Mark Lee Nominated for Best Actor in Golden Horse Awards for a Film That’s Not in Cinemas Yet

If you’ve watched enough local TV, you’d know who this man is. Mark Lee (not the one from NCT) is a veteran actor from Singapore. The multi-talented actor is also a comedian, television host, director and recently, a Facebook livestream seller:

In the days where free-to air channels were still the most popular form of television in Singapore, you may have seen him on several channels while switching between Channel 5, Channel 8 and even Okto.

And the man now can add another achievement to his name: Golden Horse Award Nominee.

Nominated for Best Leading Actor

On Wednesday (30 September), the live-streamed nominations ceremony for the Golden Horse Awards revealed that the 51-year old was nominated for Best Leading Actor in his upcoming film Number 1.

If you’re wondering why you’ve not watched the movie even when you’re a hardcore Mark Lee fan, fret not; the movie is not showing in cinemas yet. In fact, it is slated to be released later this year.

Hopefully, that is.

The MM2 production features Mark as a retrenched general manager of a multinational company, who is forced to be a drag queen in order to support his family.

However, there is no doubt that this man deserves the nomination.

To play a drag queen, Mark also rehearsed in heels for the dance scenes featured in the movie. Along with his many years of experience in the industry and his talent, his nomination for Best Leading Actor is well deserved.

Competitors

Mark is nominated in this category alongside four other actors:

Liu Kuan-ting, My Missing Valentine
The 32-year-old Taiwanese actor, best known for his role A Boy Named Flora A, also won Best Supporting Actor in the 2019 Golden Horse Awards.

Austin Lin, i WEIRDO
Also a 32-year-old and from Taiwan, he is best known for his role in the Taiwanese film Café 6, and won Best Supporting Actor in the 2016 Golden Horse Awards.

Mo Tzu-yi, Dear Tenant
Mo, 39, won Best Actor for his role in Dear Tenant at the 2020 Taiwan Film Festival which was held earlier this year.

Lam Ka-Tung, Hand Rolled Cigarette
Also known as Gordon Lam, the 53-year-old Hong Kong actor has an impressive filmography including the hit show Ip Man. He won Best Actor at the 2017 Hong Kong Film Awards.

Seems like tough competition.

The 2020 Golden Horse Awards ceremony will be held in Taipei on November 21 later this year.

So, why is this news?

History of Golden Horse Awards

The Golden Horse Awards may sound like any other ordinary awards ceremony, but did you know that it is the Chinese-language cinema’s Academy Awards?

It is one of the most prestigious and time-honoured film awards in Chinese-language cinema, and recognises excellent filmmakers and actors in the region.

Actors like Aaron Kwok, Jackie Chan and Andy Lau have won best actors at previous editions of the awards ceremony as well.

So, you know, this is legit.

Singapore actors and productions have also been nominated in prior years. We even managed to bag three awards last year.

Last year, Yeo Yann Yann (Malaysian) won the prestigious award for Best Actress for her role in Wet Season (Singapore film). A Land Imagined, a mystery thriller film by Yeo Siew Hua, won Best Original Screenplay and Best Original Score.

At the 2013 edition of the awards, Ilo Ilo took home Best Film, Best New Director and Best Original Screenplay. In addition, Yeo Yann Yann also took home Best Supporting Actress for her role in the movie.

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