Mingpao Weekly: Interview with Felix Wong (黃日華)

This particular article is actually old (from December 2010). The interview was done around the time "Gun Metal Grey" was airing. I had actually translated this article for AF back during that time, but for some reason, didn't think to post it on my blog -- since I've been in a nostalgic mood recently and have been chatting about the 5 Tigers with others on their blogs, I figured I would post this as a 'treat' for me and for my fellow 80s HK entertainment fanatics (LOL)!

Enjoy!!  :-)

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Mingpao Interview: Felix Wong does not chase after fame and fortune, chases after soccer balls

Original article published 12/12/2010
Source: Mingpao (reposted on TVB Channel)

Translated by llwy12

Picture credits as listed

Felix Wong – a 30 year veteran in the HK entertainment industry -- graduated from TVB’s Acting Class in 1980 and almost immediately took on the role of leading actor in TV series. He’s known for being a bit ‘explosive’ at times when it comes to his work, but that is because he takes his work seriously and has high expectations – in other words, Felix is merely trying to do his job well. Felix does not fight for any awards and actually feels that earning too much money is troublesome, so in terms of chasing after fame and fortune, there’s no need to include him – he is perfectly happy living a quiet, leisurely life doing what he loves best: ‘chasing balls’ on the soccer field. So then, what is it that has motivated Felix to film so many classic and memorable television series all these years? Felix replies: “Since I promised to do the job, I have to do it well! Actually, I don’t like this career (being an actor) at all and do not have an ‘acting addiction’ – to me, this is purely a ‘job’, but I still have to do it well!”

Even though he has been doing this ‘job’ for 30 years, Felix never mentions anything about having a passion for acting; instead, he claims that he only ‘loves’ soccer.

Felix: “After graduating from high school, I tried enrolling in the army, but was not successful, so I applied for TVB’s Acting Class. My personality is not a good fit for the entertainment industry, as I dislike being hypocritical and am not the type to ‘network’ or be sociable – I feel that trying to force myself to change in order to accommodate someone else is extremely painful. Even when my work became very difficult and exhausting, I never thought about giving up – I guess this is one of the attributes of those born in the 60s: willingness to endure hardship. I also don’t like changing to new environments, so if I had not entered the entertainment industry, I would probably be a soccer player. Luckily though, I was not drafted to any soccer teams back then because the career of a professional soccer player only lasts about 10 years, so it would have been hard for me to make the type of living that I did in order to have a good life now. I never did too well in school, however those from my generation who did do well in school may not have the same type of leisurely and carefree lifestyle that I have now either. In my opinion, those who are easily satisfied are the happiest.”

More Money = More Troubles

In the past 10 years, Felix has not ‘worked’ a whole lot and gave up on many opportunities to earn money. Why? Because he chose to allow himself to ‘slow down’.

Felix: “I worked very hard in the 1980s because at that time, I had a mortgage to pay; it wasn’t until I had accumulated a decent amount of savings and no longer had to worry about being burdened financially that I was able to choose for myself the life that I wanted to live. The amount of money that I earn from filming series in mainland China is several times greater than what I earn in Hong Kong, plus the filming schedule is already determined at the time the contract is signed, so it’s not as exhausting, however it would require me to be away from home for 4 to 6 months in the year, which won’t work for me. Filming in HK is more exhausting and difficult, but at least I’m able to go home to rest – that’s why I rejected a lot of opportunities to film series in mainland China. Even if it’s live stage performances in China, I try not to do too many either – though if I were willing to accept those job offers, I could have bought several houses already! Actually, my thought is that more money equals more troubles. A person needs to be able to pick up and let go – if the more you are willing to give up physically, the more you’ll eventually gain.” Though the opportunities to earn money are right in front of Felix, he doesn’t bother to pursue them. Even Felix’s assistant admits that when he arranges jobs for Felix, the primary ‘requirement’ is to ensure that the work does not affect his ‘Happy Wednesdays’, as that is the day that he has soccer practice with the HK Celebrity Soccer Team.


Teaches younger generation to build a solid foundation

Earlier, when Felix agreed to film the series 'Gun Metal Grey', he had to sacrifice his ‘Happy Wednesdays’ – now that the series has finished airing, Felix expresses that after not filming a TVB series for 9 years, this was a new experience for him.

