When Lo Chun-yip turns 40 this December, he will celebrate the milestone as one of the most recognisable faces of a new generation in Hong Kong cinema – an unthinkable development when he shifted his focus to acting 11 years ago.
Yet for a performer whose melancholic gaze has anchored several of the city’s most poignant recent films, his breakthrough as a leading man feels decidedly different from those of many of his contemporaries, who tend to be either natural-born comedy actors or intimidatingly handsome.
Also known affectionately to his peers as “Siuyea” – the Chinese pronunciation of the Japanese surname Ono, a moniker bestowed upon him as a teenager by schoolmates who thought his shaved head resembled that of football star Shinji Ono – Lo spent years observing the margins of society for his documentaries and short films before becoming a full-time actor.
Now, having secured three Hong Kong Film Awards nominations – one for best actor and two for best supporting actor – since 2020, Lo is facing a new kind of challenge with his latest film, The Dating Menu: his first time carrying a mainstream commercial film on his shoulders as the project’s solitary male lead.
“Leading from beginning to end, it’s really my first time,” Lo tells the South China Morning Post with a self-deprecating demeanour. “Even including my past independent films, none were ever so focused on one male character’s journey.”
Lo is in virtually every scene of The Dating Menu, save for the childhood flashbacks. He plays Hark Lam, a lonely chef who cooks bespoke meals for women he matches with on a dating app, all while chasing the memory of an adolescent internet crush.