ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES – Hong Kong actor Shawn Yue has explained why he almost disappeared from the public eye for six years.
The artiste made a rare public appearance at a branding event on Friday, disclosing that he suffered from panic disorder.
“I have hardly participated in public activities since the beginning of the pandemic because I had severe panic attacks before that, and I would suddenly feel very scared,” said the 41-year-old at the event.
Yue recalled that one such attack took place on a plane. “I was flying to France to shoot a commercial and I went crazy when the plane took off,” he said. “I couldn’t breathe all of a sudden and kept saying I wanted to get off the plane.” It led him to cut down on his public appearances.
The actor added that his condition is now stable, probably due to the long break he took during the pandemic. Yue, who is known for acting in movies such as the Infernal Affairs trilogy (2002 to 2003), Love In A Puff trilogy (2010 to 2017) and Mad World (2016), said he used to shoot seven to eight movies in a year.
Yue clarified that he has not left show business, saying that he has been writing scripts recently.
“I prefer spending time behind the scenes as I meet fewer people,” he said. “We do different things at different phases (of our lives).”
