Golden Horse Awards: Wu Kang-ren grabs best leading actor award

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) Taiwanese actor Wu Kang-ren (吳慷仁) beat out strong contenders to win best leading actor honors at the Golden Horse Awards on Saturday for his performance in the Malaysian drama "Abang Adik" (富都青年), directed by Jin Ong (王禮霖).

In the movie, the 41-year-old Wu portrays Abang (阿邦), a mute migrant worker who grew up in Kuala Lumpur as an orphan and seeks a stable life in the face of harsh reality.

In his acceptance speech, an emotional Wu thanked the film's Malaysian cast and crew, especially Ong, for writing "a story with love" and sharing it with a Taiwanese actor.

"Meeting all of you in Malaysia, a foreign land, was truly wonderful serendipity," Wu said.

He also thanked his Malaysian co-star Jack Tan (陳澤耀) for taking care of him when they were filming in Malaysia and helping him overcome the language barrier.

Although he is a self-managed actor "still trying to figure out acting," Wu said his passion for his craft drove him to take on numerous roles within a short time, often requiring him to gain and lose weight to fit the needs of different productions.

Although the approach did not work out as well as he had hoped, Wu said he nonetheless discovered his limits in the process, and is hopeful the next phase of his career will be even more successful.

Other actors nominated for the best actor award were Wang Po-chieh (王柏傑) for "Eye of the Storm" (疫起), Ethan Juan (阮經天) for "The Pig, the Snake and the Pigeon" (周處除三害), Hsu Kuang-han (許光漢) for "Marry My Dead Body" (關於我和鬼變成家人的那件事) and Austin Lin" (林柏宏), also for "Marry My Dead Body."

The awards are considered the Chinese-language Oscars and are one of the most prestigious film events in the Chinese-speaking world.

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