Derek Tsang Kwok-Cheung
Born
November 8, 1979 (45 years old)
Known For
Acting
Place of Birth
Hong Kong, China
Derek Tsang Kwok-Cheung (曾國祥; born 8 November 1979) is a Hong Kong film director and actor. The son of actor Eric Tsang, Tsang got his start in the Hong Kong film industry working for director Peter Chan Ho-Sun after graduating from the University of Toronto Scarborough in 2001. He made his acting debut in Men Suddenly in Black (2003) and directorial debut with Lover's Discourse (2010), sharing the directing credit with Jimmy Wan Chi-man. The duo was nominated for a Golden Horse Award for Best New Director in 2010.
His solo directorial debut Soul Mate (2016) was critically praised, receiving a Hong Kong Film Award for Best Film nomination at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards. His next film Better Days (2019) was the Hong Kong submission for the Academy Awards and received a Best International Feature Film nomination, becoming the first Hong Kong submission directed by a Hong Kong native to do so.
After graduation, he moved back to Hong Kong, where his father arranged for him to work under director Peter Chan Ho-Sun. There, he met producer Jojo Hui and director Jimmy Wan Chi-man, both of whom would go on to be Tsang's frequent collaborators.
Despite not pursuing an acting career, Tsang has had a variety of acting roles since the start of his career, which he attributed to other actors not wanting to be typecast into roles with unflattering characteristics. He made his screen debut in Men Suddenly in Black (2003), cameoing as the younger version of his father's character. There he met director Pang Ho-cheung, whom Tsang would later collaborate with on various projects.
Tsang made his solo directorial debut with Soul Mate (2016). He was subsequently nominated for Best Director awards at various film award ceremonies, including at the 36th Hong Kong Film Awards and the 53rd Golden Horse Awards.
His next film, Better Days (2019), won eight out of 12 categories at the 39th Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film and Best Director. The film was subsequently chosen as the official entry for Hong Kong for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards. It was shortlisted but lost to Denmark's Another Round. He was the first native Hong Kong director in the category.
Tsang said his influences are primarily derived from art-house cinema, with early influences from director Wong Kar-wai and the French New Wave, as opposed to his father Eric Tsang's works, which consisted of mostly of mainstream comedies. He credits his half-sister Bowie Tsang for teaching him about film and literature.
Tsang married actress Venus Wong in 2019. He has expressed a reluctance to cast Wong due to the negative perception of nepotism.

Anita
ENT Doctor
2021

Stoma
Lim's Brother
2020

Missbehavior
2019

The Brink
Sheng
2017

Love Off the Cuff
Cherie's Younger Brother
2017

S Storm
Joe Ma
2016

Robbery
Lau Kin-Ping
2016

From Vegas to Macau III
Interpol
2016

House of Wolves
Steve Shit
2016

Lazy Hazy Crazy
Madame Glaze
2015

The Challenge
(17 episodes)
2014

Two for the Night
2014

Zombie Fight Club
David
2014

Z Storm
Joe Ma
2014

Aberdeen
2014

Naked Ambition 3D
Simon Yuen
2014

Golden Chickensss
Male Prostitute
2014

SDU: Sex Duties Unit
Dried Shrimp
2013

My Sassy Hubby
Robber
2012

Triad
Xiang
2012

The Thieves
Johnny
2012

Love in the Buff
Cherie's Brother
2012

Girl$
Chun
2010

Ex
Sol
2010

Once a Gangster
Young Roast Pork
2010

Dream Home
Cheung Jai
2010

Crossing Hennessy
Doctor at Emergency Ward
2010

Claustrophobia
John
2008

Ocean Flame
Third Brother's Assistant
2008

Tactical Unit - No Way Out
Fai
2008

Run Papa Run
Chicken
2008

Scare 2 Die
2008

Dead Air
Rock/Lok Chun
2007

Single Blog
2007

My Name Is Fame
Lok
2006

On the Edge
Mini B
2006

Midnight Running
Peter
2006

The Third Eye
Gum
2006

Isabella
Yan's Suitor
2006

Cocktail
Kuen
2006

AV
Band-Aid
2005

It Had To Be You
2005

The Eye 2
Joey's Co-Worker
2004

The Park
Dan
2003

Men Suddenly in Black
Young Tin Yau
2003

Shadow
2001