Felix: “The artists I collaborated with in this series are all very hard-working and really threw themselves into their roles – it was a very happy experience. I didn’t put myself on a pedestal when interacting with the newer artists, but rather I chose to act as a role model for them by fully preparing my scenes before entering the studio. A newbie once asked for my opinion, saying that he has been in the industry for a year already but still has not encountered many opportunities for growth. I told him to look at artists such as Wayne Lai and Evergreen Mak – they worked for 20 plus years before they encountered such an opportunity. In this industry, a lot depends on fate as well as luck – there are even more older generation artists who never get such an opportunity in their entire lifetimes. Before trying to ‘stand out’ and be above everyone else, it’s necessary to first perform one’s own duties well; once that solid foundation is built, then the opportunities will come. I was one of the lucky few, as I entered the television industry during its golden era, so I was already playing the lead role in my very first series, 'The Lonely Hunter'. I was also most fortunate to encounter many seniors (older generation artists) who were willing to teach me.”

He continues: “In the past, filming series was really about working as a team and even though everyone spent most of the energy hard at work, emphasis was on team spirit. This time, when I returned to TVB, I felt that things have become more ‘systematic’ and no one dares to overstep their bounds. True, the company is physically ‘bigger’, but there is less of that family-like feel – luckily, I had already prepared myself emotionally for the ‘change’ in the work environment, so it was a matter of getting used to it. If TVB asked me to film another series, I’m willing to think about it – if it could be a comedy, that would be great, but most important is to be able to work with a group of colleagues who take their work seriously. My only ‘requirement’ would be to make sure I get good lighting so that I can look younger on screen and the audience can’t see the bags under my eyes…haha!”


Award ‘in the bag’ but ‘fell’ out

Felix’s performance in 'Gun Metal Grey' brought him a TV King nomination, but in the end, he lost out. Does he regret not winning any awards?

Felix: “The awards ceremony is merely a game and I already made it clear that I would not participate. The fact that the series itself garnered good feedback and word of mouth, I am already very happy; I don’t need awards. I’ve never been ‘lucky’ in terms of winning awards and I’ve already accepted this fact – I once had a good chance of winning an award, to the point of it being ‘in the bag’, but in the end, it ‘fell’ out. Back in 1997, during the first year of the anniversary awards, I was nominated for my role as Kiu Fung in 'The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils 1997', the performance was not bad and the fighting scenes were done well – at the time, I thought that I had a pretty big chance at winning TV King, but in the end, I lost to Gallen Lo. It was the same with movies – I was nominated for Best Supporting Actor twice, but the first time I lost by one point to Anthony Wong and the second time, because I did not attend the Asian Film Festival, a Korean actor won instead. If you win an award, you still have to work and if you don’t win one, you’ll still get job opportunities – awards only bring fleeting happiness. If I was asked to film a series / movie for the purposes of winning an award, I definitely wouldn’t do it, as I don’t want the added pressure.”


Enjoy life and it will last longer

Slow down, enjoy life, and it will last longer. These are words of wisdom from Felix Wong.

Felix: “The amount of working I did in the first 20 years of my career is equivalent to 40 years worth of work for someone else, so I should be allowed to rest now, right? This industry is very weird – when I’m working hard, people advise me that I should slow down and rest, but then when I’m ‘resting’, people are endlessly asking me when I will be going back to work. Looks like the best thing to do is knead me together with Andy Lau, then redistribute, as he is quite the opposite – I’m constantly advising him to rest, but he always tells me it’s not exhausting and he likes working.”

Other than his Wednesday soccer practices and occasionally performing in mainland China, how else does Felix keep himself busy?

“Haha! I’m very busy! I ‘hang out’ at home playing video games, watching TV, gardening…also, there are 2 new ‘members’ of the family now, 2 dogs that I have to take care of. I also need to take my daughter to school and take care of some matters related to the Celebrity Soccer Team. Who says that I have a lot of free time? I’m also constantly re-watching my old series – recently, I re-watched 'The Lonely Hunter' as well as 'Legend of the Condor Heroes'. In doing so, I realized that back then, I didn’t know how to act at all! When I watch my performances from back then, I can’t help but laugh at myself!”

