Nicholas Tse Ting-fung (born 29 August 1980) is a Hong Kong actor, singer, entrepreneur and TV chef.EEGmusic. "EEGmusic ." Nicolas Tse profile. Retrieved on 22 April 2008. Tse debuted as a singer in 1996 before shifting his career focus to acting. He is known for starring in the films Metade Fumaca (1999), New Police Story (2004), Bodyguards and Assassins (2009), The Viral Factor (2012), and Raging Fire (2021), as well as the television series The Proud Twins (2005). For his role in The Stool Pigeon (2010), Tse won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor, making him the first actor to have won in the three major acting categories, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best New Performer, at the Hong Kong Film Awards.
Tse is the founder of Post Production Office, a Hong Kong–based special effects company. The company was acquired by Digital Domain in 2016, with Tse becoming chairman of Digital Domain in Greater China.
Early life Tse was born at St. Teresa's Hospital in Ma Tau Wai, Kowloon on 29 August 1980 to Hong Kong actor Patrick Tse () and actress Deborah Lee (). His younger sister is Jennifer Tse. Tse moved to Vancouver, Canada at eight. He attended St. George's School, Vancouver, where he was friends with Tablo. They were expelled together for fighting with a racist bully. Tse moved back with his family to Hong Kong, where he attended Hong Kong International School for one year before dropping out in grade 10 due to excessive media attention. He moved to Phoenix, Arizona, to finish his middle school, but was expelled after one year for his academic underperformance. He then moved to Vancouver before returning to Hong Kong. In 1996, at 16, he studied at Tokyo Music Institute.<ref>. In 2021, Tse announced that he had applied to renounce his Canadian citizenship amid reports that ethnic Chinese celebrities holding foreign passports might face blacklisting by the Chinese government; however, it remains unclear whether his application was approved.
Career Music In 1997, partly to help clear the debts incurred by his father, Tse signed a record deal with the Fitto label, which would become Emperor Entertainment Group, and released his first album, My Attitude, to runaway success. He won the Most Popular New Artist Award at the 1997 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation. In 2000 and 2001, Tse released two popular albums, Viva and Jade Butterfly (). In 2002, Tse received the World's Best Chinese Artist award at the 2002 World Music Award for Jade Butterfly. In April 2025, Tse became the first Chinese singer to hold concerts at Kai Tak Stadium.Attributed to multiple sources:
Acting Tse's notable films include Young and Dangerous: The Prequel (1998), Gen-X Cops (1999), New Police Story (2004), and Invisible Target (2007). Tse's performance in Bodyguards and Assassins (2009) earned him the Best Supporting Actor at the 4th Asian Film Awards. In 2011, Tse won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor for The Stool Pigeon (2010).
Tse's notable TV dramas include Aiming High (1998), The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra (2002), and The Proud Twins (2004). Tse also lent his voice to the Hong Kong versions of animation films A Bug's Life (1998) and Lotus Lantern (1999).
Tse learned martial arts for the screen from Jackie Chan and Chung Chi Li for films such as Gen-X-Cops and Invisible Target. He worked with Donnie Yen in the martial arts film Dragon Tiger Gate. Tse is a Wing Chun practitioner, trained by fellow actor and friend Philip Ng.
Cooking Tse became a TV chef in 2014, when he launched his food travelogue show Chef Nic. In 2015, he opened a cookie bakery in Hong Kong. In 2016, he launched his own lifestyle and food brand Chef Nic (). On 28 October 2016, Tse was honoured as the first "Friend of Michelin" for his positive contribution to the gastronomic scene through his work. On 30 November 2017, Tse prepared the dessert course for A Night Among the Stars, a seven course gala dinner with Michelin-star chefs Alain Ducasse, Kwong Wai-keung, Tam Kwok-fung, Fabrice Vulin, Hidemichi Seki, and Noah Sandoval. In 2025, Tse joined the Tencent cooking show The Divine Dish as a judge, which drew controversy over alleged plagiarism of the Netflix show Culinary Class Wars.
Personal life Tse’s earliest acknowledged relationship was with an Italian classmate, whom he met at the age of 15. The relationship ended the same year when Tse went to the United States to study. Heartbroken, he purchased his first second-hand guitar and began writing songs. In 1996, at the age of 16, Tse dated Irene, the daughter of a Canadian businessman; the relationship ended the next year. However, as Tse began taking singing lessons from music teacher Tai See-chung since 14, and later dated Tai's daughter, Wancy Tai, she claimed that she was Tse's first girlfriend.
In 1997, Tse began a relationship with singer Bondy Chiu, which lasted approximately three and a half years. At the end of 1999, Tse entered a relationship with singer Candy Lo, which lasted a few months. Tse had an on-and-off relationship with singer Faye Wong from 2000 to 2003, which ended when Cecilia Cheung became involved. In September 2006, Tse announced that he had married Cecilia Cheung in Pamalican, Philippines. They have two sons: Lucas (), born on 2 August 2007, and Quintus (), born on 12 May 2010. The couple divorced in 2011 due to irreconcilable differences resulting from the Edison Chen scandal. In 2014, Tse rekindled his relationship with Faye Wong.
