Kevin Chu (actor)

Chu was born on 5 January 1989 in Hong Kong.^[1][2] His father worked in film producing,^[3] and he has an elder sister.^[2] His family migrated to Vancouver, Canada when he was two years old, and he grew up there until 1997, when he moved back to Hong Kong.^[4] He studied at St. Louis School and Wah Yan College, Kowloon,^[4] where his father was also an alumnus of the latter.^[5] Chu was a swimmer and started training competitively at the age of eight.^[6] He began representing Hong Kong in 2001 when he was 14.^[4][7][8] He broke the inter-school Grade B record for the 200 meters freestyle with a time of two minutes and 4.35 seconds in 2003, and he won the gold medal again in the same event in 2004, with a time of two minutes and 1.68 seconds.^[8] Also in 2004, he set a record for the boys' 200 meters freestyle (15-17 age group) with a time of two minutes and 12.02 seconds at the Hong Kong Age Group Championships.^[9]

Chu returned to Canada for university in 2007 and attended the University of British Columbia, majoring in human geography.^[4][10] He represented Hong Kong at the Asian Games and FISU World University Games,^[11] but did not qualify for the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics.^[6][7][12] He retired from swimming during his university years.^[7] As of March 2022, Chu is still the record holder for the Hong Kong short course 400-meter individual medley.^[4] Chu had also been modeling during university years,^[13] after conducting interviews about his swimming career with magazines, which led to him being approached by a modeling agency.^[2] After graduating, he briefly worked in an office job.^[11]

In 2013, Chu befriended director Dante Lam at the premiere of Unbeatable, where he was given a minor role as a bike racer due to his athletic background in Lam's next feature To the Fore.^[3][14] However, he only signed with Louis Koo's talent agency in 2016, as he believed contracts were "a commitment" and felt it was "not the right time" before then.^[3] That year, Chu shared the titular role of young David with David Siu in the ViuTV series Margaret & David: Beginning [zh], and landed a main role as triad leader Lok Wai in the crime thriller web series Infernal Affairs. He also played the younger version of Lee Lee-zen's character in the drama film Sisterhood,^[15] and the drug-addicted brother of Louis Koo's character in the crime drama Dealer/Healer.^[11] In 2018, he had a main role as Xu Xin-cheng in the Chinese web series Granting You a Dreamlike Life [zh],^[16][17] and a supporting role as Makino, a bank staff member and major crime suspect, in the detective film Napping Kid [zh].^[18] In 2019, he and Angela Yuen played the younger versions of the lead duo Alex Lam [zh] and Michelle Wai in the film Lion Rock [zh], which was praised by Edmund Lee of the South China Morning Post as a "charming duo" and being "cute to watch".^[19]

In 2022, Chu made a special appearance in the ViuTV sports series I SWIM [zh],^[20] and played Nick Yan, a kind-hearted brother of Tavia Yeung's character, in the business thriller Modern Dynasty [zh].^[21] He also starred as aspiring social worker Sing Shun in Look Up [zh],^[22] and as Sincere Resell King in Social Distancing [zh].^[23] He also secured another lead role alongside Cecilia Choi and Tony Wu in the anthology film Tales from the Occult: Body and Soul [zh],^[24][25] and appeared in the thriller films Bursting Point and The Goldfinger.^[26][27] In late 2023, he played ice hockey player "Papa" Ha Chun-yin in the ViuTV series Sparks [zh],^[28] and as Shum Fei-fei, a genius hacker who helps his police friend (played by Chrissie Chau) crack crimes, in the web series Dead Ringer [zh] broadcast on TVB.^[29] Chu's simultaneous appearances on both major TV stations garnered public attention, and his performances in both works received praise.^[30][31] He then portrayed police officer Cheung Tin-ming in the Netflix-Tencent series See Her Again,^[32] and appeared as a travel writer in the drama film Little Red Sweet.^[33] Chu also gained public recognition with the role Hong Yu, the son of Louis Koo's fictional character Hong Siu-lung [zh], in the 2025 historical sci-fi film Back to the Past,^[5][34][35] which is currently fifth highest-grossing Hong Kong film of all time.^[36]