Nick Cheung (left) plays an undercover police officer in On the Edge, which also stars Francis Ng.
Landing the lead role in director Herman Yau’s cop drama On the Edge was a dream come true for Nick Cheung Ka Fai since he has long wanted to film an undercover cop movie – but a different sort.
“Every time you see a movie about undercover police officers, the movie always ends when they have arrested the big boss or solved the crime. But the basis for our movie is what happens after that,” he explained during a recent phone interview from Hong Kong.
Cheung plays Hoi San, a cop in On the Edge, who has been working undercover in a gang for eight years. Eventually, he manages to arrest his boss, played by Francis Ng.
When Hoi San returns to the police force, he finds that none of his colleagues trusts him and he is constantly being followed by internal affairs officers.
“One of the biggest challenges in this movie for me was getting into Hoi San’s mind. His life wasn’t his to control anymore.
“He thought that once he completed his mission, it would be easy to assimilate back into society but things did not turn out the way he expected.
“The underworld is after him because he betrayed them while his fellow officers think he’s changed and has become bad. The pressure mounts and in the end, he doesn’t know where to go. It’s a sad fate,” said Cheung.
In the past couple of years, Cheung has consciously shied away from slapstick comedic roles, taking on macho films such as Election and Election 2. Coming up later this year is another testosterone-filled flick titled Exiled, directed by Election director Johnnie To. On the Edge also co-stars Anthony Wong as a police officer.
“I want to take on different roles. Creativity is infinite and I want to challenge myself.
“A lot of people say that if you are not in the public’s eye often, people will forget you. But I feel that I have done almost every slapstick comedy. But if someone gave me a creative and original script, I would say ‘yes’.”
For his role in On the Edge, Cheung had a tattoo drawn on his chest.
He revealed that he had personally wanted to get one but also realised that it may affect his work.
“If I’m playing an office worker or a respectable character, then it wouldn’t be appropriate. But that’s the great thing about acting. It lets you experience different things. I may not be able to get a real tattoo, but at least I know what it feels like to have one even if it is fake,” he noted, laughingly.
At present, Cheung is working on a film in Shenzhen, China, playing a mental patient. He said that it has been hard being away from his baby daughter so he calls her up every day and carries a picture of her with him.
Asked if he wanted to trade places with wife Esther Kwan and be a stay-home dad, Cheung said he wouldn’t mind.
“We are both not comfortable letting someone else care for the baby. At the moment, she is looking after her.”
And will we see Kwan make a return to acting?
“The decision is hers but I think it should not be long now. When the time comes, we’ll plan it such that one parent will be free to take care of the baby,” said the doting father.
nick and esther sound like great and caring parents. they're really loving and respectful toward each other regarding as hubby and wifee.