios] after this to film a short drama. It’ll be a brand new experience for me, because I’ll be acting in Mandarin and playing a role I’ve never done before. I’ll spend about a month in Hengdian, then go over to Zhangqiu (Shandong) to shoot a comedy with a couple of great actors from China. I very much look forward to working with them. Then I’ll be off to Hainan. So the next few months is going to be packed for me. 

That sounds like a busy schedule. Where do you find downtime?

I’ll usually go work out or watch a movie by myself, just so I can get away from everything. I enjoy badminton, and sweating it out through sports actually relaxes me quite a bit. 

You’re passionate about keeping fit. 

Working out is a part of my life, and I’ve been doing it for almost 20 years now, both for my profession and personal health. It transformed me from a skinny guy to someone in fitter physical condition, and it even makes you look younger! The most enjoyable part is seeing the results of pushing through your physical limits, because it gives you the confidence that you didn’t waste the time and effort you’ve put on yourself. 

We hear you also enjoy spending quality time with your daughter.

Yeah spending time with her is one of the best things in life. We have so much in common; one thing we both love is burgers, so whenever I’m in Hong Kong we will explore different burger shops together. She also enjoys riding around with me, just listening to good music and singing together. That’s the best.

Do you find that she is at that age where she’s growing up too quickly?

For sure, time passes really quickly. I’ve found that every time I return to Hong Kong and I see her, she’s changed. She’s grown bigger. That’s the reason why I spend most of my time with her and my family when I’m off work. They’re pretty much everything in my life.

Are you happy with where you’re at in your acting career? What’s the next step for you?

Of course I’m grateful for my past achievements, because it has shaped me into who I am right now. The next step for me — besides being an actor, working in different markets, roles or languages — is to start doing my own original stories or ideas. That means learning how to be a producer. As an actor, I think there’s always the issue of particular roles becoming unavailable once you reach a certain age. But as a producer, you can continue to contribute your ideas and energy and work with people who are passionate about the craft. 

You’ve acted in a range of genres from crime thrillers to comedy dramas. Any favourites?

Comedy is my all-time favourite because I love to make the audience laugh. I love the vibe where people get to enjoy what they’re watching and still be touched by it. Because with comedies, the characters are almost always tragedies, and so comedians have the power to make people laugh and cry at the same time. The ability to generate this range of emotions is one of the most important missions for an actor. I’d love to work on different forms of comedies in the future; one role I’m interested in is the superhero genre, where you can really take people outside of reality and deliver exciting moments and visuals. 

Words YONG WEI JIAN
Photography WEE KHIM
Styling FELIX WOEI
Hair SEAN ANG using GOLDWELL & DYSON
Makeup KEITH BRYANT LEE using TOM FORD BEAUTY
Photography assistant IVAN TEO
Fashion assistant SHANNAHLETTE JENN LIM