Mingpao Interview with Bobby AuYeung (歐陽震華): 30 Years of Excellence

Another great interview from Mingpao! Bobby is one of my all-time favorite actors, so I definitely enjoyed this interview a lot. Oh, and of course, with Bobby’s awesome sense of humor, any interview with him is GUARANTEED to be funny!

Some highlights:

.> I loved the part where Bobby talks about his wife and the ‘money-tree’ thing – it was hilarious! Also, the part where he goes from giving his wife a ‘house’ to giving her a ‘button’…hahaha! That’s the quick-witted Bobby AuYeung for you!

.> I’m glad that Bobby talked about the thing with the ‘gam cho’ artists and how there’s a general lack of respect for them in the industry and in society in general. Those have been my exact sentiments for years now. Go Bobby!

.> Wait, Bobby once had a 24 inch waist? Is he sure about that? Hahahaha!

.> It’s obvious from Bobby’s interviews that he has a good head on his shoulders. I like the way he talked about how he was once neglected and even abandoned by TVB, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing because it helped him expand his horizons and see the outside world (plus he made a lot of money). Talk about turning a negative into a positive!

There were more highlights, but I’ll stop here and let you read the article on your own. It’s definitely a great one!

Enjoy!

.******.

Mingpao Interview with Bobby AuYeung: 30 Years of Excellence

Source: Mingpao

Translated by: llwy12

Bobby AuYeung has spent 30 ‘golden’ years in the entertainment industry. In 1981, he participated in TVB’s Acting Class and when he graduated the next year, he officially became a TVB contracted artist. At the time, he still went by his real name, AuYeung Yiu Chuen (歐陽耀泉) – he had a full head of hair and was skinny, with a 24 inch waist; he describes himself as the ‘Danny Chan’ type. In the past 30 years, he has built a career and family – [in 2000], he won the TV King award for his role as Song Chi in the series "Witness to a Prosecution" and he is the only TVB artist to be nominated for Best Actor at the Asian Emmy Awards for his role in "Dicey Business". Bobby admits that in the past, he had been given the ‘cold shoulder’ by TVB and in fact, was even abandoned by them – luckily, in his dictionary, there is no such word as ‘resentment’ (怨恨), only ‘gratefulness’ for his blessings (飲水思源). Therefore, every year, he makes time in his schedule to return to TVB and film series as a form of repayment.

Some of Bobby’s same year Acting Class classmates include Tony Leung, Stephen Chow, Francis Ng, Eddie Cheung, Eddie Kwan, etc. Upon graduating, each of them rose to ‘leading actor’ status one by one, however at the time, Bobby was still doing mostly small roles [‘ke le fe’] in series. 5 years after graduating from the Acting Class, Bobby had participated in 30 series – unfortunately though, his role in most of those series were so insignificant, most people probably don’t even remember the names of the characters he played.


TVB didn’t promote, but luckily the audiences did

“Back then, it was very rare for someone who came out of TVB not to succeed. I was never promoted, but was able to make it up the ladder on my own. I’m not good-looking, so it’s understandable why they wouldn’t want to promote me, but luckily, the audiences had good taste and knew how to appreciate me – I guess you can say that it’s the audiences who promoted me. Actually, I’m very lucky that the audiences were willing to accept my different types of acting – I’m not the comedian-type, but I’m able to do comedy; in "Forensic Heroes", I wasn’t funny at all, yet the audiences still enjoyed it.”

Bobby started capturing audience’s attention back in 1986, when he participated in grand production series "The Turbulent Decade". To this day, he still has fond memories of the ‘all-star’ cast from that series.

“There were Carina Lau, Margie Tsang, Jamie Chik, Eddie Cheung, Dicky Cheung, Eddie Kwan, etc…just to name a few – in the past, there were plenty of artists. Nowadays, it’s virtually impossible to gather so many first line siu sangs and fa dans all in one series – the norm now is basically one siu sang and one fa dan. This time, in "Men with No Shadows", there is Raymond Lam and myself, which is already a ‘double siu sang’ team.”


