Carina Lau

Acting

Carina Lau

Born 1966-12-08 · Suzhou, Jiangsu, China

Carina Lau Kar-Ling (Chinese: 劉嘉玲; born 8 December 1966) is a Hong Kong-Canadian actress and singer. She started her acting career in TVB, before going on to achieve success in films after her 2nd year in college. She was notable in the 1980s for her girl-next-door type roles in films. She also plays Empress Wu Zetian in Tsui Hark's Detective Dee films, starting with Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame in 2010. She has won Best Actress awards at the Hong Kong Film Award and Mainland China's Golden Rooster Awards, and has been nominated at Cannes Film Festival and Taiwan's Golden Horse Awards.

Acting credits

Kung Fu Soccer poster
6.4

The "Supreme Invincible Cup" is about to begin, and a host of top teams are about to engage in an unprecedented showdown! But the Kung Fu Women's Soccer Team has been dealt a hellish script right from the start?! Their opponents are all highly skilled, and external pressure is mounting. The schemes on the field are one after another... Can they use their kung fu to turn the tide on the green field?

Kung Fu Soccer

2026

Armour of God poster
7.0

After an adventurer known as the Asian Hawk steals a mysterious sword known to be a piece of the Armour of God, a magical suit of armour that dates back to the Crusades, a cult of Satanic monks kidnap his ex-girlfriend and demand he turn over the sword and recover the rest of the armour.

Armour of God

1986

Days of Being Wild poster
7.3

Yuddy, a Hong Kong playboy known for breaking girls' hearts, tries to find solace and truth after discovering the woman who raised him isn't his mother.

Days of Being Wild

1990

Warriors of Future poster
7.0

When a meteor carrying a destructive plant strikes the world, a suicide squad is given hours to save their post-apocalyptic city from total collapse.

Warriors of Future

2022

2046 poster
7.2

Women enter and exit a science fiction author's life over the course of a few years after the author loses the woman he considers his one true love.

2046

2004

Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings poster
6.3

Dee, the detective serving Chinese empress Wu Zetian, is called upon to investigate a series of strange events in Loyang, including the appearance of mysterious warriors wearing Chiyou ghost masks, foxes that speak human language and the pillar sculptures in the palace coming alive.

Detective Dee: The Four Heavenly Kings

2018

Infernal Affairs II poster
7.3

In this prequel to the original, a bloody power struggle among the Triads coincides with the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, setting up the events of the first film.

Infernal Affairs II

2003

Let the Bullets Fly poster
7.8

When circumstances force an outlaw to impersonate a county governor and clean up a corrupt town, the Robin Hood figure finds himself in a showdown with the local godfather.

Let the Bullets Fly

2010

Ashes of Time poster
7.1

Ouyang Feng is a heartbroken and cynical man who spends his days in the desert, connecting expert swordsmen with those seeking revenge and willing to pay for it. Throughout five seasons in exile, Ouyang spins tales of his clients' unrequited loves and unusual acts of bravery.

Ashes of Time

1994

Infernal Affairs III poster
7.0

Triad gangster turned corrupt cop Lau Kin-ming goes to dangerous lengths to avoid detection.

Infernal Affairs III

2003

Project A - Part II poster
7.1

Dragon is now transferred to be the police head of Sai Wan district, and has to contend with a gangster kingpin, anti-Manchu revolutionaries, some runaway pirates, Manchu Loyalists and a corrupt police superintendent.

Project A - Part II

1987

Forbidden City Cop poster
7.0

An imperial agent gets ridiculed for his various inventions, until his supportive wife encourages him to attend a conference, which's actually a trap to kill all the doctors serving the emperor, where his crazy inventions come in handy.

Forbidden City Cop

1996

From Vegas to Macau III poster
4.1

A gambler is targeted for murder during the wedding of his daughter to his protege.

From Vegas to Macau III

2016

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame poster
6.6

When the future empress Wu Zetian's two courtiers die in a mysterious fire, she gets Di Renjie, a former detective and rebel, released from prison to solve the mystery of the fire.

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame

2010

The Eagle Shooting Heroes poster
7.1

A power struggle between the Queen's treasonous lover and a princess occurs amid musical numbers, slapstick battles, and martial arts acrobatics.

The Eagle Shooting Heroes

1993

Center Stage poster
7.3

Based on the tragic true story of China's first prima donna of the silver screen, Ruan Lingyu, chronicling her rise to fame as a movie actress in Shanghai during the 1930s.

Center Stage

1991

From Vegas to Macau II poster
5.0

Following his confrontation with the nefarious DOA organization, Ken (Chow Yun Fat) is looking forward to going back to enjoying his retirement. His rest is cut abruptly short when his protégé Vincent (Shawn Yue), who's now working for Interpol, asks for Ken's help in taking down the real mastermind behind DOA, Aoi. The two head to Thailand, where DOA's former chief accountant Mark (Nick Cheung) has escaped with his daughter.

From Vegas to Macau II

2015

Dynasty Warriors poster
5.8

In the turbulent late Eastern Han Dynasty, ambitious Dong Zhuo controls the court and the commonalty, and heroes from all over the country begin to rise.

Dynasty Warriors

2021

Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon poster
6.3

Young Dee Renjie arrives in the empire's capital to join the Supreme Court as police judge of his region. He wants to become a prosecutor. Empress Wu, who is at the beginning of her reign, has commissioned the fierce detective Yuchi to investigate a sea monster that stalks the city at night and makes it unsafe.

Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon

2013

Flowers of Shanghai poster
6.9

At the end of the 19th century, Shanghai is divided into several foreign concessions. In the British concession, a number of luxurious “flower houses” are reserved for the male elite of the city. Since Chinese dignitaries are not allowed to frequent brothels, these establishments are the only ones that these men can visit. They form a self-contained world, with its own rites, traditions and even its own language. The men don’t only visit the houses to frequent the courtesans but also to dine, smoke opium, play mahjong and relax. The women working there are known as the “flowers of Shanghai”.

Flowers of Shanghai

1998

Crazy Hong Kong poster
5.0

In the early 1990s, Nǃxau was cast in three low-budget unofficial sequels that continued the fish-out-of-water aspects of the first two films.

Crazy Hong Kong

1993

Tragic Hero poster
6.1

After being released from prison, Tang Kat-Yung exacts revenge on Lee Ah Chai.

Tragic Hero

1987

Deadful Melody poster
6.0

A young security man must prove himself worthy by defending the one object wanted by all the masters of the Martial Arts world - the Magic Lyre!

Deadful Melody

1994

She Shoots Straight poster
6.6

Hong Kong police officer Mina Kao marries Huang Tsung-Pao, who is a member of a law enforcement dynasty. His father and his many sisters are also officers, and the eldest sister Chia-Ling is one of the highest ranking women in the police department. When a Vietnamese gang begins a rampage through the city, the women must overcome their suspicion of one another to bring the criminals to justice.

She Shoots Straight

1990

Behind the camera