Trivia

Turned down the role of Morpheus in Matrix (1999).

Chow Yun-Fat was born of the Hakkha (aka Ha Ka) race, an ethnic group from China that has moved from one region to another without taking up permanent residence since the ancient times. The Hakkha dialect is now the second most popular dialect in Taiwan.

Ironically, John Woo cast him in his breakout film Le syndicat du crime (1986) because he didn't look like an action star.

He helped Andy Lau in his movie career, after it almost crashed when he refused to sign a contract with TVB, which made him blacklisted from Hong Kong Television.

Enjoys photography. His elder sister also is a photographer.

His part in Pirates des Caraïbes : Jusqu'au bout du monde (2007) was omitted when the movie was shown in China. Government censors felt that Chow's character "vilified and humiliated" the Chinese people.

Before going to work on a movie each day, he goes to the nearest market and buys some fresh fruit.

He narrowly avoided being incinerated while filming the explosive climax of À toute épreuve (1992).

Attempted suicide over the break-up after 5-year (1978-1983) romance with popular TV star Idy Chan.

Won Hong Kong's Academy "Best Actor" Awards Three Times: A Better Tomorrow, 1987. City On Fire, 1988, All About Ah Long, 1990.

After a first unsuccessful marriage with a fellow Hong Kong star actress, he fell in love and re-married the daughter of one of the richest Chinese dynastic scions from Singapore.

On 26 June 2008, Chow released his first photo collection in Hong Kong, which includes pictures taken on the sets of his films. Proceeds from the book's sales were donated to Sichuan earthquake victims. Published by Louis Vuitton, the books were sold in Vuitton's Hong Kong and Paris stores.

As of 2018, Chow's net worth stands at HKD$5.6 billion. Chow also said he would donate 99% of his wealth to charity via setting up a foundation to help the needy.

Tri-lingual, speaking Cantonese, Mandarin, and English.

Sponsors a lot of charity events such as "National Wildlife" and many others.

Unusually tall by Chinese standards, he was often a head taller than his co-stars in his Hong Kong films, female or male.

Credited as Chow Anderson in the Philippines in his earlier films.

Chosen one of 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine in 2002.

In October 2014, Chow supported the Umbrella Movement, a civil rights movement for universal suffrage in Hong Kong. His political stance eventually resulted in censorship by the Chinese government.

Won Taiwan's Golden Horse "Best Actor" Awards Two Times: Hong Kong 1941,1985. An Autumn's Tale, 1987.

CineAsia, the Asian Theatre Owners Convention, named Chow the Star of the Decade.

Won Asian Pacific Festival "Best Actor" Award for Hong Kong 1941, 1985.

Joss Whedon originally wrote the role of Christie in Alien, la résurrection (1997) with him in mind. His manager and producer Terence Chang turned down the role for him.

He was the original choice for the role of Memnon in Le Roi Scorpion (2002). His manager and producer Terence Chang vetoed it, saying Chow never plays villains and that doing so would betray his fans.

Before acting, he worked odd jobs such as a bellboy, postal worker, camera salesman and taxi driver.

He left school at age seventeen to support his family.

He narrowly avoided being blown up while filming Le syndicat du crime 2 (1987) when the explosion outside the mansion door being more powerful than expected. Some of his hair was singed, and he was blasted forward.

He grew up in a house with no electricity.

He has no formal acting training.

Despite being famous for martial arts films, he has no martial arts training in real life.

He and Andy Lau made 4 movies together: Black vengeance (1987), Tragic hero (1987), Les Dieux du jeu (1989), and Les Dieux du jeu 2 (1990). They also made two TV-series together: Yang ka cheung (1985) and Sou hat yi (1982).

He was considered for Shiwan Khan in The Shadow (1994).

He makes a surprise cameo in Dayyan Eng's Chinese romantic comedy Du zi deng dai (2004). It marked the first time Chow Yun-Fat was in a mainland Chinese film.

He was originally going to be play Luke in Une balle dans la tête (1990), as he was really impressed with the script but John Woo had told him that his character was not the essential character of the story (though a pivotal one nonetheless) and that it might not have complimented his leading man status as it was really a supporting role (or more precisely - fourth leading role).

Is known to be a generous philanthropist, and approachable, humble and kind to his fans.