Tony Leung used to be very outgoing as a child but became withdrawn after his parents divorced. Photo: AFP
Although Hong Kong superstar Tony Leung Chiu Wai spend a lot of time in front of the camera and attend large-scale events, he is still plagued by social anxiety.
His wife Carina Lau revealed this in an old interview which has resurfaced.
In the video, Lau, 57, revealed that her husband would buy six seats for himself whenever he went to the cinema alone.
“He would go to the cinema by himself in the early morning. If you go to a cinema in Hong Kong at around 10am, you may bump into him.
“He buys six seats but would only sit in one of them because he’s afraid that people might disturb him. He’s very socially anxious,” she said.
After the video was uploaded on Weibo, the topic “Tony Leung buys six seats at the cinema” quickly gained traction and ranked fifth in the social media's hot search list, with over 1.2 million searches.
Many netizens found the actor's actions to be amusing yet endearing. Some also made diagrams to figure out which seats he would reserve to isolate himself from the crowd.
Many netizens made diagrams to figure out Leung's seating plans. Photo: Pa Die/Weibo
Earlier in January, Leung started a Douyin account where he opened up about his social anxiety.
“I get nervous when I meet people for the first time and feel restless when it gets too crowded. There are many things I wish to share with others, but I don’t know how to express myself with words,” he said.
The In The Mood For Love star admitted that he used to be very outgoing as a child, but became withdrawn and started keeping to himself after his parents divorced.
To keep his anxiety in check when going for events, Leung swears by these three steps – smile, wave and give everyone a tiny heart sign.
The 61-year-old actor also said that he would be taking time to appreciate the little things outside work.
“Simplicity is the best. The simpler, the better,” he added.