'The Lonely Hunter', 'Legend of the Condor Heroes', and 'Soldier of Fortune' are all classic TV series from the 80s, however many of those born in the 90s and after have never seen these series (including Felix’s daughter Zi-Ching). Asked for recommendations, Felix suggests re-watching 'Racking Peak', 'Looking Back in Anger', and 'Secret of the Heart', all series that he really likes. As for series from the 80s, he says that 'Soldier of Fortune' is definitely worth re-watching.

Felix is currently 49 years old – next year, he’ll be at the ‘half century’ mark (50 years old).

Felix: “Next year, I am going to change my name to『半百人』(‘half century person’) or『50人』(’50 person’). I don’t worry about age, as many people who are 50 or 60 years old are still quite healthy and energetic in today’s world. A fan once commented that ‘Felix Wong certainly looks like he has aged!’. Of course, it’s normal for me to look like I’ve aged, as I’m certainly not young anymore, unless I go get plastic surgery, then maybe I can still keep my face looking youthful. Hey, come to think about it…in the past, I never felt that I needed plastic surgery, but in recent years, I’ve been more accepting of it…perhaps I should go get surgery done for the bags under my eyes! Hahaha!!”


Good husband, good father

Felix Wong and former TVB actress Annie Leung married in 1988. Annie was Felix’s ‘first love’ – they dated for 8 years before getting married, so this year, they celebrate 30 years together. All these years, they’ve stood together to face life’s ups and downs and even to this day, Felix has never wavered in his determination to be a good husband and a good father.

Felix’s 20-year old daughter Zi-Ching is the beloved ‘pearl in his palm’ – he plays the part of chauffeur every day driving her to and from school. Ever the benevolent father, Felix even accompanied his daughter last year to meet her idol, Taiwanese boy band Lollipop-F – his great love for his daughter is obvious! As for his relationship with his wife Annie, some of HK’s gossip mags have used words such as ‘boring’, ‘dull’, and ‘each have their own fun’ to describe it.

Felix: “I love soccer and she loves Cantonese opera, so I guess you could say that we do have ‘our own fun’. However, recently, when we had personal gatherings with the GMG cast and crew, she participated as well. As for our marriage, it’s actually not ‘boring’ or ‘dull’ at all, rather, it has ascended to the highest level – being able to understand each other’s thoughts completely and having mutual respect and concern for each other, it has actually made our marriage even stronger. In the past 10 years, as I’ve reduced my workload, I’ve truly been able to enjoy our romance more; plus our daughter is grown up now and is dating, so my wife and I have more one-on-one time together. In the past, I would be working non-stop and any little free time I had would be spent sleeping. But now, I have the time to do the ‘ordinary’ activities that I never got a chance to do before, such as taking a stroll down the street with my wife, going to see a movie, going on vacations, etc. For me, being able to spend that time with my wife doing ‘ordinary’ things, it’s definitely a joy.”

Asked which places Felix likes to take his wife to for a nice dinner, he replied that there are a few places in Tsim Sha Tsui and Kowloon Tong that they go to often. Another ‘hot spot’ for them is the ‘BB Happy Restaurant, a small eatery in the Tai Po district – in fact, when asked where he wanted to do this interview, he picked this particular restaurant. As soon as he sat down at the restaurant, the owner already filled the table with all his favorite dishes and drinks (he didn’t even need to look at the menu)!


Three famous songs

Felix Wong and fellow actor Eddie Cheung are good friends and the 2 of them often perform in mainland China together in one of their famous ‘Fai Wong’ concerts [TN: ‘Fai’ is Eddie’s Chinese name Cheung Siu Fai and ‘Wong’ is of course Felix’s surname]. Every year, they do 20 to 30 shows and sometimes, they even travel outside of HK and China for their shows.

