Oriental Daily Interview with Felix Wong [Part 4]: “Never in my dreams did I think about becoming a lead actor so quickly!”

Here's part 4 of Felix Wong's interview with Oriental Daily....

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Oriental Daily Interview with Felix Wong [Part 4]:    “Never in my dreams did I think about becoming a lead actor so quickly!”

Source:  Oriental Daily

Translation:  llwy12

Back during his youth, Felix Wong had his heart set on becoming the Chinese version of Pele [TN: famous Brazilian soccer player], however when that dream failed, he ended up joining TVB’s Acting Class instead. After playing bit parts and many ‘ke le fe’ roles, Felix finally had the opportunity to collaborate with established actors/actresses such as Chow Yun Fat, Dodo Cheng, etc. – it was from these ‘senior’ artists that he was able to learn a lot more about acting, eventually developing a life-long interest in the craft. In addition, the right timing as well as luck were other factors that aided Felix on his path to becoming one of the most popular leading actors at TVB back in the 80s.



*** Felix speaks:

When I was young, I actually never thought about becoming a celebrity. Back when I was in school, I had my heart set on becoming a soccer player – in fact, I had even gotten to the point of participating in tryouts. I remember at the time, out of the 2000 candidates who participated, only the top 3 would be chosen to become soccer players – unfortunately, I came in at number 4.

Later on, one of my neighbors suggested I try applying for TVB’s Acting Class – she even got an application and submitted it for me. I actually was not interested in becoming an actor, but seeing all the effort that the neighbor put in to help me, I figured I’d just go to the interview session to please her. I remember one of the things we had to do during the session was read and recite some dialogue – I pretty much just made a half-hearted attempt to recite the lines and get it over with, thinking that would be the end of it. To my surprise, I received a phone call from TVB that night telling me that I had been accepted into the class without having to do a second interview!


Happy, carefree Acting Class days

I was barely 18 years old when I entered the Acting Class. Those were good times, as I basically got to study acting for free, plus I’d get to hang out with classmates such as Michael Miu (苗僑偉), Tam Yuk Ying (譚玉瑛), etc. – those days were very happy and carefree. After 6 months or so, I started getting bit parts in various series, playing roles such as a soldier, a customer at a restaurant, etc. At the time, I got the chance to work with Fat Gor (Chow Yun Fat 周潤發) a lot – even though he was already a big star at the time, he never put on airs and in fact was always very willing to help teach newcomers. He would often approach us on his own and give us acting tips or other advice – learning so much from him helped me to slowly cultivate my interest in acting.


Benefited from the 80s ‘poaching’ crises

At one point back in the 80s, TVB also encountered a ‘poaching’ crisis which resulted in a shortage of siu sangs. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that I’d get the chance to play a lead role 3 months after I graduated from Acting Class – in ‘normal’ circumstances, this would have been impossible! I remember the first series I filmed where I was in the male lead role was The Lonely Hunter 《過客》[1981] . At the time, Dodo Jeh [Dodo Cheng 鄭裕玲] and Uncle Yeung Kwun (楊群) [TN: his co-stars in the series] gave me lots of advice and support, which helped me get into my character easier. When the series aired, it was quite well-received by audiences and from that moment on, my acting career officially began.

Oriental Daily Interview with Felix Wong [Part 3]: Upset over relationship rumors, Felix Wong breaks glass mirror: “I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time!”

Here’s part 3 of Oriental Daily’s interview with Felix Wong.

My only comment about the article at this time is: the piece about TVB using rumors between co-stars as a promotional tactic is actually nothing new....in fact, it happens all the time! This is why I’m always suspicious of relationship rumors that come out between certain artists around the time when a series is being filmed or aired – because a lot of times, the relationship thing is just a way for TV stations to ‘hype’ their series. After all, don’t forget that one of the ‘golden commandments’ in the entertainment industry is: “It’s better to be ‘in the news’, even for something negative, than not to be talked about at all!”

*****

Oriental Daily Interview with Felix Wong [Part 3]:    Upset over relationship rumors, Felix Wong breaks glass mirror:  “I wasn’t thinking clearly at the time!”

Source:  Oriental Daily

Translation:  llwy12

With the nickname ‘Flame Shooting Wah’ , Felix Wong is known for having somewhat of a temper, however each time he ‘shoots flames’ [aka ‘bursts out in anger’], it’s usually for good reason!


Back when rumors surfaced between him and co-star Ada Choi (蔡少芬) during the filming of Justice Pao《包青天》[1995], Felix was so upset that he broke a glass mirror in a fit of anger – looking back now, he feels he reacted too impulsively. Therefore, in 2001, when rumors circulated between his wife – former actress turned insurance agent Leung Kit Wah (梁潔華) – and one of her colleagues, he decided to forego an impulsive reaction and instead supported his wife with a vote of confidence.


*** Felix speaks:

Back during the Acting Class days, one of our instructors playfully told the class: “A student of ours was courting one of the senior classmates during practice time!” The ‘student’ he was referring to was me of course and the classmate being ‘courted’ was my wife Leung Kit Wah -- I guess this can be considered my first love relationship. When we first started dating, we actually didn’t have time to see each other often – outside of work, we pretty much maintained our relationship by talking on the phone. It wasn’t until after I finished filming Legend of the Condor Heroes《射鵰英雄傳》(1983) that we finally had the time to go on vacation together.


Was not moved by advances of female fans

Back during the height of popularity, of course there were many females around me, but my wife was never worried because even if she wasn’t present by my side, she had a lot of ‘spies’ keeping an eye on me and ‘reporting’ back to her if anything was amiss. Even if that wasn’t the case, I didn’t have time to pay attention to any potential ‘advances’ from female fans anyway, since all I constantly thought about was when I’d get the chance to take a break [from work] and rest.

In my many years in the industry, the only time I had relationship ‘rumors’ was back during the filming of the series Justice Pao with Ada Choi. I knew it was the company’s [TVB] promotional tactic at the time, but because the ‘rumors’ weren’t true and I felt like I was being framed, it was hard for me to accept. Actually the rumors at the time were pretty serious -- because I was so upset, I hit a glass mirror in a fit of anger, not only breaking the glass, but also hurting my hand in the process! I ended up having to get 2 stitches at the hospital. Looking back on the matter now, I feel I reacted too impulsively – I didn’t think clearly at the time! Even our co-star Tik Lung (狄龍), whom we were filming with at the time, couldn’t help reprimanding my rash behavior – he told me: “See, now you hurt yourself! It’s not worth it!”


Rumors deepened their marriage relationship

Later on, the rumors with Ada eventually subsided, but from that time on, I was afraid to have any type of interaction with her during filming because I didn’t want people to use that for promotion again. Fortunately, the rumor situation didn’t affect my relationship with my wife – in fact, it caused our marriage to deepen because it made us realize the importance of trusting in each other. Even later on, when there were rumors between my wife and her colleague, our relationship still did not waver and eventually, the rumors went away on their own.

Oriental Daily Interview with Felix Wong [Part 2]: Felix’s personality similar to ‘Kwok Jing’

Here's part 2 of Felix's interview with Oriental Daily...