Controversies
Car crash cover-up In the early morning of 23 March 2002, Tse crashed his Ferrari 360 Modena in Hong Kong Central.Sina.China. "Sina.China ." Nicholas Tse incident. Retrieved on 23 April 2008. Initially, it was claimed that Tse's driver was responsible for the crash, but further investigation by the ICAC revealed that the story was fabricated, involving three other men and a police officer. Officer Lau Chi-Wai was sentenced to six months in prison. Tse spent two weeks in prisonKate Drake, 10 questions for Nicholas Tse, Time Asia and was sentenced to 240 hours of community service for obstruction of justice.
Assault on paparazzi Tse had his share of brush-ups with "paparazzi" in his early years. 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, there was a settlement in July 2002."HK star settles assault charge", BBC News, 31 July 2002
Reckless driving In 2002, Tse was fined HK$7,000 and had his driving license suspended for a year after he pleaded guilty to two separate charges of speeding. In 2003, Tse crashed his Toyota Camry into Wan Chai train station. He was banned from driving for six months and fined HK$4,000 for reckless driving.
Discography
Cantonese albums My Attitude (1997) Horizons (1998) Believe (1999) Zero Distance (2000) Viva (2000) Senses (2001) Jade Butterfly (2001) Me (2002) Reborn (2003) One Inch Closer (2005)
Mandarin albums Grateful for Your Love '99 (1999) Understand (2000) The Prophecy (2001) Listen Up (2004) Release (2005) Last (2009) Chef Nic (2015)
Filmography
Film Year English title Chinese title Role Notes/ 1998 Young and Dangerous: The Prequel Chan Ho-nam Hong Kong Film Award for Best New Performer1999 Gen-X Cops Jack A Man Called Hero Sword Hua Metade Fumaca Smokey Nominated – Hong Kong Film Award for Best Original Film Song Street Angels The Mirror Siu-ming 2000 Twelve Nights Kit Winner Takes All Ferrari Time and Tide Tyler Yim 2001 Comic King Knife Master Q 2001 Fred/Howard Heroes in Love Writer/co-director only My Schoolmate, the Barbarian Stone 2002 Inspector Tide Yau 2002 Tiramisu Ko Fung Demi-Haunted Chang Ho-fung 2003 The Medallion Waiter Cameo2004 Jade Goddess of Mercy Maojie Enter the Phoenix Cock Head Cameo Moving Targets Cheung Wai-kit New Police Story Frank Cheng Hundred Flowers Award for Best Supporting Actor2005 A Chinese Tall Story Tripitaka The Promise Duke Wuhuan 2006 McDull, the Alumni Old man in toilet Dragon Tiger Gate Tiger Wong Rob-B-Hood Nicholas Cameo The Heavenly Kings Himself Cameo 2007 Invisible Target Detective Chan Chun 2008 Beast Stalker Sergeant Tong Fei Storm Rider Clash of the Evils Striding Cloud 2009 The Storm Warriors Heartless Bodyguards and Assassins Deng Sidi Asian Film Award for Best Supporting Actor Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated – Golden Horse Award for Best Supporting Actor2010 Hot Summer Days Wai The Stool Pigeon Ghost Jr. Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actor2011 Shaolin Tsao Man Nominated – Hong Kong Film Award for Best Supporting Actor Treasure Inn Master Kung 2012 The Viral Factor Man Yeung Nominated – Golden Horse Award for Best Actor The Bullet Vanishes Captain Guo Zhui 2013 The Midas Touch Himself Cameo 2014 As the Light Goes Out Sam From Vegas to Macau Cool But Always Zhao Yongyuan 2015 12 Golden Ducks Ma Chi-kin The Spirit of the Swords Edited version of The Spirit of Sword 2016 I Love That Crazy Little Thing Ouyang Qi Heartfall Arises John Ma 2017 Cook Up a Storm Sky Ko 2018 Air Strike Lei Tao Special appearance 2019 Undercover Punch and Gun Officer He 2021 Raging Fire Yau Kong-ngo Good Night Beijing Chef 2024 Customs Frontline Chow Ching-lai Also action director 2026 Blades of the Guardians Diting TBA Raging Havoc Chow Also action director New Police Story 2 Frank Cheng Also director
Television Year English title Chinese title Role Notes 1998 Aiming High Chiu Ka Chun TV debut 2002 The Monkey King: Quest for the Sutra Chung Kwai cameo Secretly Loving You Himself cameo 2003 Hearts of Fencing Himself cameo 2005 The Proud twins Hua Wu Que 2007 Wing Chun Leung Bik Big Shot Yang Fan The Spirit of Sword Hu Yan Da Zang 2012 Jian Xia Qing Yuan 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 Liang Hai En Super Boy (2013) one of the main judges in the Finale 2014 Chef Nic the show's on-camera chef a Chinese food travelogue show 2015 Chef Nic 2 the show's on-camera chef a Chinese food travelogue show 2016 Chef Nic 3 the show's on-camera chef a Chinese food travelogue show Lady Bees one of the 2 coaches a women's group music cultivation reality show 2017 Chef Nic 2017 the show's on-camera chef a Chinese food travelogue show 2018 Chef Nic 2018 the show's on-camera chef a Chinese food travelogue show Celebrity Chef: East vs West the show's on-camera chef a Chinese food competition show Sing! China one of the 4 judges The Chinese Voice 2020 Me to Us one of the 3 judges band forming reality show Sing! China one of the 4 judges the Chinese Voice 2021 Chef Nic • People’s Palate Food Taste Officer &. Producer a Chinese food travelogue show
References
Notes
External links