Better pay outside of TVB, ‘lucky’ that TVB gave up on him

The breakthrough in Bobby’s career came with the multi-installment series "Files of Justice", which successfully secured his position as ‘first-line male lead’ -- however, it also caused him to leave a company that he had serviced for over a decade.

“Back then, after filming the first and second installments of "Files of Justice", people started to know me and that’s when the invitations for outside jobs started coming in. Prior to my management contract expiring, I had discussed with the Artists Department about changing to a per-series contract, but they pretty much ignored me. All they said was that both parties should think about it more and left it at that – there were no further discussions about the contract. I remember when I was filming "Files of Justice III", the last day of filming was coincidentally also the day my contract was set to expire. At the time, no one sought me out to discuss contract renewal, so having self-knowledge, I took that to mean that they gave up on me! Around the same time, I received an invitation from a Malaysian company that specially liked to ‘pick up’ artists abandoned by TVB, so I accepted. I went over there and filmed a sitcom for them – I was only there for a month but unbelievably received more than 100,000 HKD salary! At the time, my salary at TVB was only about 10,000 HKD a month.”

“I sincerely thank the particular exec at TVB who decided not to renew my contract – if it weren’t for him/her, I wouldn’t know how the outside world is like. That year, the amount of money I made shooting movies and ‘direct to video tape’ series was more than what I had made the previous 10 years combined. Later on, TVB was planning on filming "Files of Justice IV", so the producer requested that I return. In the new contract talks, of course I was no longer going to accept the stipulation of filming 100 shows in 1 year! We ended up re-negotiating the contract terms to a ‘per-series’ contract and that’s the way our collaboration has been up to present day.”


Loves "Armed Reaction" and "Dicey Business" the most

After Bobby returned to TVB, he was tasked as the lead in many series, sometimes filming up to 3 to 4 series a year. At the time, the Mainland China market was not as ‘established’ as it is today.

“There’s a reason why TVB has been at the forefront of the TV industry for so many years. After filming series outside and seeing how sometimes even lighting is lacking, it made me understand that TVB truly has plentiful resources. At TVB, I’ve filmed quite a few series that I personally enjoyed a lot, especially the "Armed Reaction" franchise – now every time I see [the series] producer Kwong Yip Sun (鄺業生), I call him ‘benefactor’ (恩公)! The character ‘Chan Siu Sang’『陳小生』helped me break into the Mainland market and helped me establish the image of ‘good son, good husband, good father’ with audiences. The character was essentially a 100% great character to begin with – having me play the character made it 101% great!”

"Dicey Business" is another one of Bobby’s great works, one that he is extremely proud of. In fact, he highly recommends it as a ‘must-see’ series.

“Earlier, a fan gave me the DVD boxed set of "Dicey Business" as a gift – I spent 2 nights in a row re-watching it. There were a few parts of the series that were especially emotional, to the point that I was moved to tears while watching. It’s not often that I encounter such an excellent script! For most series, the ‘storyline’ comes first and drives the rest of the script – for "Dicey Business" however, the characters came first and drove the storyline. During filming, I didn’t have to change the script at all – I just followed the development of the character and threw myself into the role.”


Specifically praises Myolie Wu and Sire Ma

“In "Dicey Business", Bosco Wong did a very good job. Recently, I watched his performance in "Lives of Omission" and see that he is getting better and better. Earlier in the year, I also noticed Myolie Wu’s performance in "The Rippling Blossom", she has changed as well – in the past, people made fun of her for having a ‘gwing’ look, but now, she really has gotten prettier. I’m not referring to the ‘plastic surgery’ –type pretty, but rather, her looks have ‘opened’ more. I also see the potential for Sire Ma, my sister in "Men With No Shadows" , to be a ‘hot contender’ for the “Most Improved” Award this year – she’s a good girl, very hardworking and doesn’t like to generate rumors.”

