Still Burning Bright

Canto-pop diva Anita Mui left the world at the pinnacle of her career. Eighteen years later, her producer friend Bill Kong and model Louise Wong tell her life story

- Zabrina Lo

When Louise Wong got the call from Edko Film executive director Bill Kong that she had been chosen, out of thousands of candidates, to portray Canto-pop icon Anita Mui in her biopic, she bought a ticket to Thailand immediately. But it wasn’t to celebrate—she was overwhelmed. “My hands were shaking. I was very scared,” Wong says. “I stayed in the hotel for one week and spent the first two days crying. I didn’t know what to do.”

That she looks the part is without question. The fashion model, who is the only Hongkonger to have won the Elite Model Look Asia Pacific regional contest, which she took part in in 2006, has since been a favourite among brands including Shanghai Tang, Louis Vuitton and Giorgio Armani. Her facial features—the sculpted cheekbones, snub nose and deep-set eyes—eerily conjure up Mui’s face.

But to play the late diva takes more than looks. “Mui is unreachable in so many ways, singing, dancing and acting,” says Wong, who makes her acting debut in the simply titled Anita. “I’m nowhere near. I was venturing into a whole new field.” Her nerves are understandable. Nearly two decades after her death from cervical cancer in 2003, Mui remains a legend. She is one of only three Hong Kong icons to have had a bronze statue erected in their honour in the Avenue of Stars; the other two are Bruce Lee and the cartoon character McDull.