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Oriental Daily Interview with Felix Wong [Part 2]:    Felix’s personality similar to ‘Kwok Jing’

Source:  Oriental Daily

Translation:  llwy12

In the 1980s, Felix Wong left a deep impression on audiences with his role as ‘Kwok Jing’ in the 1983 version of Legend of the Condor Heroes 《射鵰英雄傳》– many of his other works, such as The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils 《天龍八部》 (80s and 90s versions), Looking Back in Anger《義不容情》, Racing Peak 《馬場大亨》, etc. also became ‘classics’. Though Felix achieved fame and fortune as a result of those ‘classics’, all of that came at a ‘price’, in the form of blood, sweat, and tears.


Felix Wong reveals some of the hardships he endured filming series for TVB back in the days, including the time when he did not get to sleep for 7 days straight and eventually fell ill.


*** Felix speaks:

Back when we filmed Legend of the Condor Heroes, director [producer] Wong Tin Lam (王天林) [TN: Wong Jing’s father] was the one who specifically cast me for the role [of ‘Kwok Jing’] -- when he first saw me, he said: “You have an honest face – that’s good…the character suits you!” Thinking back now, I actually do feel that I resembled ‘Kwok Jing’ in terms of personality: we were both blunt, simple-minded, and hard working!

Filming series back then was truly very exhausting! We didn’t have assistants following us around back then so we pretty much had to do everything ourselves. The worst experience I had was having to film for 7 days and 7 nights straight without any sleep – every day, all I could think about was when I’d be able to get off work! With that type of lifestyle, how would we even be able to think clearly?


Overjoyed at getting the chance to rest

Actually, I wasn’t the only one who had that type of crazy schedule – back then, a lot of siu sangs had to film 6 to 7 series a year….plus we had less than 10 days of vacation each year. Looking back now, it was pretty amazing – don’t know how we managed to pull through! I did that for 3 years straight and then finally, one day, I couldn’t take it anymore – while filming, I suddenly fell ill and broke out in a sweat…after getting checked at the hospital, it was confirmed that I had developed hepatitis and so needed to take 18 days off from work to rest. Wah! I was so happy! Finally, I got the chance to rest!


Envious of Michael Miu getting to earn ‘extra’ money outside

Even though back then, work was very exhausting and I had to endure a lot of hardship, I never thought about complaining to the company – I just knew that I had to continue filming…because I understood that each day I got to work meant that I was earning money. You might not believe it, but when I first became a ‘siu sang’ [lead actor], my pay was only 1200 HKD a month – even at the height of popularity, my pay was only 3000 HKD a month….I made less than when I was a ‘ke le fe’! [extras/minor non-speaking roles]. Plus, filming series was very time-consuming, so there really was no way for us to go out and earn extra money [through stage performances and such]. Seeing other artists such as Dodo Jeh [Dodo Cheng鄭裕玲], Fat Gor [Chow Yun Fat周潤發], Ah Miu [Michael Miu苗僑偉] getting the chance to earn extra money outside, I was truly very envious….but in all honesty, I can’t say that the company [TVB] was ‘inhumane’ – I can only blame myself for not knowing how to fight for things. Thinking back now, I do feel that I was pretty foolish!

Oriental Daily Interview with Felix Wong (黃日華) -- PART 1

For those of you who, like me, can never get enough of 80s/90s TVB nostalgia…well, I’ve got some great news: Oriental Daily did an interview with Felix Wong recently and the interview is being published as a 5-parter this week. Of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to post about Felix and the 5 Tigers (LOL), so no doubt that I will be ‘following’ this interview the entire week and posting up the translations as they come out!


Here’s the first of the interviews (which was published this past Sunday), along with some supplemental commentary that Oriental Daily also published about Felix’s series.

Enjoy!

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Oriental Daily Interview with Felix Wong [Part 1]: “I was never mad at Tony [Leung]!”

Source:  Oriental Daily -- PART 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d

Translation:  llwy12

The HK television industry of the 1980s was full of talented artists – that was also the era that brought us TVB’s 5 Tigers: Felix Wong (黃日華), Tony Leung (梁朝偉), Michael Miu (苗僑偉), Kent Tong (湯鎮業), and Andy Lau (劉德華). Despite being promoted together, all 5 siu sangs had different personalities and ended up going down different paths, both in life and career. A few years ago, when the Tigers reunited to film a movie, Tony Leung was not part of the group, leading to rumors that the ‘brothers’ relationship had ruptured and media speculation that perhaps Tony was the cause.

For the next 5 days, during our an interview with Oriental Daily, Felix Wong will talk about the various trials and tribulations behind the 5 Tiger relationship. In addition, he will also speak candidly about the marriage ‘crisis’ he and his wife had experienced, his path to fame as well as how his life was like working for TVB back in the 80s.


** Felix speaks:

Back then, TVB was going through a ‘poaching’ crisis and the company lost quite a few siu sangs – therefore, they decided to push the newer siu sangs up to take their place. The strategy was to take the current popular siu sangs with the most potential and put them together – I was picked as one of those to be promoted, along with Michael [Miu], Kent [Tong], Tony [Leung], etc. Actually, at the time, the 5 of us had never officially worked together – our first collaboration was in a charity event in 1982 where we performed various stunts together. Since there was some difficulty to the stunts that we had to do, we all practiced together for close to 2 months – we saw each other practically day and night at the time, so that’s how we become more familiar with one another. To be honest, we never really spent a whole lot of time together outside of those 2 months – once the charity event was over, we pretty much only saw each other in the makeup room, though our relationship overall remained pretty good. You might not believe it, but all these years, the only TV series that all 5 of us collaborated in was The Yang’s Saga《楊家將》.


Kent Tong was known for being the most good-looking one

Over the years, I know there have been a lot of rumors surrounding the 5 Tigers. One of the rumors was that our relationship with Tony was ‘ruptured’ because he was rarely seen together in public with us. To tell you the truth, back when we [the Tigers] were at the height of our popularity, there truly were a lot of ‘crises’ that we had to endure. At the time [back in 1984], TVB wanted all of their artists to sign a long 5 year contract with them, however quite a few artists had already started movie careers outside of TVB – in order not to be tied down, we had once discussed among ourselves about not signing the contract. One day, we suddenly received word that Tony had already signed the [5 year] contract – of course we were shocked because we didn’t understand what was going on at the time, however I wouldn’t say that we felt ‘betrayed’ because everyone has the right to pursue a career path that works best for them. Besides, it’s not like we had actually come to an agreement not to sign – it was just something we had lightly talked about, so of course we wouldn’t be mad at Tony [for signing].

Michael and I were classmates in the same year Acting Class and since we pretty much ‘grew up’ together, our relationship is especially close. Kent is actually considered our ‘senior’, since he graduated from the Acting Class right before ours, however we were still able to get along pretty well – amongst us Tigers, Kent was known for being the most good-looking one. As for Tony, he truly was the most reclusive one in the group – he didn’t like to talk much and in fact, he could actually go an entire day without saying a word! We once tried to ‘influence’ him and get him to talk more – it worked for awhile, but he very quickly went back to his old ways again.


