Early life

Tse was born in Hong Kong on 29 August 1980, to Hong Kong actor Patrick Tse (謝賢) and actress Deborah Lee (狄波拉). Tse moved to Vancouver, Canada at a young age. He attended St. George's School, Vancouver, until his roommate Tablo and himself were both expelled for getting into a fight with an older student in Grade 9. Nicholas later attended Hong Kong International School for one year before dropping out at grade 10. For a year he lived in Phoenix, Arizona before going back to Vancouver. He also studied music in Japan before returning to Hong Kong. He holds dual Canadian and Hong Kong citizenship. Tse has a younger sister, Jennifer Tse.

Career

Music

Tse was singing at a party for a family friend when he was discovered by Albert Yeung, head of Emperor Entertainment Group. In 1997, Tse signed a record deal with EEG under the Fitto label and released his first album, My Attitude. The album was ranked 3rd on the top selling CD chart of IFPI. It was that year where he won the most popular new artist award.

Tse received mainstream success in 1998 with songs including "早知" (Knew it would be like that) and "如果只得一星期" (If there's only one week) and became a prominent heartthrob in the entertainment industry. He received a musical award during the 1999 Jade Solid Gold Top 10 Awards with his popular song "非走不可" (No choice but to leave). Recorded on 27 September 1993.

In 2000, Tse released the album with the main hit "活著VIVA", which was regarded as his most popular song ever, and furthered his career significantly. It was after this song which he became an A-list singer at the time. In 2001, he released the album "玉蝴蝶"(Jade butterfly). In which two hits "玉蝴蝶" and "潛龍勿用" are collected.

In 2003, Tse received a World Music Award for "World's Best Chinese Artist" at the 2003 World Music Awards for the success of album "玉蝴蝶".

Film

Tse's most notable films have included Young and Dangerous: The Prequel (1998), Gen-X Cops (1999), Time and Tide (2000), and Invisible Target (2007). He also collaborated with Jackie Chan in New Police Story (2004). Tse has also acted in romance films including Tiramisu (2002) and Jade Goddess of Mercy (2003). Only later in his career did he participate in comedy roles including Enter the Phoenix (2004), A Chinese Tall Story (2005), and McDull, the Alumni (2006). In the Hong Kong translated version of A Bug's Life (蟲蟲特工隊), the character Flik was dubbed by Tse. He also lent his voice to the Chinese animation film Lotus Lantern (1999). 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), beating out fellow actors Chow Yun-fat, Jacky Cheung, Tony Leung Ka-fai, and Nick Cheung. In 2016, it was confirmed that Tse is starring in a movie titled "I Love That Crazy Little Thing" alongside Jessica Jung and William Chan.

TV series

Tse has starred in two TVB Hong Kong local dramas, Aiming High (撻出愛火花 and The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra (齊天大聖孫悟空). He also participated in a documentary produced by Television Broadcasts LimitedOn the Road II (向世界出發II), made in Cambodia in 2007. The rest of his drama series were filmed and produced by companies in Mainland China . Most of Tse's drama are wuxia series, which are based in ancient Chinese societies.

Personal life

Tse once had a relationship with musician Faye Wong, who is 11 years his senior, but they broke up in 2002. On 31 July 2006, Tse officially admitted dating Cecilia Cheung in an interview with Hong Kong commercial radio station 881/903. On 29 September 2006, Tse showed off his wedding ring at the Hong Kong International Airport, announcing he and Cecilia Cheung were married in a secret wedding ceremony in Pamalican, Philippines. The couple's eldest son, Lucas Tse, was born on 2 August 2007. Cheung gave birth to their second son, Quintus Tse, on 12 May 2010. However, their deemed romantic relationship ended on 14 June 2011 when Tse reportedly filed for divorce with Cheung. On 21 September 2014 it was reported that Tse is back in a relationship with Faye Wong, who had divorced her latest spouse in 2013.

Incidents

2002 motoring incident

In the early morning of 23 March 2002, Tse crashed his Ferrari 360 Modena in Hong Kong Central. Initially it was claimed that his driver was responsible for the crash, but further investigation by the ICAC revealed the story was fabricated, involving three other men and a police officer. Tse spent two weeks in prison and was sentenced to 240 hours of community service for obstruction of justice. Officer Lau Chi-Wai was sentenced to six months in prison. Although some viewed this charge as lenient, the 240 hours was the maximum punishment for this offence, given that Tse was a young offender at the time (21 years and 7 months). Nonetheless, some claimed that the sentence would send out a wrong message to Hong Kong youths, but it could be argued handing out a harsher sentence because he was a celebrity is just as inappropriate as handing out a lighter one. This incident had caused him to have a downfall in popularity. Tse has said that money he was getting increased by 40% since the accident. The car was originally a gift from the company EEG, as Tse himself accounted for 56% of its revenue.

After the police charge, Tse spent several months to "discover himself", and released the album Reborn in about half a year, following with a tour around the East and Southeast Asia. He has stated that he would be taking a break from singing and be focusing on his acting for a year.

2002 assault allegations

Tse has had his share of brush-ups with 'paparazzi'. 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, he settled in July 2002.

Discography

Main article: Nicholas Tse discography

Most of Nicholas Tse's songs were based on the cantopop rock genre such as some of his top hits "front, back, left, right" (前前後後左左右右), "Exposure" (曝光) and "Lonely Base" (寂寞堂口). Some of his songs were produced in Tse's own 'Nic Production' which was revealed in TVB interviews several times. "Live Viva" (活著 Viva), one of Tse's most classical pop rock song, in whose MV Tse was featured with his flame guitar and a flamethrower, is widely known in Hong Kong.