Felix: “It’s a pretty good living. We came up with the 'Fai Wong’ concerts thanks to Liza Wang – one time, she asked me why I don’t try going back to mainland China to perform onstage? I told her that my singing is really bad, but she said not to worry, as the fans won’t mind since I’m not a professional singer – she advised me to learn a few songs very well, then when I get on stage, perform the songs and play a couple games with the fans, and that’s it. So I learned to sing 2 of the themesongs from 'Legend of the Condor Heroes' as well as Liza’s classic song ‘Chinese People’; Eddie also has his own ‘specialty’ songs. For the past 6 years, no matter which event, we pretty much only perform these few songs, however the reaction from the audiences has always been very strong. Finally, I am able to experience the satisfaction that singers get when they receive applause and praise from the audiences.”

Though Felix and Eddie travel to mainland China often, Felix indicates that their wives don’t have to worry, as they don’t participate in any social events over there – in fact, they rarely go outside of their own hotel rooms.

Felix: When we’re performing in mainland China, the only 2 places that we go to are the performance location and the hotel – we refuse all parties and other social events, as it is easy to get in trouble when artists go to KTV places or bars. When we’re not performing, both Eddie and I choose to stay in our hotel rooms and do our own things – Eddie likes to have a cigar and some red wine, while I like listening to music and ‘playing’ Weibo. One time, it was really funny because we traveled to a very underdeveloped city in China and even though we stayed at one of the city’s best hotels, the condition was not too great and there were a lot of flies in the room. The hotel attendant gave me a fly swatter, so that day, my assistant and I played ‘swat the flies’ all day in my room!”


Addicted to Weibo

Felix is an admitted ‘Weibo fanatic’…in addition to ‘bursting out’ at TVB earlier on his Weibo, he also uses the platform to share the latest information about his life and career with more than 70,000 fans.

Felix: “I never thought that Weibo would be so far-reaching! With the ‘outburst’ situation, I was simply expressing what I felt was unfair from an audience’s perspective, didn’t realize the situation would spiral as big as it did. I’m a firm believer that if there’s sufficient evidence to back up a particular situation, it will gain attention and support. When I first started on Weibo, I thought it was merely a promotional platform for artists to interact with their fans, but turns out that it is a good communication tool – in the entertainment industry, artists don’t see each other often and even when we do get together face to face, it’s not always easy to open our mouths to express support for a certain person or situation. With Weibo, it brings us closer together and breaks down some of that awkwardness from a face to face encounter.”

Felix’s daughter is also on Weibo and is also one of his ‘Weibo fans’, however the 2 of them do not interact on-line. She said that she has already ‘followed’ him on Weibo, however Felix admits that he actually does not know his daughter’s Weibo screenname.

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Chinese Version

黃日華不追名利愛追波 微博玩上癮

在娛樂圈工作30年，於1980年無綫藝員訓練班畢業便當劇集男主角，他火爆是因為他對工作認真有要求；黃日華要做好呢份工。不爭獎又嫌錢太多好煩，追名逐利不要預他的份兒，樂得清閒在足球場上追波。支持他多年來拍攝了多部經典電視劇的動力從何而來？黃日華說﹕「答應了的工作一定要做好，其實我唔鍾意做呢行（演員），也沒有很大戲癮，只視為一份工，我就要做好呢份工！」

這份工做了30年，黃日華沒有說自己多熱愛演戲，他只愛踢波。

「中五畢業我投考南華青年軍失敗後才報名無綫藝員訓練班。我的性格不適合娛圈，不喜歡虛偽、打交道，強迫自己改變去遷就別人好痛苦。在工作最辛苦的階段我又未想過放棄，這是60後肯捱的特質；我又唔鍾意轉新環境，若我沒有入娛樂圈，我可能成為足球員。好彩當年未被選入足球隊，職業球員生涯只有10多年，好難掙到我現在的生活。我讀書唔叻，跟我同年代讀書叻的人也未必可以似我現在優游自在生活。人易滿足才會開心。」

「愈多錢愈多麻煩」

黃日華近10年的工作量不多，有錢唔掙，因為他選擇了讓自己放慢腳步。

「我最搏命搵錢是80年代，因為當時要供樓，直至有積蓄沒有經濟負擔，我可以選擇自己的生活。內地拍戲掙錢是香港的數倍，而且工時是簽約規定，故不辛苦，但要我離開香港4個月、半年便不可以。在香港拍戲更辛苦，但起碼可以回家休息，所以我推掉很多內地劇集。就算接內地登台的次數也不想太多，要是肯多接工作便多買幾層樓了。其實愈多錢便愈多麻煩。做人要拿得起放得低，有捨才有得。」有錢唔掙，華哥的助手為他接工作以不影響他的Happy Wednesday為原則，逢周三是明星足球隊練波的日子。