Tony likes to stay at home, turns down socializing opportunities

Even though he likes to be silent, Tony truly does take his work very seriously. As soon as he starts working, he is 100% focused on what he is doing and doesn’t play around, though he does sometimes have a brief conversation with those he’s working with on a particular scene. Even after work, Tony is the type who leaves quickly and doesn’t participate in any social activities -- he has his own little world. Every time we invite him to go out, even if we get Michael to ask him, Tony’s answer is always the same: “No, you guys go play, I’m going to head home.”


Informed about Barbara Yung’s death, Felix’s initial reaction was: “Stop playing!”

Back when we filmed Legend of the Condor Heroes《射鵰英雄傳》together, Barbara Yung (翁美玲) was actually a newbie at the time. I feel that she was a very smart woman who took her work seriously, worked hard, and had good relationships with each of her colleagues – she got along well with pretty much everyone. Even though I knew that she and Kent were dating, we actually didn’t see each other often because I was very busy with work. Later on, I remember very clearly that I was on vacation in Malaysia one day when a colleague called to tell me that Barbara had passed away – I couldn’t believe it and even told the colleague: “Stop playing!” However, after I found out it was true, I immediately cancelled the rest of my vacation and rushed back to HK to help with pall bearing responsibilities [at the funeral].


Carina Lau would have been crowned TV Queen

During his tenure at TVB, Felix had collaborated with many of the station’s most popular leading actresses -- his collaboration with Carina Lau (劉嘉玲) in 1989’s Looking Back in Anger《義不容情》 is considered a ‘classic’ in the TV industry. Speaking of his ‘old partner’, Felix laughed and stated: “Her character was a pretty big challenge, as she went from being a willful rich girl to a mature woman who was willing to give up the person she loved to someone else. As the filming went on, Carina threw herself more and more into her character. If there was such a thing as the TV Queen award back then, she would have gotten it for sure!

As for his co-star in 1995’s Racing Peak《馬場大亨》, actress Amy Chan (陳秀雯), Felix indicated that their collaboration was a very happy one. In the series, Amy’s character was quite ‘extreme’, as she not only smoked, drank, and had a gambling habit, she also was money-crazy – even Amy herself said that her performance back then was so ‘borderline’ that she wouldn’t let her son watch the series. In any case, Felix and Amy had great chemistry in the series and both had fun filming it.

It is known that Felix likes to help out newcomers by giving them advice on acting. Back when he filmed the series Time Off 《生命有take 2》 [produced in 1998, aired in 2000], lead actress Charmaine Sheh (佘詩曼) was a newbie who had just come out of the Miss HK pageant. Having to take on a lead role with little to no acting experience, Charmaine was under a lot of pressure – at the time, she didn’t even understand how the camera positions worked. Seeing this, Felix gave Charmaine some acting tips and advice. Even though later on, Charmaine herself said that her performance [in that series] was not up to standard, Felix felt that she did okay: “For a newbie, her performance wasn’t bad – she was able to pick up on things fairly quickly!”


Felix chooses his favorite performances

Felix Wong achieved fame during the TV industry’s ‘golden era’ and throughout that time, he participated in many popular classics. Out of all the series that he had filmed in his career, there are 4 that he views as his most satisfactory performances:

.—Soldier of Fortune《香城浪子》: In the series, Felix portrays Wai Lok, a rascal of sorts who grew up in a shady part of town but ends up developing a relationship with a wealthy heiress played by Patricia Chong (莊靜而). His character’s catchphrase in the series (吹乒乓) became one of the most popular phrases amongst audiences at the time. Felix’s meticulous performance in that series helped to secure his ‘first-line siu sang’ position at the time.

.—Legend of the Condor Heroes《射鵰英雄傳》: Felix Wong and Barbara Yung’s portrayal of Kwok Jing and Wong Yung was extremely well-received by audiences and still considered ‘classic’ even today. Felix’s portrayal of the overly honest yet extremely righteous Kwok Jing brought the character to life and made him a household name with audiences.

.—Looking Back in Anger《義不容情》: Felix Wong and Deric Wan’s (溫兆倫) portrayal of two brothers with a conflicted relationship who end up becoming enemies proved to be breakthrough roles for both actors, whose popularity quickly rose back when the series aired. With his performance, Felix’s skill as a ‘talent-path’ actor was finally established.

.—Racing Peak《馬場大亨》: This series paired 2 strong actors Felix Wong and Amy Chan together as a married couple and under the leadership of series producer Wai Ka Fai (韋家輝), their pairing proved to have great chemistry. Felix’s convincing portrayal of the main character’s ‘rags to riches’ story as well as his eccentric personality in the series both left deep impressions on audiences.

Oriental Daily interview with Michael Tao and Kathy Chow: Kathy ‘unties’ the knot in Michael’s heart, leave the ‘kissing’ up to fate

Here's the last of Michael Tao's 4 part interview with Oriental Daily (this is the one with Kathy Chow that I had mentioned in previous posts).

Just like with the other 3 interviews (the first one with Kenix Kwok reminiscing about DIF, the second one with Bobby AuYeung and Felix Lok talking about FOJ, and the third one with Wayne Lai where they chatted about ATV's "Showbiz Tycoon"), I definitely enjoyed this last one one with Kathy (and yes, as predicted, the focus was on the 3 series that they collaborated on at ATV).  The interesting thing about this particular interview though was that Michael and Kathy had collaborated in numerous series back in the 80s/90s at TVB, but their 'friendship' only started in 1999 when they started collaborating on ATV series (though I'm pretty sure they had already developed a good rapport with each other back in their TVB days, it's just that working together so frequently in a short amount of time at ATV made it easier to have a closer friendship).

Anyway, whatever the case, this was another great interview!  I will definitely miss these interviews now that the last one has been published (what am I going to look forward to reading next Sunday?).

*****

Oriental Daily interview with Michael Tao and Kathy Chow:   Kathy ‘unties’ the knot in Michael’s heart, leave the ‘kissing’ up to fate

Source:  Oriental Daily

Translation:  llwy12

Starting in 1999, Michael Tao (陶大宇) and Kathy Chow (周海媚) collaborated on 3 series while they were at ATV – in those 3 series, the two of them got the chance to play lovers, mother and son, master and servant. These collaborations left a lasting impression on Michael, who playfully expressed that at one point, Kathy kept ‘popping up’ in many of his scenes and almost made him ‘go crazy’. Michael expressed that back in the day, Kathy had to resign from one of the series due to illness, which resulted in Michael having to do a kiss scene with a stunt double instead of with Kathy herself –he had to ‘hypnotize’ himself to pretend that the stunt double was Kathy. When Kathy found out about Michael’s ‘grievance’, she laughingly told him: “Ok, I owe you a kiss scene then – I’ll pay it back to you later!”

MT = Michael Tao

KC = Kathy Chow

KC: Michael, after we collaborated on the 3 series Flaming Brothers《縱橫四海》, To Where He Belongs《縱橫天下》, and Showbiz Tycoon《影城大亨》[at ATV], we did not get the chance to collaborate any more. Afterwards, I shifted my career to Beijing [Mainland China] and in 2008, I attended your birthday party in Shanghai -- we also bumped into each other 2 more times later on during a commercial event. We may not see each other often, but sitting down to chat with you today, the feeling you give me is that you haven’t changed one bit!