Tse has sung a number of duets with fellow cantopop singers, namely "Love" (愛) with Charlene Choi, "Second Life" (第二世), "Amen" (阿門) both with Joey Yung, "Kid" (細路) with Eason Chan, "You Can't Stop Me" with Sam Lee and Stephen Fung as well as "Beauty and the Beast" with Meilin.

Besides being a singer, Tse also showed his interest and talent in song-writing. Plenty of his songs were produced by himself, either of the lyrics or the melody or both. Take his most renowned Mandarin songs "I love you because I love you"(因為愛所以愛） and "Huang Zhong Ren"(黃種人） for example, Tse composed and arranged both of these songs' melodies and also participated in the creation of lyrics in "Huang Zhong Ren".

Filmography

Film

Year	English title	Chinese title	Role	Notes
1998	Young and Dangerous: The Prequel	新古惑仔之少年激鬥篇	Chan Ho-nam	Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer
1999	Gen-X Cops	特警新人類	Jack
	A Man Called Hero	中華英雄	Sword Hua
	Metade Fumaca	半支煙	Smokey	Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Original Film Song
	Street Angels	少女党
	The Mirror	怪談之魔鏡	Siu-ming
2000	Twelve Nights	十二夜	Kit
	Winner Takes All	大贏家	Ferrari
	Time and Tide	順流逆流	Tyler Yim
2001	Comic King	漫畫風雲	Knife
	Master Q 2001	老夫子2001	Fred/Howard
	Heroes in Love	戀愛起義		writer/co-director only Nominated - Bronze Horse Award for Best Film Stockholm Film Festival
	My Schoolmate, the Barbarian	我的野蠻同學	Stone
	2002		Inspector Tide Yau
2002	Tiramisu	戀愛行星	Ko Fung
	Demi-Haunted	魂魄唔齊	Chang Ho-fung
2003	The Medallion	飛龍再生	Waiter	cameo
2004	Jade Goddess of Mercy	玉觀音	Maojie
	Enter the Phoenix	大佬愛美麗	Cock Head	cameo
	Moving Targets	2004新紮師兄	Cheung Wai-kit
	New Police Story	新警察故事	Frank Cheng	Hundred Flowers Award for Best Supporting Actor
2005	A Chinese Tall Story	情癲大聖	Tripitaka
	The Promise	無極	Duke Wuhuan
2006	McDull, the Alumni	春田花花同學會	old man in toilet
	Dragon Tiger Gate	龍虎門	Tiger Wong
	Rob-B-Hood	寶貝計劃	Nicholas	cameo
	The Heavenly Kings	四大天王	himself	cameo
2007	Invisible Target	男兒本色	Detective Chan Chun
2008	Beast Stalker	證人	Sergeant Tong Fei
	Storm Rider Clash of the Evils	風雲決	Striding Cloud
2009	The Storm Warriors	風雲II	Heartless
	Bodyguards and Assassins	十月圍城	Deng Sidi	Asian Film Award for Best Supporting Actor Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated - Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor
2010	Hot Summer Days	全城熱戀熱辣辣	Wai
	The Stool Pigeon	綫人	Ghost Jr.	Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor
2011	Shaolin	新少林寺	Tsao Man	Nominated - Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Treasure Inn	財神客棧	Master Kung
2012	The Viral Factor	逆戰	Man Yeung	Nominated - Golden Horse Award for Best Actor
	The Bullet Vanishes	消失的子彈	Captain Guo Zhui
2013	The Midas Touch	超級經理人	Himself	cameo
2014	As the Light Goes Out	救火英雄	Sam
	From Vegas to Macau	賭城風雲	Cool
	But Always	一生一世	Zhao Yongyuan
2015	12 Golden Ducks	12金鴨
	The Spirit of the Swords	情劍
2016	Heartfall Arises	惊心破		Post-production
	The Bombing	大轟炸		Filming
	I Love That Crazy Little Thing			Post-production

Television

Year	English title	Chinese title	Role	Notes
1998	Aiming High	撻出愛火花	Chiu Ka Chun	TV debut
2002	The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra	齊天大聖孫悟空	Chung Kwai	cameo
	Secretly Loving You	偷偷愛上你	Himself	cameo
2003	Hearts of Fencing	當四葉草碰上劍尖時	Himself	cameo
2005	The Proud twins	小魚兒與花無缺	Hua Wu Que
2007	Wing Chun	詠春	Liang Bi
	Big Shot	大人物	Yang Fan
	The Spirit of Sword	浣花洗劍錄	Hu Yan Da Zang
2012	Jian Xia Qing Yuan	劍俠情緣	Ye Fan / Gu Lang
	America's Next Top Model, Cycle 18		a judge and also action director in one of the episodes
2013	The Next Magic	下一個奇跡	Liang Hai En
	Super Boy(2013)	2013快樂男聲	one of the main judges in the Finale
2014	Chef Nic	12道鋒味	the show's on-camera chef	a Chinese food travelogue show

Commercial endorsements

Tse has been in many advertisements since he joined the industry, from big names like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sony to Biolyn, New World Mobility, Oris and Matsunichi, Daphne.

He has also appeared in various magazines, including: Men's Uno, Amoeba, Milk, Ming Pao and East Weekin various forms including television commercials, posters and magazine advertisements.

On 12 January 2006, wax statues of Tse was first exhibited along with seven other well known Chinese figures including basketball star Yao Ming, and Jackie Chan at the Madame Tussauds in London. On 19 June 2006, wax statues of both Tse and Cheung were revealed in Shanghai exhibition in Shanghai.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]