Simon Yam joins main cast for film “The Professionals”

Simon Yam [1STLOOK]

Hong Kong's leading actor and film producer Simon Yam has joined the main cast of a Korean crime-action pic, revealed the film’s promoter 1STLOOK on Thursday.

According to a press release by 1STLOOK, Yam will make his first appearance in “The Professionals,” the so-called Korean version of Hollywood’s 2001-film “Ocean’s Eleven,” also starring high profile Korean actors Lee Jung-jae, Kim Hye-soo, Oh Dal-soo, Gianna Jun, Kim Hae-sook and Kim Soo-hyun.

The basic storyline is about thieves from Korea and China teaming up with each other to steal a diamond worth 40 billion won locked away in a casino in Macao.

Yam will play the calm and experienced leader of a four-member Chinese thieves group, who only reluctantly agrees to join in the latest project in order to resolve his debts but comes to harbor unexpected feelings toward one of the female thieves from Korea.

“How I hated him when I was young because he always appeared as the evil guy that killed all my heroes. Now that I will meet him, I will see how well an actor can age with time and experience,” director Choi Dong-hoon who will helm “The Professionals” was quoted as saying in the statement while expressing his expectations in getting to work with Yam.

Yam has starred in over 150 noir-actions films in Hong Kong including “PTU,” “SPL,” ”Election” and “Exiled" which are some of the well-known works by renowned Hong Kong director Johnnie To as well as other highly noted films such as “Bullet In The Head,” “Once Upon A Time In China,” “The Killer” and “The Legend of Ip Man.”

He won the Golden Bauhinia Awards for Best Actor for “PTU” and “Election” and a trophy for best actor at the 29th Hong Kong Film Awards last year.

Meanwhile, the film which will be Choi’s fourth feature film following his other crime movies “The Big Swindle” (2004), “The War of Flower” (2006) and “WOOCHI” (2009), will crank in around June in Hong Kong and Macao.

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