Shawn Yu Man Lok was born on November 13, 1981. He started out in modeling and made his first movie appearance in an independent film called Leaving Sorrowfully (2001). Yu first gained popularity in Taiwan thanks to his work in the idol TV series Tomorrow, but in Hong Kong he was mainly known for being Candy Lo’s ex-boyfriend at the time.Hyped as a possible replacement for Nicholas Tse, he finally arrived on the HK movie scene in 2002, making appearances in popular, high-profile films like "Just One Look" and "Infernal Affairs." In addition, Yu has recently received both positive and negative attention by posing for some risqué photos in Taiwan’s "Vogue" magazine, and for his World War II-themed photo book in which he is dressed as a German soldier. (Yinique 2003)He played Takeshi Nakazato in the movie "Initial D" which also featured Edison Chen, Chapman To and Jay Zhou.According to the latest media release, Yu only appeared for less than half an hour in the movie Initial D. However, despite the short appearance, his portrayal of Nakazato managed to leave a deep impression on many viewers, especially in Japan, where this has resulted directly in many new Japanese fans of Yu and a new lucrative market has opened up for him to conquer.