MT: That time when I was filming in Shanghai, you just happened to be in the area – thank you for stopping by and giving me birthday greetings. However, it seems that we still somehow lack a bit of affinity – even though we filmed 3 series together, our ‘relationship’ is a bit confusing…in fact, you actually caused me to ‘go crazy’!

KC: Huh…that serious?

MT: Back when we were filming Flaming Brothers, you had to quit after already filming half the series because you became ill, leaving your stunt double to finish filming our scenes with me. The storyline was about me madly pursuing you and there was a lot of deeply emotional dialogue [involved in those scenes], but your stunt double had no clue what was going on and she also had no acting experience, so for all the ‘romance’ scenes, I essentially had to act with myself! The funniest part was when I had to tell your stunt double ‘I love you’ and she responded with ‘1-2-3-4-5’…hahaha! The worst was that I originally had the opportunity to do kiss scenes with you, but in the end, I had to keep convincing myself in my mind that a stunt double was you – now you understand why I ‘went crazy’?

Does not have SLC illness

KC: That time I was not feeling well, but it wasn’t SLC (Systemic Lupus Erythematosus) as rumored – from birth, I’ve always had a low blood platelet count in my body, so whenever I bump into anything, I bruise very easily. In fact, I recently hit my head accidentally and the bruise took a long time to heal – luckily I didn’t have to work at the time. Listening to you speak just now, it sounds like I owe you a kiss scene then…haha!

MT: Well, not really. When you were sick back then, all of us were very worried about you. Later on, when we got the chance to collaborate on To Where He Belongs together, I thought we would finally get the chance to pick up where we left off previously – to my surprise though, this time around, you played my mother in the series! When I saw your ‘old lady’ look in the dressing room, I was so scared – I remember I asked you with a shocked expression on my face: ‘What are you doing?’ At the time, I really could not accept it!

KC: Hahahaha! I feel that Wong Jing (王晶) [the series’ scriptwriter] was trying to play a joke on you!

MT: Then when we did Showbiz Tycoon, I was hopeful once again, since I would be playing the boss of a movie production company so it would make sense that I’d have the opportunity to ‘get close’ with the female artists who work for me. But the way my character was written, I played a boss with high standing who only has an attitude of ‘mentoring the next generation’ towards his female artists – it was almost like I was your ‘father’ in a sense, so of course no opportunity for kiss scenes!

Very brave to play ‘mother’ role

KC: My character admired you a lot, but you never had romantic feelings toward me – at most, our relationship was just a little bit ‘ambiguous’. No wonder you said that you felt like going crazy! However, I believe we will have the opportunity to collaborate again in the future. On July 1st, I signed with a new management company [SMI Corporation] and there will be a lot of new developments coming up, so we can talk more at that time – I should definitely have the chance to repay you [the kiss scene]!

MT: I admire you a lot for taking on the ‘mother’ role in To Where He Belongs, as most female artists wouldn’t take such a risk playing that type of role. I remember you telling me at the time that you purposefully took that role because you wanted to challenge yourself – I feel that you’re very brave!

KC: I took the role because I felt the character was very well-written. I was paired with Damien [Lau] (劉松仁) and a lot of the storyline was told via flashback scenes – the script was also very attractive: my character loses her memory and regresses back to having the personality of a little kid. I really wanted to challenge myself with this type of character, so I didn’t mind taking it on. I remember at the time, I would stare at a picture of my mom and constantly think about how to make myself look old.

Dated for 10 years, relationship with boyfriend similar to a ‘married couple’

MT: You really don’t have to worry about looking old, as you’ve taken care of yourself well over the years. I even heard that you’re currently dating someone?

KC: I’ve actually been dating for 10 years already. My boyfriend is 10 years younger than me – he’s an architect whom I met through a friend. In the beginning, my boyfriend was really opposed to me being in the entertainment industry – to be honest, during the first 2 -3 years that we dated, I declined a lot of job offers…true, making money is important, but I can’t let that be the only focus in my life – I don’t want to push myself too hard. In terms of getting married – my boyfriend actually already proposed to me the first few years we started dating, but I’m really not in a hurry, as I don’t want to completely give up my acting career right now. Our relationship is very steady right now and it’s no different than that of a married couple – the only thing missing is the marriage contract. I’m pretty much letting things happen at will – if later on I suddenly feel like getting married, then I’ll do it, but it will definitely be low profile…no need to have a huge ceremony because I’ve filmed way too many wedding scenes in my career and pretty much have already worn every type of wedding dress imaginable.

No problem walking out in the street with no makeup

MT: Since Beijing is already your ‘new home’, what brought you back to Hong Kong this time?

KC: Earlier I did the movie The Yang Female Warriors《楊門女將》and the filming process was extremely exhaustive: we had to film in Inner Mongolia, where the weather was 30 degrees below zero and since there were a lot of fight scenes, we were pulled on wires a lot – I even got hit with a sword accidentally and it caused my leg to be swollen for a long time! I don’t know how I lasted through it, but now that it’s over, I really need to rest – I’ve pretty much been working for more than 2 years straight without much rest, so with the opportunity to take a break right now, I figured I’d come back to HK to visit relatives. The lifestyle in HK versus Beijing is very different – when I’m in HK, I usually go around shopping or running errands very leisurely. Reporters have snapped pictures of me taking the subway, eating ice cream, shopping, etc., but I don’t mind – they can take pictures all they want! Usually when I go out, I don’t like to put on makeup – I don’t see anything wrong with that, as long as I’m not affecting others. Sometimes, I even stand around the street corners eating fish balls from the local street vendors!

MT: I really admire your ‘not bothering with trifles’ personality! No wonder you’ve been able to keep yourself looking so young!

KC: Actually, my face just ‘looks’ cool – those who know me would laugh at me and those who don’t would probably be scared to death! Doing makeup and hair is a clumsy experience for me —the ladies who do my hair at work all dread doing it because each time, there are hair clips and combs all over the place. Sometimes, if we’re filming on location somewhere and I’m asked to touch up on my makeup, I usually tell the crew not to bother, as it looks fine the way it is!

MT: I feel that every artist has a certain temperament about them – your temperament is a result of your self-confidence!

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EPILOGUE

Over the course of doing the 4 interviews with his friends, Michael Tao’s biggest concern was making sure that the needs of his guests were taken care of. With Kenix Kwok, he wanted to make sure that the interview didn’t interfere with her daughter’s exams [for getting into school]; with Bobby AuYeung and Felix Lok, he was concerned about whether the accessories he chose for them to wear were equally balanced; with Wayne Lai, he was concerned whether drinking wine during the interview would affect his ability to drive and wanted to make sure he got home safely; and with Kathy Chow, when he found out she still had bruises on her head from accidentally hitting it, he was concerned about her feelings doing a photo shoot for the interview, so he delayed the interview until her injury was healed. With the careful attention that he gives to his friends, no wonder all his buddies have nothing but praise for him and when he invited them for these interviews, they agreed readily!

