While the energy lasts: Carina Lau says her golden years are 60 to 70
She says after 70, her body won't sustain travel and social obligations; 60 to 70 is instead her most emotionally stable decade—the time to visit Egypt, Jerusalem, and other longtime wishes while she can.
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The argument · tap a timestamp to hear it
At seventeen, she negotiated her way back in with her own counter-offer
In her first audition for the wireless training program, Lau lasted only two sentences of Cantonese before being sent away—one of 3,000 candidates. Two weeks later, the head instructor's secretary called her back. They said her Cantonese was weak and suggested she try again next year. She refused to leave. Instead, she proposed a deal on the spot: test her every three months, and they could let her go anytime if she didn't pass. She'd suggested these terms herself, and the training program accepted—even assigning extra tutors for language, dance, and music. She credits her own drive to improve for changing their minds.
— Liu JialingYou owe no explanations to people who just want the drama
When she was young, media distortions and out-of-context reporting hurt. Now she doesn't care what anyone says. She answers to herself, not to gossips. The shift came from learning which friends lift you up and which ones drag you down—she chooses people with wisdom, reads books on inner life, and lets those things help her process outside judgment. Other people's noise: let them have it.
— Liu JialingLife that blooms from hardship shines more brightly
Hiking a 3,000-meter peak in Bhutan, Lau stopped for water during a day of rain and sun. There, on a tree past the season when rhododendrons still bloom at lower elevations, one vivid flower had opened. Rain fell on its petals, then on her face. She and her friend wept on the spot. That blossom survived harsh conditions and bloomed anyway—that kind of life force, born from hardship, must be far stronger than anything that grew in a greenhouse.
— Liu JialingYou can feel bad, but don't let it camp out
She doesn't deny pain exists or that she gets stuck in it. But she doesn't let those feelings stay long. The trick: force yourself to move, go outside, switch your mood on purpose. Even grief at the scale of losing a parent—the worst—will lift after three months. Time heals everything. Staying unhappy too long only hurts you, and that's not worth it.
— Liu JialingAn agent's credibility evaporates the moment she profits
When Hollywood approached Tony Leung about Shang-Chi, Lau didn't know Marvel herself. She asked young people why it was so big at the box office, then watched Marvel films and decided he should do it. He was skeptical—didn't see himself in that kind of movie. She had him call the director directly; once he heard the pitch, he chose to take the role. It opened him to a whole new audience of teenagers and twentysomethings. She made a point of taking no commission on this deal. Once you take money, she says, any advice you give loses its weight.
— Liu JialingWhen an actor practices at home, that's his work, not a mood
Tony Leung spends half a year to nine months preparing a role. Once he's in character, he starts speaking in that character's voice at home without telling her, practicing his walk. She didn't get it at first—she'd wonder if she'd married a gangster for life. Eventually she understood: this is how he works. He gets anxious if he feels he hasn't stepped into the character fully each day. After wrapping, he needs time to step back out, or he gets mentally disoriented.
— Liu JialingIn Hong Kong's golden age, no one was a star yet
Looking back at works like Days of Being Wild, she notes everyone was in their twenties—directors barely thirty—with no hierarchy of untouchable stars. The director could assemble anyone, shoot however, endlessly, and nobody complained. Everyone was just making art together. That's why the eight decades-ending to nine decades-ending period became Hong Kong cinema's golden era. Films after 2000 were bigger, more commercial; the whole feeling changed.
— Liu JialingSixty to seventy is when life actually gets golden
She describes herself as faking maturity at twenty, messing up at thirty, overconfident at forty. From fifty to sixty, she'd stabilized emotionally. But sixty to seventy—that's the golden decade. No more dreams she has to chase. Her body still carries her through travel, drinks, meals. After seventy, the body can't keep up. So now is the time to go to Egypt, Jerusalem, Bodh Gaya in India—places she's always wanted to see. Her mindset has shifted from ‘living in the moment’ to ‘living each moment well.’
— Liu JialingIn their own words · checked verbatim
I don't know where I got that nerve back then. I just wouldn't leave. I told them: you just said my conditions are good—so why won't you let me into the program?
哎 我不知道那个时候 我哪里来的那种胆子啊 我就不走啊 我说你都觉得我条件很好了 你为什么不让我进训练班
Liu Jialing14:07
What other people say, it doesn't matter—it doesn't matter. I just need to be true to my own life. I don't owe you an explanation. If you want to watch the drama, go ahead.
不同的声音 无所谓 无所谓 就是我要对得起我自己的人生嘛 我又不需要跟你交代 你看热闹 你去看热闹嘛
Liu Jialing20:14
There was a flower on that tree, blooming so vivid. Rain dripped onto its petals, then dripped on my face. In that moment, I was deeply moved.
那一棵树上的那一只花 非常艳丽的开在那里 雨就这样滴落在那个花瓣上 然后滴落在我的脸上 那一刻我非常的感动
Liu Jialing26:16
Even the biggest thing in life—losing my father, the worst pain—after three months you're okay. Time heals everything. You'll be okay.
人生最大的一个事情 就算我失去我的父亲 最痛了 你过了三个月 还是会没事的 时间会治愈一切 还是会没事的
Liu Jialing36:21
Once I take a commission, my words lose their force. He'll think: when she's telling me to take this film, she's trying to make money off me.
因为我一拿commission 我讲话就没有力量了 因为他会觉得 我在叫他接电影的时候 你想赚那个commission
Liu Jialing43:23
So he works hard. If he feels he's not in character even for a day, he gets anxious. And when he wraps, he needs time to step back out.
所以他其实他很辛苦的 他一天觉得他不是那个角色 他就很焦虑了 然后呢 他拍完还需要一段时间走出来哦
Liu Jialing58:36
We could shoot any way. It could go forever. No one complained. We were all just doing something together—making art.
怎么拍都可以 永远都拍不完也可以 就是也没有任何的complain 就是大家共同在去做一件事情
Liu Jialing1:02:37
I really don't have a signature role—I regret that, I think. But it doesn't bother me. I don't think I shortchanged myself. I did work I loved.
我真的没有 我没有一个很像样的代表作 我很遗憾我觉得 但是也无所谓 我觉得我也没有亏待我自己 我也做了我自己喜欢的事情
Liu Jialing1:03:38
Figures
| Wireless training program applicants | 3000 | 13:06 |
| Years together with Tony Leung | nearly forty | 37:21 |
| Bhutan hiking peak elevation | 3000+ meters | 25:16 |
| New Labrador age | 1.5 years | 53:29 |
How to listen
Listeners interested in celebrity marriage dynamics, an agent's role, aging mindset, and Hong Kong's golden-age cinema—especially those seeking real stories of how couples actually live together.
49:00–54:00 dog-owning segment: charming but tangential; skip if time is short.