Nicky Wu
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| Nicky Wu | |
|---|---|
| Chinese name | 吳奇隆 (Traditional) |
| Chinese name | 吴奇隆 (Simplified) |
| Pinyin | Wú Qílóng (Mandarin) |
| Jyutping | ng4 kei4 lung4 (Cantonese) |
| Origin | Republic of China (Taiwan) |
| Born | 31 October 1970 Taipei, Taiwan |
| Other name(s) | 霹靂虎 |
| Occupation | Actor, singer |
| Genre(s) | Mandopop |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Years active | 1988-present |
| Associated acts | Little Tigers Team |
| Spouse(s) | Ma Yashu (2006-2009) |
Nicky Wu (simplified Chinese: 吴奇隆; traditional Chinese: 吳奇隆; pinyin: Wú Qílóng; born on October 31st 1970) is a Taiwanese singer and actor. Wu found fame in 1988, by joining the Taiwanese boy band, Little Tigers Team, performing alongside Alec Su and Julian Chen. Since then, his career has also expanded into film and television in Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China.
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[edit] Career
[edit] Childhood
Nicky Wu is the second child of the Wu family, with one older and one younger brother. Their parents liked The Beatles very much and extended this interest into Nicky and his brothers' dressing style. Because of this and Nicky's Caucasian-like facial features, people often mistook him as a western kid. The three boys are of similar age and are all very mischievous, therefore they caused quite some headaches to their parents.
Nicky has been described as being athletic since a very young age. He won many competitions in wrestling，weightlifting, swimming, gymnastics, etc. But his main specialty was Judo and Taekwondo. His efforts in these two disciplines earned him three black belts in Judo and five in Taekwondo, placing him as a professional athlete in both categories. Moreover, Nicky was the provincial Taiwanese Taekwondo junior champion for three consecutive years.[citation needed] He was being trained for the Olympic Games and his Taekwondo coach was convinced that he would have had a bright career in this field. Even now, Nicky faithfully watches the Judo and Taekondo tournaments in the Olympic Games and he can recognize some coaches as his former teammates.
Nicky also excelled academically during this time, consistently being placed amongst the top three in his class. Besides this, he earned awards in calligraphy, drawing and essay-writing.
[edit] Rise to stardom
In 1988, at the age of 17, Wu was spotted by an entertainment agent while working part-time; the agent advised him to audition for Taiwanese boy band, Little Tigers Team. Initially Nicky refused, wishing to focus more on developing his career as an athlete, but he was eventually persuaded by his mom to give it a try. The audition was successful though he was unprepared and he was chosen to be part of the band, along with two others – Alec Su and Julian Chen. Nicky was given the nickname of "霹靂虎"(Thunderbolt Tiger) for the band.
With the release of their albums Happy New Year and Leisurely Cruising, in 1988 and 1989 respectively, the Little Tigers Team achieved success and recognition, becoming the number 1 pop idols in the region. Later, they became famous in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Macau, Singapore and many other Asian countries. Their songs impacted their whole generation in such a way that many people Nicky collaborated with later tell him "I've listened to your songs since ever since I'm a child". The band's success is said to have inspired the next generation of Taiwanese pop acts, leading to the creation of other boy bands, such as F4.[citation needed]
[edit] Going solo
After selling millions of copies, the band was forcibly put on hiatus due to Julian Chen's compulsory military service.[citation needed] Nicky continued in the entertainment industry by himself, branching out into Mandarin and Cantonese albums, with hit singles such as "Best Wishes to You" and "Waiting Day by Day". Going solo proved to be successful, when Wu won the 1993 Best New Artist award in Hong Kong, accompanied by the box office success of the Tsui Hark movie, The Butterfly Lovers, the following year in which he starred as the male protagonist, Liang Shangbo, alongside Charlie Yeung.
Nicky continued starring in other films such as Love in the Time of Twilight (1995), Thunder Cops (1996) and Never Say Goodbye (2001), though none of these films were able to match the critical and commercial success of The Butterfly Lovers. His musical success, however, earned him the title of one of Taiwan's "four small heavenly kings" (given to the four most popular teen idols of the 1990s) along with Alec Su, Jimmy Lin and Takeshi Kaneshiro.
[edit] Developing further
With the broadcast of the TVB series At the Threshold of an Era, ATV series Treasure Venture and Taiwanese series Treasure Raiders in mainland China, Nicky Wu achieved fame in the television industry. Since then, he has been working consistently in both film and television, recently starring in the high-budgeted A Battle of Wits, alongside Andy Lau. Wu currently provides the voice of Dexter, in the Chinese version of Dexter's Laboratory.[citation needed]
[edit] Personal life
Throughout the years, Nicky has been linked to stars in the entertainment industry such as Taiwanese singer Vivian Hsu and Hong Kong actress Charlie Yeung. In 1999, Nicky was in the public eye for his much-publicized relationship with actress Ada Choi. The couple broke up in 2002 and Nicky began dating mainland actress Ma Yashu, a few months later. This newly-formed relationship had drawn criticism from the media, for Ma Yashu was rumored as "the third woman", in connection with Ada Choi. Nonetheless, the couple got married in December 2006. However, Nicky and Ma Yashu filed for divorce in 2009.[1]
[edit] Screen work
[edit] Film
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[edit] Television
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[edit] Discography
[edit] Little Tigers Team albums
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[edit] Mandarin albums
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[edit] Notes
- ^ "Taiwanese singer-actor Nicky Wu and wife divorce". Channel News Asia. August 04, 2009. http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/entertainment/view/446728/1/.html. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
- ^ "Nicky Wu". imdb.com. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0943149/. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
- ^ "Nicky Wu". chinesemov.com. http://chinesemov.com/actors/Nicky%20Wu.html. Retrieved March 3, 2010.
[edit] References
- Nicky Wu at Sina (Chinese)
- HKfilm