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Chinese version

周海媚解宇心結 有緣再咀


陶大宇和周海媚（海味）於1999年起結劇緣，合作過三部劇集，二人所演角色，有情侶、母子及主僕，令大宇感覺刻骨銘心，並笑言海味在他的「戲場」穿插，幾乎令他「變態」。事緣當年海味因病辭演，大宇要跟替身拍情深款款的咀戲，只能自我催眠當眼前替身就是海味。海味得知大宇有此委屈，笑說：「當我欠你一場咀戲，遲啲還番畀你！」


周：大宇，跟你合作過三套劇《縱橫四海》、《縱橫天下》及《影城大亨》之後，都未有再合作，之後我去咗北京發展，2008年喺上海出席你嘅生日會，之後商演都遇上兩次，雖然碰面唔多，但今次我哋坐埋傾偈，你畀我感覺依然冇變！
 
陶：嗰次我喺上海拍劇，你又咁啱喺附近，好多謝你到賀，不過，我哋總係欠點緣分，雖然拍咗三套劇，但我同你之間嘅關係太撲朔迷離，你簡直令我「變態」！
 
周：吓……點解咁嚴重？
 
陶：當年拍《四海》，你拍咗大半部戲後因為病而休息，留番你嘅替身同我做戲，劇情寫我狂追你，用詞情深款款，但你嘅替身完全唔知發生咩事，又冇演戲經驗，談情戲惟有全程「食自己」，即係自己同自己演，最好笑我對住替身講好愛你，佢就回我12345，哈哈，問你死未！最慘係我明明有機會同你拍咀戲，我卻要將一個唔係周海媚嘅替身幻想為周海媚，咁你話我仲唔係變態？
 
冇患紅斑狼瘡症


周：當年我身體唔舒服，但唔係患「紅斑狼瘡症」，只係天生血小板低，輕微碰撞都好易瘀，我最近都撞親個頭，啲瘀血好耐都唔散，好彩唔使開工，既然依家聽你咁講，即係話我欠你一場咀戲啦，哈哈！

陶：又唔係咁講，嗰時你唔舒服我哋都好擔心，到拍《天下》時，我以為有機會同你再續未了緣，點知今次個劇你係做我阿媽！當日喺化妝間見到你化老妝，嚇得我，我仲記得好愕然咁問「你喺度做乜嘢呀」？我真係接受唔到囉！

周：哈哈哈哈，我覺得係王晶（《天下》監製）玩你囉！

陶：直到拍《影城》，我仲有期盼，演電影公司老闆應該有機會親近旗下花旦，點知因為角色關係，我演一名好有地位嘅老闆，面對旗下女演員，只抱一種提攜後輩嘅態度，好似做你老竇咁，細姪女冇得咀！


演阿媽角色夠勇

周：我個角色係好仰慕你喎，但你又唔喜歡我，我哋關係只係有點曖昧，難怪你會咁變態！我相信我哋總有機會再合作，今年七月一日，我簽咗新經理人公司「星美國際」，嚟緊會有好多新嘅發展，到時我哋認認真真「行埋」（合作），一定有機會還番畀你（咀戲）！

陶：演《天下》時我好佩服你，一般女星唔會咁冒險接「阿媽」角色，我好記得你當時同我講係特登接嘅，想挑戰呢個角色，我覺得你好有性格、好勇敢！

周：因為我覺得角色寫得好好，劇中有好多「Flash Back」場面，我同松哥（劉松仁）談情，劇本好，寫我失憶變番一個細路仔嘅性格，我好想演，所以唔介意接，當時我拎住自己阿媽張相不停諗點樣先可以變老。


拍拖十年 和男友似夫妻

陶：你真係唔需要擔心老，保養得好好，我仲聽聞你蜜運中？

周：其實我拍咗拖十年，男友比我年輕十年，佢做建築，係朋友介紹認識，起初男友好抗拒我做呢行，講真，頭兩、三年為咗拍拖，我推咗好多Job，搵錢的確重要，但我嘅人生唔可以不停為了搵錢，唔想逼自己咁辛苦。講到結婚，男友頭幾年已向我求婚，但我真係唔急，唔想放低演藝工作，我哋關係好穩定，已經同夫妻冇分別，只係欠一紙婚書，遲啲可能突然想結咪結囉，好隨意，不過會低調唔需要大搞，因為我拍結婚戲太多，古今中外嘅婚紗都着過好多次！


素顏行街冇問題

陶：北京已經係你嘅「新天地」，今次返香港又為乜呢？

周：早前拍電影《楊門女將》好辛苦，喺內蒙零下三十幾度好凍，拍個武打鏡頭，吊威吔360度轉落地仲被劈咗刀，隻腳都腫晒！我都唔知點捱過嚟，真係要抖吓，工作咗兩年幾都未休息過，趁休息返嚟探吓屋企人。香港同北京生活係唔同，但我喺香港都會好悠閒周圍行街、食雪糕，記者影我搭港鐵、食雪糕，冇所謂嘅，咪影囉！我平日上街都唔愛化妝，又唔覺有問題喎，只要企企理理唔影響巿容就得，我仲會喺街邊拮魚蛋添！

陶：好欣賞你不拘小節嘅性格，唔怪得你keep住年輕，好似食咗防腐劑！

周：其實我個樣cool咋，識我嘅人笑死，唔識嘅就嚇死！試過返公司化妝，梳頭啲阿姐幫我整頭都好驚，又跌髮夾又跌梳，有時我拍外景，化妝阿姐話叫我補妝，我都話唔使啦，好靚啦！

陶：我諗每個演員都有一種氣質，而你嘅氣質來自你嘅自信！


後記：

在陶大宇的四篇訪問中，他最關心是受訪嘉賓的需要，先是擔心會否阻礙郭可盈照顧女兒的考試，而歐陽震華和駱應鈞的衣着配搭又是否平均，與黎耀祥訪談時興起飲紅酒會否影響其駕駛安全；最後得悉周海媚撞傷頭令到面有瘀痕，又怕她影相不靚，一度延遲遷就。大宇對朋友的心細如塵，難怪一班老友對他讚口不絕，邀約訪談冇托手o架。

周： 周海媚　陶： 陶大宇
文：影視組
攝：司徒國榮

Oriental Daily Interview: Wayne Lai received help from Michael Tao, remembers it forever

Here's the 3rd of the 4 interviews Michael Tao did with Oriental Daily.  This one is a joint interview with Wayne Lai, whom he became close friends with when both were filming the series "Showbiz Tycoon" for ATV. 

After reading the first 2 interviews about DIF and FOJ, for a minute there, I almost forgot about Michael's 'ATV connections'....this interview definitely reminded me of it.  And now I'm thinking that the last interview he did (the one with Kathy Chow that will come out next Sunday) is probably going to focus on another 'representative work' of his at ATV:  "Flaming Brothers" (I guess we'll have to wait and see next week if I'm correct...hahaha).

Regardless, the below interview with Wayne was still awesome!  I enjoyed reading about the close friendship that the two of them have and how from a personality standpoint, the two are able to complement each other so well.

Anyway, hope you enjoy this one as much as the others!  :-)

*****

Oriental Daily Interview:  Wayne Lai received help from Michael Tao, remembers it forever

Source:  Oriental Daily

Translation:  llwy12

Michael Tao (陶大宇) and Wayne Lai (黎耀祥) have known each other for more than a decade -- their ‘brotherly’ relationship started back in the year 2000, when the two of them collaborated in the ATV series Showbiz Tycoon 《影城大亨》.  Given the rare opportunity to be interviewed together with Michael, Wayne shared a few stories about their relationship that were never revealed before, including recounting all the support that Michael had given him back in the day.  As for Michael, he expressed that even though Wayne is younger than him, his EQ is very high, which helps complement his own shortcomings in that area.

