Nicholas Tse

Tse was born at St.Teresa’s Hospital in Ma Tau Wai, Kowloon on 29 August 1980 to Hong Kong actor Patrick Tse (謝賢) and actress Deborah Lee (狄波拉). His younger sister is Jennifer Tse.^[8] Tse moved to Vancouver, Canada at eight.^[2][9] He attended St. George's School, Vancouver, where he was friends with Tablo. They were expelled together for fighting with a Caucasian student.^[10][11] Tse moved back with his family to Hong Kong and attended Hong Kong International School for one year before dropping out due to low grades in grade 10.^[9] For a year he lived in Phoenix, Arizona, but was expelled for his poor academic performance. He studied music in Japan before returning to Hong Kong. He held Hong Kong-Canadian dual citizenship until 2021, when he renounced his Canadian citizenship.^[12][13]

Music

In 1996, Tse was noticed by Albert Yeung, the head of Emperor Entertainment Group, when the 16-year-old was singing at a party for a family friend. In 1997, partly to help clear the debts incurred by his father, Tse signed a record deal with the Fitto label, which would become EEG, and released his first album, My Attitude, to runaway success.^[9] He won the Most Popular New Artist Award at the 1997 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation.^[14]

In 2000 and 2001, Tse released two popular albums, "VIVA" and "玉蝴蝶" (Jade Butterfly). In 2002, Tse received the World's Best Chinese Artist award at the 2002 World Music Award for the latter.

Acting

Tse's most notable films include Young and Dangerous: The Prequel (1998), Gen-X Cops (1999), New Police Story (2004) and Invisible Target (2007). Tse's performance in Bodyguards and Assassins (2009) earned him an Asian Film Award at the 4th Asian Film Awards for Best Supporting Actor, and in 2011, Tse received a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor at the 30th Hong Kong Film Awards for The Stool Pigeon (2010).

Tse dubbed the character Flik in the Hong Kong version of A Bug's Life (1998). He also lent his voice to the Chinese animation film Lotus Lantern (1999).

Tse learned martial arts for the screen from Jackie Chan and Chung Chi Li for films such as Gen-X-Cops and Invisible Target. He also worked with Donnie Yen in the martial arts film Dragon Tiger Gate. Tse is a Wing Chun practitioner, trained by fellow actor and friend Philip Ng.

Tse has also starred in TV dramas, such as Aiming High (1998), The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra (2002), and The Proud Twins (2004).

Cooking

Tse became a TV chef in 2014, when he launched his food travelogue show Chef Nic.^[15] In 2015, he opened a cookie bakery in Hong Kong. In 2016, he launched his own lifestyle and food brand Chef Nic (鋒味).^[16]

On 28 October 2016, Tse was honoured as the first "Friend of Michelin" for his positive contribution to the gastronomic scene through his work.^[17]

On 30 November 2017, Tse prepared the dessert course for A Night Among the Stars, a seven course gala dinner with Michelin-star chefs Alain Ducasse, Kwong Wai-keung, Tam Kwok-fung, Fabrice Vulin, Hidemichi Seki, and Noah Sandoval.^[18][19]

Tse had an on-and-off relationship with singer Faye Wong from 2000 to 2003.^[20]

In September 2006, Tse announced that he had married Cecilia Cheung in Pamalican, Philippines.^[9] They have two sons: Lucas (謝振軒), born on 2 August 2007,^[21] and Quintus (謝振南), born on 12 May 2010. The couple divorced in 2011.^[22]

In 2014, Tse rekindled his relationship with Faye Wong.

Car crash cover-up

In the early morning of 23 March 2002, Tse crashed his Ferrari 360 Modena in Hong Kong Central.^[23] Initially, it was claimed that Tse's driver was responsible for the crash, but further investigation by the ICAC revealed that the story was fabricated, involving three other men and a police officer. Officer Lau Chi-Wai was sentenced to six months in prison. Tse spent two weeks in prison^[24] and was sentenced to 240 hours of community service for obstruction of justice.^[25]

After the scandal, Tse moved away from music to acting and shifted his focus from Hong Kong to Mainland China.

Assault on paparazzi

Tse had his share of brush-ups with "paparazzi" in his early years. A photographer of Sudden Weekly magazine accused Tse of hitting him outside a restaurant in Taiwan, bruising his nose and elbow. Although Tse denied the assault charge, there was a settlement in July 2002.^[26]

Reckless driving

In 2002, Tse was fined HK$7,000 and had his driving license suspended for a year after he pleaded guilty to two separate charges of speeding. In 2003, Tse crashed his Toyota Camry into Wan Chai train station. He was banned from driving for six months and fined HK$4, 000 for reckless driving. ^[27] He had another accident in November 2005, where he collided with a Public Security Bureau Bus in an Audi RS4 in Lantau. He was banned from driving for another six months and fined HK$4,000 for reckless driving.

Film

Television

^[33][34]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nicholas Tse.

• Nicholas Tse at IMDb