Raymond Lam

Raymond Lam (Jyutping: lam4 fung1; born 8 December 1979) is a Hong Kong actor and singer who is best known for roles in the television dramas A Step into the Past, Twin of Brothers, Moonlight Resonance, Highs and Lows and Line Walker and was dubbed the King of Chok after his role in The Mysteries of Love.

Raymond Lam was born in Xiamen, China, on 8 December 1979, but moved to Hong Kong at the age of 2.

His father, Lam Kwok-Wah (林國華), is a real-estate property developer in the mainland referred to as "Xiamen's Li Ka-shing" (廈門李嘉誠; ) who sits on the board of seven real estate and construction companies.

While his first languages are Cantonese and Hokkien, Lam studied in Kiangsu and Chekiang Primary School, a primarily Mandarin-speaking primary school in pre-Handover Hong Kong and is thus also fluent in Mandarin and English.

Raymond Lam's childhood dream was to become a professional singer and dancer.

He studied in St. Paul's College, Hong Kong for Secondary School.

Following that, he studied architecture in Xiamen University for 1st Year, and then completed the rest at University of Southern California, majoring in architecture and minoring in music.

The series was met with critical acclaim, and subsequently became the highest rated Hong Kong drama since 1991.

Lam attended the 13th TVB artists training class in 1998 as an auditing student and was offered a contract with TVB upon graduation in September 1998.

In the earlier part of his career, Lam appeared as a walk-on in numerous television series and as a host for TVB8.

Lam rose to fame for his portrayal of the ruthless Qin Shi Huang in the historical/science fiction drama A Step into the Past (2001).

He was then offered his first lead role in Eternal Happiness (2002).

In 2003, Lam won the TVB Anniversary Award for "Most Improved Male Artiste" for his performance in the legal drama, Survivor's Law.

In 2004, Lam gained fame in China for his role as Kou Chong in Twin of Brothers, and won several awards.

After a one-year hiatus in 2005 due to inner conflicts in TVB, Lam made his comeback in La Femme Desperado (2006), which became the highest rated drama of the year.

In 2007, Lam was cast in The Drive of Life, a grand production by TVB to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong reunification.

The following year, Lam returned to star in the Moonlight Resonance, the sequel to Heart of Greed.

Also in 2008, Lam starred in the wuxia drama The Four.

His portrayal of the character "Wu Qing" was met with critical acclaim from fans of the original novel by Woon Swee Oan.

This was followed by a starring role in the martial arts series The Master of Tai Chi, for which he won "Best Actor" at the Asian Television Awards.

In 2010, Lam starred in The Mysteries of Love, where he portrayed a genius physics professor.

Lam's portrayal of a professor was described by audience using the slang word "Chok", which means "cool or handsome, to the point of electrifying".

Lam stated that he thinks the word means "professional/serious" instead.

Subsequently, the term went viral and Lam was named as the "King of Chok".

The same year, Lam also made his foray into films, starring in Perfect Wedding with Miriam Yeung and The Jade and the Pearl with Charlene Choi.

In 2011, Lam starred in the Chinese film The Sorcerer and the White Snake, portraying Xu Xian.

The film was one of the top 5 grossing Chinese films of the year, and Lam was ranked on Forbes China Celebrity List for the first time.

In 2012, Lam played a policeman for the first time in Highs and Lows.

High and Lows was the most watched Hong Kong drama in China that year, and Lam won "Best Actor" at the Huading Awards.

The same year, Lam starred in the comedy film, Love Is...Pyjamas.

The same year, he took on the role of Zhuge Liang in the time-travel historical drama, Three Kingdoms RPG.

In 2013, Lam starred in Saving General Yang, portraying the fifth son Yang Yande.

He also headlined the horror film, Baby Blues.

On the small screen, he starred in historical drama, Loved in the Purple.

In 2014, he portrayed Han Wudi in the drama The Virtuous Queen of Han, which won him the "Top 10 Most Popular Actor" award at the 9th Chinese TV Audience Festival.

He also starred in the hit Hong Kong drama, Line Walker (使徒行者).

His character Sit Ka-keung "Bao Seed" was praised by critics for being the "soul/essence" of the drama.

His onscreen partnership with Charmaine Sheh was also favoured by viewers.

He became a stronger contender for "Best Actor" award in 2014 TVB Anniversary Awards.

Lam won the "Best Actor" award at the 15th Huading Awards for his performance in both dramas.