教後輩打穩基礎

早前黃日華接拍《刑警》也犧牲了他的踢波快樂時光，現在劇集也播完，9年沒有拍TVB劇集，今次讓他有新體驗。

「今次合作一班藝員也很勤力投入，是開心的。我沒有高高在上的跟新一輩相處，以身作則，做好準備才入廠。有新人問我意見，說入行一年也沒有發展機會。我叫他看黎耀祥、麥包，他們做了20多年才遇到機會。做這行一命二運，更多前輩是一世也沒有機會，想出人頭地前不如先做好本分，打穩基礎才有機會。我是少數幸運的，入行正值電視高峰期，第一部劇集《過客》便做主角。最好彩是初出道時遇到很多好前輩給我教導。」

「以前拍劇重團體精神，大家搏命工作，但今次返TVB的感覺是制度化後大家不敢越界。地方大了卻少了親切感，幸好我有心理準備工作環境變了，自己要適應。若果TVB再搵我拍劇，是可以考慮的，最好是喜劇，有一班工作認真的對手便好了；唯一要求是給我好的燈光，令我在熒幕上皮光肉滑，眼袋不太大。」

獎座入袋又跌走

《刑警》問鼎視帝落敗。未曾獲得獎項的榮譽是否遺憾？

「頒獎禮就是遊戲一場，我早聲明不參與的，劇集播映贏得口碑已開心，我不需要獎。我與獎無緣唯有認命，曾遇到有很大機會得獎的，獎座袋了入袋也跌出來。1997年首屆台慶頒獎禮，我在《天龍八部》演喬峰，文戲得、打戲又得，當時以為自己有機會做視帝，但最後輸給羅嘉良的李奇。電影也試過兩次競逐男配角，有次輸了一分給黃秋生，又一次亞太影展因沒有出席，讓韓國演員獲獎了。有獎一樣要工作，無獎一樣有機會，獎項帶來一陣子開心。若果要我拍一部要攞獎的戲，我不會接拍，只怕增壓力。」

享受生活命長久

放慢腳步享受生活，命都長啲，這是黃日華說的。

「入行前20年的工作量是別人做40年的時間，現在也要讓我休息吧。這圈子很奇怪，勤力工作的便有人勸應休息，我休息中卻不斷被追問何時再投入工作。將我跟劉德華搓揉再均分便最好，我經常勸他休息，但他說不辛苦，喜歡工作。」

除了逢周三的踢波日與偶然返內地演出，問華哥如何打發日子？

「我好忙o架！在家中hea，打機、睇電視、種花，最近家中多了兩個新成員，收養了兩隻狗也要照顧。我又要送女兒返學，與處理明星足球隊的會務，誰說我好得閒。我還不時翻看舊作，最近重溫了《過客》與《射鵰》，那時候不懂得演戲，現在看自己的演出也忍不住笑。」

《過客》、《射鵰》與《香城浪子》皆是80年代經典劇，但對「90後」，大部分也未看過，包括華哥的女兒。他強力推介要重溫的劇集是《馬場大亨》、《義不容情》與《天地豪情》皆是他喜歡的。80年代不得不看的是《香城浪子》。

華哥今年49歲，明年便半百（50歲）了。

「明年我會改藝名做 『半百人』或『50人』。我唔介意年紀多大，這年代50、60歲還是壯年。有影迷話歲月催人，黃日華老了！我年紀大了是正常的，除非我整容才保住年輕的樣子。話時話，以前我覺得不需要整容，近年已漸漸接受整容這件事，會考慮整一整眼袋……哈哈哈！」

好老公．好爸爸

黃日華與梁潔華1988年結婚，華女是他的初戀情人，「雙華戀」拍拖8年才結婚，相處了30年。這些年來兩人共同面對風浪，華哥要做好老公、好爸爸的角色從沒鬆懈過。

20歲的女兒芷晴是掌上明珠，每天由父親駕車送返學。去年他還陪女兒追星睇棒棒堂，這個廿四孝父親令人無話可說。但提到他跟太太梁潔華，兩人的生活被周刊形容為「各有各玩」、「平淡無味」。

