Wu Hsing-kuo

Wu Hsing-kuo (Chinese: 吳興國) is a Taiwanese actor of the silver screen and theater, known for both his performance of complex movie roles as much as for his innovative adaptations of Western classics into traditional Peking Opera.

Wu Hsing-kuo
Born (1953-04-12) 12 April 1953
Awards
Hong Kong Film AwardsBest New Performer
1994 Temptation of a Monk

Chinese name
Traditional Chinese吳興國
Simplified Chinese吴兴国

Wu was trained in classical Peking Opera since the age of 11 in Taiwan's state-run Fu-Hsing Chinese Opera School, specializing in wu sheng (male martial) roles. He was admitted with honors into the Theatre Department of Chinese Culture University in Taipei, trained under master Chou Cheng-jung (Zhou Zheng-rong) and became the leading dancer of Lin Hwai-min's Cloud Gate Dance Theater. However, his teacher Chou Cheng-jung (Zhou Zheng-rong) considered him as a pretentious student who didn't focus on study and finally abandoned him in 1989. Since then, Chou Cheng-jung (died in 2000) never met him anymore. In addition, most of the traditional Chinese opera audiences do not recognize him as a qualified actor.

In 1986, he and a group of enthusiastic friends founded the Contemporary Legend Theatre in Taipei, seeking to revitalize traditional Chinese theatre by adapting Western classical plays to the style and techniques of Peking Opera. He was the leading actor and director of four Shakespeare adaptations, including the critically acclaimed Kingdom of Desire (慾望城國), an adaptation of Macbeth, and King Lear (李爾在此), in which Wu plays all the parts.

In 1992, Wu was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in New York with Richard Schechner. That year, he also won the Hong Kong Film Award for best new actor.

Wu is currently artistic director of the Contemporary Legend Theatre, and continues to take on challenging roles in both the modern theatre and Chinese Opera. He crosses the fields of traditional opera, dance, modern theatre, cinema, and television.

Filmography

Films

Year English title Original title Role Notes
199318Weirdo
Temptation of a Monk誘僧Shi Yansheng
Green Snake青蛇Xu Xian
1994The Great Conqueror's Concubine西楚霸王Yu Ziqi
Rock N'Roll Cop省港一號通緝犯Wong Kun
Right Here Waiting...等愛的女人Dickson Koo
God of Gamblers Return賭神2Chao Siu-chi
What Price Survival獨臂刀之情Wang Ning
Red Rose White Rose紅玫瑰白玫瑰
1996Shanghai Grand新上海灘Fung King-yiu
1997The Soong Sisters宋家皇朝Chiang Kai-shek
2000Comeuppance天有眼
2001The Accidental Spy特務迷城Lee Sang-zen
2009Who Rules Over the Destiny of China誰主沉浮Chiang Kai-shek
2011Four Hands麵引子Sun Hou-cheng
2012Love on Gallery Bridge爱在廊桥Lin Changtian

TV series

Year English title Original title Role Notes
1996Love, Sword, Mountain & River情劍山河Zhao Kuangyin
The Story of the President總統的故事Lee Teng-hui
1997China at War烽火中國
1999Holiday假期Chu Chen-hsiang
Dangerous Games危险游戏Guan Luochuan
2000Tiger's Tenderness老虎的溫柔Huang Ho-chun
2001Master Swordsman Lu Xiaofeng陸小鳳之決戰前後Ye Gucheng
2003Flaming Romance天命因緣Su Jifei
2005Lovelorn High Heels失戀高跟鞋Ma Ta-cheng
2006To Live to Love长恨歌Li Puzhi

Awards

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