MT = Michael Tao
WL = Wayne Lai

MT:   Wayne, seeing you get the TV King award for 2 years in a row, I’m truly very happy for you.  If I had to describe my feelings towards you receiving those two awards, I would have to say:  ‘well-deserved’ and ‘no easy feat’!

WL:  Thank you!  Thank you!   Actually, I really cherish this opportunity [the interview] to get together with you to drink a little wine and chat from the heart.  Towards all the support you have given me in the past, it’s all engraved in my heart!   Back when we filmed Showbiz Tycoon, we were together practically every day throughout the 6 to 7 months of filming!  Every morning, when you bought coffee, you would buy for me too -- when I bought a house in 2000, I would ask your opinion and when you bought your Porsche, I would tell you to drive it to work so that we could ‘enjoy’ it together – we even experienced buying stocks together and ‘losing’…..haha!  Basically, we experienced a lot together and became very close and would also be concerned about each other’s health.  After we finished filming the series, it was difficult to part – I really wanted to see you, my ‘big brother’, again!

MT:  I actually had a lot of life principles that I needed to learn from you and each time I asked, you were able to advise me – though some of the advice appeared correct but was actually wrong….hahaha!  Plus back then I had quite a temper and would get upset easily – whenever I saw something that seemed unfair, I would burst out….but, the two of us never argued with each other and after I let out my frustrations, I would be fine!

WL:  I still remember back when we performed in shows together, you gave me a tie – when I bought my house, it was as if you knew I needed money….you had the opportunity to perform in the Mainland and not only did you include me in the performance, you also gave me half the earnings!  Do you still remember?

MT:  Oh….that time, the boss of a company in Mainland invited me to do a show over there – I asked him about inviting another artist as well, but he said no, he only wanted me.  Since I really wanted you to perform together with me, I told the boss: “I’ll bring along another artist to help make the atmosphere more lively – you can just pay the regular rate.”  I remember asking you at the time:  “Wayne, how much do you normally charge for doing shows?  Whatever the rate is, I’ll give you the same amount – come have some fun together!”   Afterwards, I gave you a portion of my earnings from that show….earning less money actually didn’t make much of a difference to me – most important is that we had a fun and happy time singing and ‘playing’…it was almost like going on a vacation trip together!


Channel the ‘negative mood’ onto the characters

WL:  Brother Michael, you truly cherish relationships – from everyday life to food and drink, you always took good care of me!

MT:  I remember back when we were filming Showbiz Tycoon, I even bought your socks for you!   That time we were rehearsing at the studio and I noticed the socks you were wearing had labels on it – since the backdrop for the scene was supposed to be 1960s/70s and the pants you wore were a little short [at the ankles], I went out and bought a half dozen plain white socks for you to wear to work!  But, I will only limit myself to buying socks – if you need new underwear, your wife has to buy it!

WL:  Ah, yes…..at the time, I thought that pulling my socks up as high as possible would make it less noticeable!    You’re very attentive!

MT:  Perhaps because I’m a Virgo, constantly in pursuit of perfection, so when I’m filming, if something doesn’t look right to me, I get upset….

WL:  The fact that you noticed my socks proves that you are truly very attentive.  No wonder you would get so hot-tempered when filming, as there are so many details to be concerned with.  People who don’t know might misunderstand that you get angry easily, but in reality, you’re just pursuing perfection.  In comparisons, I don’t concern myself with that type of stuff anymore because I’ve already gotten used to the ‘rules of the game’ – even if you get upset, it’s still not going to help the matter any, so might as well channel that ‘negative mood’ onto the appropriate characters [roles] instead.

MT:  The words of wisdom from a two-time TV King – channel the negative energy into the role you’re playing rather than to other people or things in real life!   You definitely have high EQ – that’s why even I rely on you to help appease me when I’m in a bad mood!  I remember a few years ago when I was filming Sisters of Pearl《掌上明珠》and I bumped into you again at TVB City – sometimes, when I was upset over something related to work, I would go over and vent to you about it and then I would feel much better afterwards.   I probably bothered you a lot back then, huh?


Happy to take his son to work with him

WL:  We haven’t seen each other in 2 to 3 years….Michael, seeing you again today, whether internally or externally, you haven’t changed much at all – instead, I feel that you’ve gained more [personal] experience and also there’s more calmness in your eyes!    I remember in the past, you always seemed to have a ‘fire’ in you and when you walked, you would charge forward at a very fast pace – now the feeling that you give me is that you’ve fallen back a little, more calm and collected and definitely a lot more comfortable than before.

MT:  We’re at a different stage in life now.  In my eyes, you’ve also matured a lot – you’ve become a benevolent father!  Your son is a very good boy -- he likes hanging out with you, taking pictures with you, etc.  Many youth nowadays are very distant from their parents and would rather play video games or play with their cell phones if they have spare time – it’s very rare that he’s willing to follow you around to places!

WL:  I don’t mind bringing my son along with me and letting him experience the environment in which his parents work – it helps him better understand what the entertainment industry is all about!

MT:  Definitely agree, but I myself am not used to having relatives around when I work because it’s too much pressure for me.  I would worry that they’d get bored waiting for me and it actually makes it harder for me to concentrate – that’s why I admire you for being able to accept it!

WL:  Sometimes I would feel that way too.  Out of necessity in my work, sometimes I would need to have more interaction with other artists and understand their rhythm in order to assimilate better into the acting and make things more natural….occasionally, when there are awkward moments, I would tell my wife it’s best for her not to come!

MT:  Your wife is very understanding though…she’s very good!   Having your family accompany you can actually be quite a blessing – like when you recently went to film in Hengdian, your wife went with you and took care of you!

WL:  That time, we had gone to Hengdian to film for The Confidant《大太監》.  Rest periods weren’t a problem, but actually having all the tourists there did slow down production.  The area where we filmed is a popular tourist area where a lot of tour groups actually buy tickets to come watch filming – there were quite a few times where we had to ‘NG’ because we had to stop due to people interfering.  The most difficult part was having to wait around in the scorching heat with our thick costumes on!

MT:  You have a lot of endurance though!    Back when we filmed Showbiz Tycoon, you were also filming movies outside – you practically didn’t get to sleep at all!  When the behind-the-scenes crew saw how exhaustively you worked, even they shook their heads…back then, as soon as we finished in the studio, you would rush off to film the movie -- there would even be a car waiting outside for you!

WL:  During that time, I think my record was going 4 days straight without sleeping on a bed!   My son wasn’t born yet, as my wife was still pregnant – since I was a newcomer in the movie industry, there was a lot of demand at the time.  I never played any lead roles and mostly had bit parts in the movies, but in order to make money, I would film no matter how exhaustive it was – my record was filming 6 movies at the same time!   The foundation I have now is mostly from everything I endured back then!