Coincidentally, both Sire Ma and Myolie Wu get the chance to collaborate in Bobby’s upcoming series "Yue Fu Hidden Dragon" [temporary name]. Filming an ancient series during the sweltering summer months, Bobby expressed that his ‘record’ was having to change 5 undershirts and 2 pairs of underwear in 1 day due to all the sweat. Laughing, Bobby admitted what attracted him to the series was the group of young actresses that he gets to collaborate with – he says that the fa dans being paired with him are getting younger and younger, inovoking the ‘envy’ of his colleagues. One time, he bumped into long time partner Yoyo Mung in the makeup room and jokingly told her that the next time they collaborate in a series, she should portray his ‘stepmother’!


Collaborating with Mainland artists, he feels like a ‘toad at the bottom of the well’

Last year, after wrapping filming for "Men with No Shadows", Bobby accepted 3 Mainland series in a row, including "Ghostcatcher – Legend of Beauty 2" [天師鍾馗] and collaboration with Charmaine Sheh in "Sword-Bearing Female Constable" [帶刀女捕快] . Filming ancient series in the Mainland can be very difficult as well [due to the weather] – luckily, the production team took care of him and always made sure he had a ‘cow horn fan’ (牛角扇) by his side.

“If I don’t film ancient series, I reduce my workload by 50%. You can say that I’m a ‘money hound’ or that I’m just hardworking – either way, if there’s good opportunity, I don’t mind the toil. As long as I get a 1-2 week rest in between each series for me to re-energize, I can accept filming for 8 to 9 months out of the year. After collaborating with Mainland artists, I realize that I’m a ‘toad at the bottom of the well’. This time around, for "Ghostcatcher", I got the chance to collaborate with Mainland actor Pan Chang Jiang, who has a cameo in the series – he is one of Mainland China’s first class actors and producers, the equivalent to the Mainland version of Eric Tsang – everyone knows him. All of us learned a lot from Teacher Pan.”


‘Experienced’ senior actors, not elder ‘green leaf’ actor

On the subject of ‘experienced’ senior actors (資深演員 ), Bobby’s tone became serious.

“I feel that in HK, there is a general lack of respect for experienced senior actors – the thinking is too utilitarian. Why are these actors called ‘gam cho’ (甘草), ‘green leaf’ (綠葉)? [TN: gam cho’ (甘草) is a term used in the industry to describe experienced, senior ‘green leaf’ actors/actresses over 50 years old]. They are a group of actors with plentiful acting experience, yet they are looked down upon as a ‘side dish’ or ‘flavoring’ for the main dishes? Do you think it would be ‘acceptable’ to write a series about ‘old’ people and have Brother Sau (senior actor Wu Fung) be the male lead? After all, Deanie Ip won Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival for her portrayal of an ‘old’ housekeeper and brought glory for HK!”

Awhile back ago, someone had suggested that Bobby become a producer so he could produce his own series. Actually, in this circumstance, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to find a sponsor willing to invest money, but he enjoys working in front of the camera rather than behind the scenes, so he did not consider it. In the future, would he accept becoming a ‘gam cho’ actor himself?

“When that time comes, I may decide to become a producer and film my own series then! If you ask me to stand next to the main lead and play an ‘Uncle’ character, I definitely won’t do it. If they ever arrange for me to play the part of Raymond Lam’s father, I would suggest to them to go have Ron Ng play Raymond’s father instead! Hahahaha!”


Happy to be his wife’s ‘money-tree’

This year marks the 15th wedding anniversary of Bobby and his wife Fu Kit Han. Back then, the couple had a low-key wedding in Canada.

“The exact date is November 25th. I will be working in the Mainland during that time, so there won’t be special celebration. I’m my wife’s ‘money-tree’, so of course, work is more important! Hey, maybe I’ll give her a ‘house’ (樓) as a gift! Haha!”

Playful Bobby pointed to the ‘button’ on his shirt and laughed heartily– apparently, when he said ‘house’ [prounounced ‘lou’ (樓)], he actually meant ‘button’ [also pronounced ‘lou’but different character (鈕)]. However, when it comes to the date of his wedding anniversary, Bobby is very clear with the date 11/25, even mentioning it twice!