「我愛踢波，她喜歡粵曲，確實是各有各玩；但最近我跟《刑警》同事聚會，她也有參與。我們的婚姻生活並不平淡，而是昇華到最高境界。互相意會對方的想法與關心，感覺是更鞏固的關係。」

「近10年我將工作量減少才享受到夫妻間的浪漫，女兒長大了，她要拍拖，我跟太太也有二人世界。以前不停工作，有空閒時間便睡覺。現在我有時間做以前未有機會做的事情，逛街、睇戲、去旅行是很平凡的節目，對我而言跟太太有這些活動是享受。」

問華哥跟太太的拍拖勝地在哪裏？他說﹕「我就是習慣了到尖沙嘴、九龍城與又一城食飯。」他們另一熱門蒲點是大美督的「BB開心棧」，正是他提議相約訪問的地點。華哥剛坐下未點菜，老闆娘已將他平日愛吃、喝的堆滿面前。街坊小菜館，沒燭光晚餐兼被蚊叮，他有老婆陪伴便感覺浪漫。

3曲走天涯

黃日華與張兆輝組成「輝黃」經常在內地開騷掙「人仔」，每年平均20至30場，所到的地方遠至海拉爾（近俄羅斯）與鴨綠江等。「山大斬埋有柴，都幾好掙。『輝黃』的組成多謝汪阿姐提點，有次她問我為何不返內地登台？我說因唱得太難聽。阿姐話粉絲不會介意，只要操練幾首歌、在台上玩遊戲便可以。我便專攻《射鵰》的《鐵血丹心》與《世間始終你好》，再加《中國人》；輝哥另有首本名曲。內地很多招商會活動，『輝黃』出馬皆是唱這幾首歌，6年來沒有變。我敢說劉德華在內地唱《中國人》的次數也不及我多。獨自登台時，我也是3曲走天涯。我們每次演出反應很熱烈，我也感受到做歌星獲歡呼支持的滿足感。」

華哥與張兆輝，在內地工作時與異性絕緣，所以沒有機會惹麻煩。

「我們在內地工作的活動範圍就是演出場地與酒店，謝絕額外的應酬。藝人在卡拉OK、夜店易惹麻煩。我們選擇在房間玩『鬥地主』，輝哥愛歎雪加、紅酒，我便聽歌、玩微博。有次到偏遠的地方，難得踏足大草原，我們才走出酒店範圍。最搞笑一次是到二、三線城市演出，住當地最好的酒店，但房間有很多烏蠅，服務員給我烏蠅拍，我便跟助手在房間玩拍烏蠅。」

微博玩上癮

黃日華是「微博瘋」，繼「噴火華」微博現身轟TVB不公平，他也經常向7萬多粉絲分享工作近況，生活感受。

「我意想不到微博威力咁勁，噴火事件我不過將旁觀者認為不公平的意見轉發，竟鬧到滿城風雨。我相信有理據的事情會獲得迴響與支持。當初開微博是認為這是跟粉絲接觸的宣傳平台，原來這也是溝通橋樑，大家娛樂圈中人不經常碰頭，就算面對面也不容易開口說支持！加油！的鼓勵說話。透過微博可以拉近距離，有次我看到巨星二幫的國峰隊長訴苦說不如意，我在網上找了一幅『發脾氣不如爭氣』的圖轉發給他。年輕人需要鼓勵，後來我在台慶亮燈遇見他，大家也傾了一陣子。」

女兒芷晴也是他的微博粉絲，父女卻沒有網上對談，女兒說已「關注」他，但他竟不知道女兒微博的名字。

My ‘TVB Rant’ #8: Lamenting the lack of ‘good’ TVB series nowadays....

Over the years, as I've gotten older, watching TV has become a secondary pasttime for me -- meaning that the TV is still on all the time in the house (as it had been throughout my childhood), but instead of it consuming most of my time, it has now been reduced down to 'background noise' pretty much, taking a back seat to the other more important things / tasks that I have to do. Therefore, most of the time, even though the TV is on, I'm not truly 'watching' TV, but rather 'listening' to the TV, and I only look up occasionally from what I'm doing if there is a scene that happens to interest me, then after that scene passes, I quickly look back down and continue with the task at hand. So I guess you could say that I'm not really ‘paying attention’ to what is on TV, but rather focusing more on the task I am working on at the moment.