Oriental Daily interview with “Files of Justice” buddies Michael Tao, Bobby AuYeung, and Felix Lok

As promised, here’s the ‘follow-up’ to the earlier Oriental Daily interview with Michael and Kenix (where they recounted their collaboration in DIF)….Michael actually did 4 interviews total with Oriental Daily – the first one was the Kenix / DIF one, which was published on Father’s Day (June 17th) and the second one is the one below with his “Files of Justice” buddies (Bobby AuYeung and Felix Lok). I know Michael also did a joint interview with actress Kathy Chow as well, but not sure if that will be the next OD interview to be published…as for the 4th interview, not quite sure yet, as Michael didn’t mention anything about it on his Weibo (at least not yet)…

Anyway, back to this interview…FOJ was definitely a classic series, right up there with DIF as one of the best series that TVB made in the 90s (in my opinion). When I first found out about this interview, I was actually hoping that it would be with more of the cast, but I guess it makes sense to have only Michael, Bobby, and Felix, since too many people would make the interview too complicated. Ah well – I guess if I want to see the entire cast again, I could always go pull out my collection of FOJ (yes, I have all 5 installments) and do a marathon rewatch (after I finish rewatching DIF again, that is! LOL!).

One quick note about the below interview – in translating it, I tried as best I could to keep the ‘flavor’ of the original interview in Chinese, though it was a bit difficult considering there was a lot of Cantonese slang that just doesn’t sound the same when translated into English. Therefore, for those who can read Chinese (more specifically, those who can read written Cantonese), I highly recommend that you read the interview in its original language – the impact is definitely different reading it in Chinese versus English!

Lastly, I absolutely enjoyed reading this interview – as is usually the case when Bobby is involved, the interview was hilarious – in fact, I laughed so hard during the parts when Bobby and Michael were describing each other’s “embarrassing moments” that I’m still clutching my stomach even now as I write this (yup, I laughed so hard that my insides hurt…hahaha!).

*****
 
Oriental Daily interview with “Files of Justice” buddies Michael Tao, Bobby AuYeung, and Felix Lok
 

Source:  Oriental Daily

Translation:  llwy12

Classic TVB series Files of Justice《壹號皇庭》helped the series’ stars Michael Tao (陶大宇), Bobby AuYeung (歐陽震華), and Felix Lok (駱應鈞) become lifetime friends. When these 3 ‘buddies’ reunited again to chat about the past, laughter filled the room [throughout the interview] as they voluntarily ‘dished the dirt’ on each other. Known for always having a ‘container full of laughs’, Bobby recounted Michael’s embarrassing ‘pants falling off’ incident while Michael ‘retaliated’ by making fun of Bobby’s ‘PK accident’ – their ages added together are already close to 100 years old, yet they never get tired of poking fun at each other! As for the ‘honest and serious’ Felix, he expressed that the 3 of them reuniting again is a rare opportunity and definitely worth cherishing.

M = Michael Tao
B = Bobby Au Yeung
F = Felix Lok

M: I’ve already come up with a new ‘image’ for both of you so that when the 3 of us get together now, the ‘feel’ will be different….

B: Well, your bowtie sure matches your ‘image’ in the series, however I’m not able to find the old hairstyle I had anymore! In fact, my head seems to become more and more round with each year that passes – soon I will need to sleep upside down so that the skin on my face doesn’t fall down…hahaha!

F: It’s already been 20 years since we did Files of Justice, so for us to get together again is definitely a rare opportunity and is worth treasuring! The thing I remember the most is that when we used to film series, it always involved ‘flying papers’ [TN: ad-lib dialogue / scripts written ‘on the fly’]. But since I’m working for a new company now (CTI), I don’t have to worry about that anymore, since the company does not allow it!

Could not stop kissing Flora Chan

B: Back then, the audiences actually liked watching the scenes when us ‘brothers’ would sit around the house chatting with each other, but I personally liked to watch Michael’s kiss scenes the most! The kiss scenes that he did with Flora Chan (陳慧珊) and Jessica Hsuan (宣萱) – WOW…the kisses were so ‘noisy’ and even when the cameras were shut off, they would still be kissing!

M: Hey, I wasn’t the one who requested it! But usually, the people I kissed were very good to me – for Flora Chan, that time was actually her first on-screen kiss!

F: The two of them have more open, Westernized personalities, so they take the initiative more. But I definitely agree that the kiss scene you had with Flora was truly ‘awesome’!

M: How do you know it was ‘awesome’? Even if it was, I’m the only one who should know….hahaha!

B: Talking about kiss scenes – one time, when I filmed a kiss scene with Esther Kwan (關詠荷), I actually learned some ‘tips’ from her! I’m actually a bit shy and nervous when it comes to filming kiss scenes -- that time when I had to do a kiss scene with her, she actually started talking to me while we were in the middle of the scene…she told me not to ‘squish’ her with my face! I told her to quit talking and concentrate. Later she told me that talking while kissing makes it look more real -- sure enough, when the scene came out, the results were truly very good! Michael -- if you don’t believe it, you should try it some time!

M: No, it won’t happen…at this level, I already don’t have the courage to kiss a girl in front of the camera anymore! A quick ‘good morning’ kiss is fine, but if you asked me to do the ‘madly in love’ type kiss now…wah, so ugly!

B: There was a time when I had a passionate kiss scene with Ada Choi (蔡少芬) – I was so scared! I mean, if I had decent facial features like Michael, the kiss scene would look good, but for someone like me who has such a ‘flat’ face, as soon as my face touches the other person’s, it looks as though my entire face (eyes, nose, mouth, ears, etc.) disappears! That’s why I came up with a ‘trick’ for filming the scene, which I told Ada: “So when we actually film, I’ll just kiss your cheek and if need be, I’ll kiss your forehead as well – that should be enough.” I was surprised when she actually responded: “Aiya….I was thinking the same thing!!” Darn….


Felix Lok is more ‘fit’ than Him Law

M: Felix’s police scenes were quite exhaustive for him, as he pretty much ran around all of HK when filming the scenes where he had to investigate the cases. Luckily, Felix has a very disciplined lifestyle…back then, when I went to his home, I already saw that he had his own personal gym – even now, he has been able to keep himself physically fit, even more ‘fit’ than Him Law (羅仲謙)!

F: Back then, when filming the investigation scenes, it could take us up to 11 or 12 days to complete! Of course, we were young back then. Even now, I still try to keep up with my exercise routine, as I still need to be ‘presentable’ in front of the cameras!

M: Actually, all of us desired to look good in front of the cameras. When we filmed FOJ, I requested to change clothes for every scene and each outfit had to be a different color – all of the bowties were from my own personal collection!

B: You (points to Michael) even requested to have all your pajamas made in completely white silk – wearing them made you look like Bak Lung Wong (白龍王)! One time, when we were filming a scene on location, you had quite an embarrassing moment! I remember that day was a Sunday and we were doing a scene at Statue Square [TN: famous location in HK’s Central district] – the two of us were holding the outfits that we were supposed to use for the scene and originally, we thought about changing at the hotel nearby, but since we needed to change quickly, we figured it was best to just change in the trailer at the location. When you unbuckled your pants, you had forgotten that your wallet was in the back pocket – it weighed your pants down and as a result, your pants fell all the way down to your ankles! All the Filipino maids in the area who saw you ‘flash’ your underwear couldn’t help yelling out: “Oh! Michael….small!” I laughed so hard! I remember telling you afterwards: “Next time, make sure you buy new underwear more often -- the rubberband in that pair looks so worn out already!” Hahahahaha….!