Diligently remembers date of wedding anniversary

“We’re an ‘old couple’ now, so not into the formalties anymore. When we have free time, we like to go around and seek out interesting places to eat or to see things – on anniversaries and such, if there’s time, we we usually just go out to dinner with a few close friends. We definitely won’t do any of the ‘formal’ stuff such as putting on a tuxedo and cutting a cake in front of everyone…plus, my wife is not the socializing type and doesn’t like to go to balls or those types of social gatherings.”

When the Media mentions Mrs. AuYeung, they usually attach her ‘title’: Macau Gambling King Fu Lao Yong’s Granddaughter. From the time his marriage was made public to now, it’s been 15 years, yet occasionally, Bobby’s status as ‘rich tycoon’s grandson-in-law’ is still brought up, even making front page news on magazine covers – luckily though, for Bobby, it no longer bothers him. Bobby reveals that all his earnings go to his wife, so she is truly the ‘keeper’ of the house. Because he knows that he is not good at managing finances, Bobby is perfectly happy with being his wife’s ‘money-tree’: “Yes, I’ve ‘shaken’ so much money out that I’m skinnier now! Haha!”


Bobby and Raymond Lam: no generation gap

In “Men With No Shadows”, Bobby collaborates with Raymond Lam for the first time, though on a personal level, they’ve known each other for a long time and are good ‘brothers’. It’s no surprise then that they are able to get along so well on the set and develop good chemistry.

“Raymond is the type of person who is always very calm no matter what type of situation occurs – he’s very persistent with his pace and doesn’t let anyone affect his rhythm. For instance, when we’re filming together, if I happen to be a few minutes late, I’ll start running when I’m within 20 steps of the filming location to show people that I’m trying to hurry over. Raymond however, refuses to run and instead makes his entrance calmly, like a model. I bet you didn’t think that Raymond’s EQ is actually very high, huh? Even when Tavia [Yeung] is yelling at him and saying ‘Raymond Lam, how long are you going to make me wait for you to get here? Feel like it’s been 10 years already!’ In response, all Raymond does is smile.”

“When filming series, if there is a little bit of delay, it’s understandable – after all, we oftentimes film through the night, but at least after work, we can go home and rest. Except Raymond – he often tells me: ‘Good for you! I still have to go shoot a movie!’ At the same time that he was filming “Men with no Shadows”, he was also shooting 2 movies simultaneously, plus he had to set aside time to rehearse for his concert – seeing that, I felt exhausted for him!”

Bobby expressed that he does not have any ‘generation gap’ working with younger siu sangs. Back when he was filming with Raymond, he had already been introduced to Mavis Pan – plus he is able to get along well with other younger artists such as Ron Ng, Joel Chan, etc. Asked whether the 2 of them introduced Viann Zhang or Florinda Ho to him, Bobby laughed and said: “No!”

“Honestly speaking, a lot of the younger male artists like to invite me out to ‘play’, but I actually like ‘playing’ with the younger female artists instead! Hahaha!”

.--.

Chinese Version:

歐陽震華 30年極品

歐陽震華（Bobby）在娛樂圈度過黃金30年，1981年他參加無綫藝員訓練班，翌年畢業成為TVB合約藝員。當年的歐陽耀泉（真名）一頭濃密頭髮，瘦猛猛，腰圍24吋，他形容自己似陳百強的類型。30年來建立事業與家庭，曾憑《洗冤錄》奪視帝，又是TVB第一人以《賭城風雲》角逐國際艾美獎的最佳男主角。Bobby曾被TVB冷待甚至放棄，幸好他的字典裏沒有「怨恨」，只記飲水思源，每年也度期返TVB拍劇當報恩。

歐陽震華（Bobby）在藝員訓練班同期的同學有梁朝偉、周星馳、吳鎮宇、張兆輝與關禮傑等。他們先後跑出當男主角，Bobby卻一直跑龍套，畢業後5年拍了逾30部劇，佔大部分也叫不出角色名稱的。

TVB不捧 好彩觀眾捧

「當年TVB出來的人很少失手，我不被捧也能自己跑出來。我不是靚仔，沒捧我是可理解的，不過，觀眾有Taste懂欣賞我，是全世界捧我出來的。其實我都好好彩，觀眾接受我不同類型的演出，我不是詼諧類型，但又可以搞笑；拍《法証》我唧都唔笑，又一樣受落。」