The above has pretty much become a way of life for me, but looking at it from a different perspective, it also helps me to gauge whether a particular TV series or show is 'good' or not.

In my book, in order for a series to be considered 'good', it has to meet 4 criteria.

First, a ‘good’ series must be able to "distract" me from what I am doing at the moment and cause me to ‘pay attention’ to the series for a long period of time. For a series to be considered 'really good', it has to do more than just "distract" me -- it has to cause me to set aside what I am doing at the moment and concentrate fully on what I am watching -- in other words, it has to pull me in to the point that what I am doing at the moment becomes secondary rather than primary. (Another way to look at is: ‘good’ is equivalent to ‘like’ and ‘really good’ is equivalent to ‘love’).

In addition to the above, the other way I can tell if a series is 'good' and/or 'really good' is whether it has the the 'chasability' factor. What is the 'chasability' factor, you may ask? Well, in Chinese, the word that we use is 追 (zui), which means 'to chase after' -- if you put 'zui' in front of the character for TV series, you get 'chase after TV series' -- which to me, has 2 meanings: 1) if the series airs at a certain time every day, then 'chasing the series' means that you don't want to miss a moment of it, so no matter what you are doing or where you are at, you always manage to get home in time to settle down in front of the TV and watch the next episode; or 2) if you are fortunate enough to own the entire series on DVD (my preferred method, since I like to be in control of my time and hate waiting day after day to watch 1 measly episode), then 'chasing the series' means that you can't stop watching the series and keep putting disc after disc into the DVD player and in the end, you finish watching the entire series in like 2 days (ok, 2 days might be an exaggeration -- though I've done it before -- but the point is that you finish the entire series in pretty much one sitting, however many days that may be).

Another criteria for me is that the series must be memorable in some way – now I don’t mean just being able to remember a character’s name or certain events that happen (though that’s certainly part of it)….when I say ‘memorable’, I mean that it had some type of impact on me to the point that even after I finish watching the entire series, I’m still thinking about the series (or certain parts of it) and perhaps wishing that it wasn’t over so quickly.

The last criteria is the “rewatchability” factor, which is basically – how likely am I to re-watch the series again? This is actually an important criteria for me because to be honest, if I am barely able to sit through the series the first time around (meaning I watch the first few episodes and am already bored out of my wits or I miss a few episodes and don’t even bother to rewatch what I missed), then that’s a sure-fire sign that I am most likely NOT going to waste my time rewatching the series again.

So in a nutshell, for me, there are 4 criteria for determining a 'good' (or 'really good') series -- it must 1) distract me from what I’m doing to the point that I really pay attention, 2) give me that 'chasable' feeling, 3) be memorable in some way (whether it’s character, storyline, or both), and last but not least, 4) be re-watchable.

You may be asking how all of this relates to TVB? Simple -- in the last decade or so, there have been very few TVB series that have met all 4 of my criteria for being a 'good' series (and even fewerhave made it into the 'really good' category)....in fact, in the last 7 years or so, it's gotten progressively worse, to the point that nowadays, I struggle to find even 1 or 2 series that are able to meet my criteria. In comparisons, back in the 80s and even part of the 90s, I could rattle off to you series after series that could EASILY fall into either category (‘good’ or ‘really good’). Also, just as a point of reference: I have watched most of the series from the 80s and early/mid 90s more than 1 time (and of course there are a select few that I have watched upwards of 20 times – and I’m not kidding!).

To illustrate my point, let’s takes the series from the past 3 years or so as examples….

Starting with 2010’s series -- out of all the series that TVB produced last year, the only two series that met all of my criteria were “Gun Metal Grey” (primarily because of Felix and Michael, though I ended up liking the series as a whole) and “No Regrets” (the acting was superb, even if parts of the storyline were a bit draggy -- well, when you’ve got Wayne and Sheren as the leads, it’s hard not to have awesome acting). Now don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying that ALL the rest of the series that year ‘sucked’ (though a few of them did truly suck) – all I’m saying is that the other ones just didn’t quite cut it for me.