M: Well, you also had that embarrassing moment when we were filming at the mall! We were on the escalator and because you were wearing a pair of dark sunglasses and couldn’t see where you were going, you missed a step and ‘PK’ed’ right there! Hahaha! [TN: ‘PK’ actually represents a phrase that is considered a ‘curse word’ in Cantonese slang – the tamer ‘two letter’ version is usually used to describe when someone trips and falls flat on their face].

B: And you dare to even mention it! That time, if it wasn’t for your roaring laughter when the situation occurred, it wouldn’t have caused everyone in the mall to know! Everyone looked over in our direction when they heard you laughing – it was so embarrassing!!


Close-knit brothers, friendly competition

Back then, these 3 ‘brothers’ didn’t engage in any internal fighting or backstabbing – instead, they became close-knit brothers who encouraged and motivated one another. They would even meet together after work for coffee and give each other advice on upcoming scenes.

B: Even though us brothers were a ‘playful’ bunch, when it came to work, we were quite united. Every night after we finished filming, we would go to the nearby café and talk about our scenes – everyone’s mentality was very good! At one point, I had asked producer Gary Tang (鄧特希) why he chose us second line artists to film the series – he said that if he were to choose first-line artists, most of the scenes would probably be focused only on those few artists, but if the entire cast consisted of second-line artists, then the scenes could be shared and it would create ‘friendly competition’!

F: I also discovered an interesting phenomenon – not only did we have ‘friendly competition’ as the producer predicted, there was also never any hostility between any of us and we also never fought for screentime. We were able to maintain a close friendship that didn’t change even after filming 5 installments of the series – it’s definitely very rare! If it was any other series where the cast had to be together for such a long time, arguments are bound to occur!

B: That’s why I’m really hoping that there will be more installments of FOJ in the future. Also, we should definitely arrange more get-togethers….

M: Since most of our ‘playful’ crowd have already entered different stages in life, if we were to get together again for another installment of FOJ, I believe that the producer will need to come up with a different ‘feel’ to match too in order to make it work!

.*****.

Chinese version:

Bobby爆大宇用褲菲女嘲small

過百集的經典劇《壹號皇庭》，造就了陶大宇、歐陽震華（Bobby）和駱應鈞（阿公）成為老友，三人重聚暢談當年軼事，笑料百出。堪稱「笑料貨櫃」的Bobby大爆大宇當街甩褲，更被菲傭取笑「small」！大宇卻反嘲對方當街PK，二人加埋近百歲還樂此不疲，最老正的阿公坦言三人聚首是何等難得和極具紀念性。

陶：我幫你哋諗好形象，三人行埋都有不一樣嘅感覺……

Bobby：你就話打Bow連戲，但我就再搵唔到從前嘅髮型！我個頭仲年復年變圓，遲啲要倒吊瞓，等面皮唔好鬆……哈哈！

阿公：《皇庭》至今已經廿年，我哋再一齊坐埋，認真難得，好值得紀念！以前拍劇就專飛紙仔，不過我依家就轉咗新公司（CTI），公司規定唔可以飛紙仔！

咀陳慧珊唔停

Bobby：其實觀眾鍾意睇我哋幾兄弟嘅屋企戲，但我就鍾意睇大宇嘅kiss戲！佢同陳慧珊、宣萱拍咀戲，嘩……拍到「施施SirSir」，放消夜、收機仲喺度緊！

陶：又唔係我要求，不過通常對手都對我好好，陳慧珊嗰次仲係「螢幕初吻」！

阿公：佢哋個個鬼妹仔性格都好主動，你同陳慧珊嗰場，真係好正！

陶：你又知正？係正都只有我知……哈哈！

Bobby：講到拍咀戲，我遇上關詠荷，嗰次咀戲我真係學到嘢！自己拍咀戲怕醜又「蛇Ger」，點知當日我同佢拍咀戲時，佢竟然拍攝中途講嘢……叫我面口唔好疊住佢，鏡頭後我仲怪佢唔投入，後來佢話邊講邊咀會好逼真，果然拍出嚟又真係好有效果！唔信嘅話，大宇你試吓！

陶：唔會啦……到咗呢個階段，我已經唔敢喺鏡頭前錫女仔，早晨一個輕吻還可以，要談戀愛式激吻，嘩……好核突！

Bobby：我試過同蔡少芬有一場激吻戲，好驚……你話好似大宇有輪廓下巴兜兜拍咀戲就話好睇，我呢啲扁口扁面，一撞埋乜嘢眼、耳、口、鼻都唔見晒啦，所以我想到一個辦法同少芬講：「到時我錫吓你塊面，再唔係錫埋你額頭就夠！」佢竟然答我：「唉喲……我都係咁諗！」頂……


阿公fit過羅仲謙

陶：阿公拍差人戲都好辛苦，拍查案走勻全港，不過阿公生活好有規律，當年我去佢屋企，已經見佢有私人健身室，依家身形仲係Keep得咁fit，比羅仲謙更好！

阿公：當年拍一場查案戲可以拍十一、二日，當年後生，不過依家我都有保持運動量，幕前都要見得人o架！

陶：其實我哋個個都貪靚，拍《皇庭》時我要求場場換衫，要唔同顏色，所有Bow都係私伙！

Bobby：你（指大宇）連睡衣都要全白絲綢，着到好似「白龍王」咁！有一次外景喺街邊換衫大出洋相……當日係星期日，喺皇后像廣場取景，我同你攞住戲服，本來想行過去酒店換，但又想快，索性喺外景車旁換，點知你解開褲頭，竟忘記個銀包袋咗喺後袋，結果墜甩咗條褲，成條褲跌到落腳眼呀，現場大群菲傭見到呢個露底場面不禁大叫：「oh！Michael…… small！」我睇到反白眼！我只好話：「下次勤啲換底褲啦！褲頭橡筋都變成波浪紋啦！」哈哈哈哈……

陶：你夠因為戴黑超，喺商場睇唔到路，行扶手電梯踩錯腳PK啦！哈哈！

Bobby：你仲好意思講，嗰次唔係你笑聲震天，都唔會全個商場啲人都知道啦！個個望過嚟，我不知幾尷尬！

兄弟同心良性競爭

當年三個後生仔，不為上位明爭暗鬥、互篤背脊，反而兄弟同心，衝勁十足，連收工都約埋歎咖啡度戲。

Bobby：我哋兄弟雖然貪玩，不過工作就很團結，每拍完都會去附近茶餐廳傾吓戲，每個人心態都好好、好Fit！我都有問監製（鄧特希）點解搵我哋這班二線演員演出，佢話搵一線演員可能戲份會集中一個人身上，但係全班都係二線，就可造出良性競爭！

阿公：我都發現一個現象，我哋兄弟不止有監製計算嘅效果，就連互相交惡、爭戲情況都冇，感情之好，仲可以合作五輯都冇變，實在好難得。要是其他劇，大家演員長時間對住，好多都會有爭拗！

Bobby：所以我好期待《皇庭》長拍長有，仲要搞多啲聚會……

陶：我哋呢班爛玩兄弟已踏入人生另一階段，時至今日要再走埋一齊，相信監製都要諗一啲「新口味」配合至得！