Bobby在1986年拍《黃金十年》漸被觀眾認識，他至今仍懷念那大堆頭的演員組合。

「有劉嘉玲、曾華倩、戚美珍、張衛健、張兆輝、關禮傑等，以前演員很多。現在怎可能集這樣多小生花旦在一部劇集？根本上只有單生單旦，今次《不速之約》有我跟林峯已是難得雙生組合。」

外闖酬勞厚 慶幸被放棄

Bobby演藝事業上的轉機是《壹號皇庭》，奠定「男一號」的位置，但亦因此令他一度離開工作10多年的娘家。

「當時拍了《壹號皇庭》I、II輯，開始多人認識亦多外邊邀約的工作。合約屆滿前跟藝員部負責人傾約，我提出轉部頭合約，對方唔理我。只是說雙方也多考慮吓，便沒有再傾；我記得當時我在拍《壹號皇庭III》，最後一日廠期就是合約屆滿日期。沒有人再叫我傾約，自知之明即放棄我啦！那時候馬來西亞有工作機會，專收容TVB棄將，我往拍了一個處境劇逗留了一個月，竟然有10多萬酬勞。當時我在TVB一個月只有萬多元人工。」

「我真心要多謝TVB不跟我續約的高層，若果不是他，我不知道外邊的世界是這樣。該年我拍的電影、錄影帶劇集所掙的錢，比過往10多年所掙的總和還要多。後來《壹號皇庭IV》開拍，監製叫我歸隊，再傾約時，我當然不接受1年拍100個騷，條件也再傾，部頭形式的合作至今了。」

至愛《陀槍師姐》《賭場風雲》

Bobby重返TVB後也曾是多產的主將，一年也3、4部劇集，當時內地市場還未成氣候。

「TVB一直坐龍頭位置是有原因的，拍過外邊的製作，連燈都缺乏的，才知道TVB資源豐富。我在TVB也拍了不少劇集是自己喜歡的，特別是《陀槍師姐》系列，每次見監製鄺業生，我都叫他做恩公的，『陳小生』的角色幫我打開內地市場之門，好兒子、好老公又是好爸爸的形象入晒屋。這根本就是100分的角色，由我來演變101分的好。」

《賭場風雲》是Bobby另一得意傑作，他仍大力推薦說一定要看的劇集。

「早前有fans送了一套《賭場風雲》DVD給我，我連續兩晚通宵重溫。有幾場戲我邊睇邊哭，是感動到喊出聲那種。這是可遇不可求的劇本，一般劇集是故事先行，但《賭場風雲》是由角色發展故事。拍攝時我不需要改劇本，就是跟着角色投入了。」

點名稱讚胡杏兒馬賽

「黃宗澤在《賭場風雲》演得很好，最近我看《潛行狙擊》他做得愈來愈好。年初我也留意胡杏兒在《魚躍在花見》的演出，她亦不同了，以前大家笑她冏樣，現在她真的漂亮了，並非是整容的變樣，而是樣子『開』了。我還睇好《不速之約》我個妹妹馬賽是今年「飛躍進步」的熱門，她好乖、勤力又唔搞緋聞。」

馬賽與胡杏兒在Bobby剛完成的《樂府藏龍》皆有合作，這是他今年的報恩之作。在夏天拍古裝，最高紀錄是一日內要換5件底衫、兩條內褲，因流汗濕透。他笑言吸引他接拍的，是一班年輕的女藝員，他身邊的花旦愈換愈後生，拍胡杏兒與鍾嘉欣，連其他同事也妒忌。有次他在化妝間遇到蒙嘉慧，他開玩笑說下次兩人合作，她要演他的後母角色了。

伙內地演員 自覺井底蛙

Bobby去年拍完《不速之約》一口氣接拍內地3部劇集，包括《天師鍾馗II》，與佘詩曼合作的《帶刀女捕快》。他在內地拍古裝劇也很辛苦，劇組在場地會安排一把牛角扇「招呼」他。

