Former Hong Kong Category III actress Teresa Mak mocked by own kids over her old nudes

The past occasionally comes back to haunt the present, and former Hong Kong Category III actress Teresa Mak probably expected it would happen eventually, given her public history.

But to have it coming from her own three kids? It hurt so bad that the 44-year-old suffered from depression, she admitted in recent media reports.

Teresa was 17 when she took part in the 1993 Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant and was a hot contender for the crown. But when her nude photos - taken when she was only 15 and underaged - were deliberately leaked to the media, she was kicked out of the competition.

Teresa then took on a sexy image for her showbiz career, acting in several Category III movies where she appeared in the nude. She later married a lawyer and settled into family life.

However, her three children, aged 12 to seven, have found her old nudes and mocked her about it.

Her eldest son had also watched her previous Category III shows and asked Teresa why she took the sexy photos. She admitted to slapping her eldest son in a moment of anger.

She told Hong Kong reporters that she regrets her youthful transgressions and added: "After I had cooled down, I told my son, 'No matter what, I'm your mother, why do you say the same things as other people?'

"I was obstinate when I was younger and refused to tell my parents anything," she recounted. "I don't want my son to shut down communications with us and make the same mistakes I did."

To keep her spirits up, she consoled herself that family members would inevitably say hurtful things to each other. "What else can I do? Fortune favours fools."

kwokkarpeng@asiaone.com