Actress Carina Lau keeps all the handwritten cards from husband Tony Leung, including 'quite a few apology letters'

As if people weren’t already envious enough of Tony Leung and Carina Lau’s relationship, the 60-year-old Hong Kong actress has given us yet another reason to swoon.

In a recent interview, Lau looked back on her relationship of 37 years with Leung, whom she started dating in 1989 and married in 2008. 

"What we have now is very real, stable, and something we truly cherish. To have come this far, we’ve weathered so many storms along the way," she said. 

"This industry is full of temptations, and for us to be able to settle where we are today, it’s because we deeply respect and genuinely admire one another.”

Lau and Leung are known to have vastly different personalities – she's highly sociable and loves interacting with others while Leung is known to be "socially awkward". 

She, however, believes they share the same core values on a spiritual level.

“I admire people who have the courage to challenge the world. Every time I see how serious he is about his work, I feel immense respect for him," she mused.

She also effused that her husband is someone who's willing to spend six to nine months preparing for a role: "With that kind of perseverance, it’s impossible not to succeed.”

Still, the actress admitted that she was bummed out for many years because of Leung's social anxiety. 

“Honestly, I was unhappy for many years. My friends would all go out in couples, and I’d ask him: ‘Why do you always refuse?’"

But when Leung forced himself to go along, Lau could tell he was very unhappy and uncomfortable, which made her wonder: "So why should I force him?"

The actress, however, divulged that her husband is "much better now" and has "started accompanying" her out more. 

She also made a point to clarify that Leung does not suffer from pathological social anxiety, but is simply a classic introvert: quiet and reserved during meaningless small talk, but can "talk non-stop" once he meets like-minded people or encounters topics he’s interested in.

Also, you'd be surprised, Leung is quite the old-school romantic himself too. 

Looking back at the birthday card he wrote for her 60th birthday, Lau recounted: “He thanked me for my companionship over all these years and said he hopes that we'll still be together like we are now when we're 60, 70, and 80 years old – happy and keeping each other company."

"It was very simple, but you can totally feel how sincere he is," she said sweetly.

When asked what's that one thing given by Leung that she most wanted to throw away, Lau then cooed that she could never bear to discard anything.

“He still picks out gifts and cards himself. Every Christmas card, wedding anniversary card, and birthday card, he puts so much thought into them and handwrites long messages," she said.

"Every single time, I’m deeply moved. I have so many cards in my cupboard, there are quite a few apology letters too," laughed Lau.

It turns out that the award-winning actor does reflect on himself whenever he's in the wrong.

“When he does something wrong, he might not say it out loud but he would write me a card to apologise. He would reflect on it himself and list down everything he'd done wrong," she chuckled. 

This story was originally published in 8Days.

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