「若不拍古裝劇會減50%工作量，你話我勤力或貪錢都好，有機會我不怕辛苦。總之劇與劇之間給我一、兩星期休息充電，一年拍8、9個月戲可以接受。跟內地演員合作，我才覺得自己是井底蛙，今次《鍾馗》潘長江也有客串，他是國內一級演員兼製作人，是內地的曾志偉，無人不識的。大家也很尊重潘老師。」

資深演員不是甘草綠葉

Bobby提到資深演員問題變得很認真。

「我覺得香港對資深演員欠尊重，太功利主義。為何稱他們是『甘草』、『綠葉』？他們是一班演戲經驗豐富的人，竟被貶為配菜、調味？若果有人肯寫一部老人家的劇集，由修哥（胡楓）擔正主角，你話得唔得？Deanie姐（葉德嫻）是演老工人當威尼斯影后，為港爭光呢！」

早有人提議Bobby兼製作人自拍劇集，他要找投資老闆不困難，但他喜歡幕前演出而未有考慮。問他將來會否接受做「甘草」的安排？

「屆時我可能自己做製作拍劇過戲癮，若果你要我演站男主角旁邊的姨丈角色，我一定唔做。想安排我做林峯的父親？我會提議他們找吳卓羲做林峯老竇。哈哈哈！」

樂做老婆搖錢樹

翻查資料，今年是Bobby跟太太傅潔嫻結婚15周年，當年兩人在加拿大低調結婚。

「是11月25日，這段時間我應該在內地開工，沒打算特別慶祝。我是老婆的搖錢樹，當然工作要緊；我可能送層『樓』給她做禮物。」

鬼馬的Bobby說送「樓」時是指着自己的恤衫「鈕」哈哈笑。不過，他提到結婚紀念日子絕不含糊，清楚講了兩次是11月25日。

謹記結婚紀念日

「老夫老妻了，平日有時間，我跟她喜歡周圍去搵嘢食、去玩，結婚紀念日這些日子，就算有空檔也是相約幾個熟朋友食餐飯。肯定不會穿禮服、晚裝在大家面前切蛋糕那形式，老婆也不喜歡社交場合的應酬。」

傳媒提起Bobby嫂，少不了她的title——澳門第一代賭王傅老榕的孫女。由婚訊曝光至今近15年了，Bobby這個「豪門女婿」身分仍是話題，甚至周刊封面；幸好對他已不再是困擾。他自爆收入全歸老婆所有，Bobby嫂是真正的「揸數人」。自知不擅理財，故他樂意做老婆的「搖錢樹」，他得戚說﹕「你睇我搖到瘦晒，落晒形了！」

Bobby林峯無代溝

Bobby跟林峯在《不速之約》首次合作劇集，私底下早已是好兄弟，想不到工作上也很夾，產生化學作用。

任鬧EQ高

「林峯是任何情况下也很滋油的人，堅持個人步伐，沒有人能影響他的節奏。我跟他開工，有時遲到少少，我會在抵場地前20步，急跑兼喘氣，讓大家知道我是趕過來的。林峯卻是20步也不肯跑，要Model般亮相人前。你估唔到林峯EQ很高，他被楊怡鬧到死說﹕『林峯你要我等你等到幾時？我等了你（開工）10幾年了！』他就是笑笑口作回應。」

「拍劇有少少時間差誤是可體諒的，大家通宵工作，收工回家休息。林峯卻對我說﹕『你就好啦！我要繼續去拍電影呀！』拍《不速之約》同時他拍兩部電影，又要抽時間為演唱會綵排；我看見也戥他辛苦。」

Bobby跟年輕的小生沒有代溝，林峯跟潘霜霜拍拖時早已介紹他認識，還有吳卓羲、陳山聰等一樣玩得埋。問他們有沒有介紹張馨予或何超雲給他認識？Bobby一貫口密，笑說﹕「無呀！」

「坦白講，一班後生仔都鍾意搵我一齊玩，其實我比較喜歡跟後生女一齊玩的，哈哈哈！」