In Wong Kar-wai’s classic film 'Happy Together', the characters 'Ho Po-Wing' played by Leslie Cheung and 'Lai Yiu-Fai' played by Tony Leung left a profound impression on audiences. On the 21st, news emerged that Ho Po-Wing—the namesake inspiration for the character and a veteran camera assistant on Wong Kar-wai’s team—has passed away. A friend announced on social media that Ho passed away peacefully that afternoon, accompanied by his wife and family.
Ho Po-Wing joined Wong Kar-wai’s crew starting from the 1994 film 'Chungking Express', and continued to collaborate all the way to '2046'. During the filming of 'Happy Together' in 1997, Wong Kar-wai, on a whim, decided to use the real names of the crew’s two camera assistants, 'Ho Po-Wing' and 'Lai Yiu-Fai', as the names of the two main characters in the film.
In an interview before his passing, Ho Po-Wing revealed that he knew nothing about this at first, until, on set in Argentina, he heard Tony Leung loudly call out 'Ho Po-Wing', and only then realized his own name had become that of a character. When he asked why, Wong Kar-wai replied with a touch of humor: 'Your name is just too good!' Reportedly, halfway through filming, Leslie Cheung even walked up to him jokingly and said: 'Ho Po-Wing, you’re such a tough character to play!' The line from the film, 'Lai Yiu-Fai, why don’t we start over from the beginning,' has now, with Ho Po-Wing’s passing, become a final farewell.
Source: Hong Kong 01