Looking at 2009’s series, the stats are even worse -- the only series that I liked out of the bunch (that met my 4 criteria) was “Rosy Business”. Even the series “Born Rich” – with it’s ‘dream’ cast consisting of many of my favorite actors and actresses from the 80s/90s – failed to make the cut because of its awful script and just plain boring storyline (I feel so sorry for the artists in that series – and yes, I’m still pissed at TVB for ‘ruining’ their careers).

2008’s series didn’t fare any better -- I liked “A Journey Called Life” and “Catch Me Now”, but to be honest, it was really a stretch – I had to think hard in order to get both series to fit all 4 criteria. Oh and don’t even get me started on the BIGGEST disappointment of 2008 – “Forensic Heroes 2” (basically, I went from loving the original FH in 2006 to absolutely hating the sequel…but I’ll save that rant for another post).

Going back one more year, to 2007 – “Fathers and Sons” was good and so was “Dicey Business” (both happen to be Bobby AuYeung series – love that guy!), but that was about it (though technically, “Dicey Business” started airing in 2006, so I guess you could say that it is really a 2006 series) – so in 2006, there were only 2 series I liked: DB and also the original “Forensic Heroes”.

And the list goes on…..(but I’m sure you get the picture by now, so I’ll stop the list here)….

So yes, I will reiterate the sentiment that I’ve carried for the past decade regarding TVB’s series nowadays – THEY SURE DON’T MAKE THEM LIKE THEY USED TO!!!

My Thoughts on "Gun Metal Grey 刑警"

This series was definitely my most anticipated series of 2010 – BUT I learned my lesson with “Born Rich” in 2009 so even though I was really looking forward to watching this series, I had some reservations with what to expect. I didn’t want to get my hopes up like I did with BR, only to be bitterly disappointed…so I definitely made an effort to watch the series with a clear mind.

Luckily, GMG turned out to be way different from BR – it was definitely worth waiting for and absolutely did not disappoint! I really enjoyed the series and it was actually one of the few series from 2010 that I was able to sit through completely (without giving up halfway through) – that definitely says a lot about what I thought of the series.

Also, I have to say that GMG was definitely one of the better series that TVB has made over the past several years. The cases were suspenseful and interesting – but to be honest, some of the cases were downright scary and actually gave me the creeps…I had to avert my eyes at certain scenes because I didn’t want to get too grossed out. But I’m actually not too surprised that some of the cases were so gruesome, since the blueprint of the cases were based on the top criminal cases in HK’s history.

As usually happens with cop-themed series, especially ones that revolve around a bunch of cases, there is of course a lot that can be covered in a review. But for the purposes of this particular review, I wanted to explore the different characters in the series as well as the relationships and storyline outside of the cases (plus some of the cases were way too freaky, so I would prefer not to dwell on them too much).


So here are the highlights:

1). Characters and Artists’ performances:

Michael Miu (Mad Sir): Of course, as the leader of the team, it is necessary for Michael to have a presence and be the ‘boss’ so to speak. His character has a very suave and cool personality, but yet gets along well with his colleagues. I actually think that Michael’s character is kind of cute and provides some much needed comic relief to the series. I don’t know how many people noticed, but I found it interesting that his character is supposed to be in such a high position (and leader of the team), but yet there are some parts where he is portrayed like a little kid – for instance, the scenes when he is sucking on a lollipop or eating ice cream on the rooftop). I’m not sure if this was done on purpose or inadvertently, but I actually got quite a kick out of it (I couldn’t help laughing at the sight of Michael eating ice cream out of a cup with an itty bitty spoon while Felix is standing next to him sipping coffee…lol!).

I also found it interesting how Michael’s character always acts so nonchalant and gives off the impression that he doesn’t care or takes his sweet time with stuff, but in reality, he is extremely smart and actually takes his responsibilities as a cop very seriously (not to mention that he is very efficient). There will be more analysis of Michael’s character later on in the review when I talk about his relationship with Jessica as well as his friendship with Felix.

Felix Wong (Stone Sir): Felix’s performance was excellent. Yes, he has done villain roles before, but somehow, those pale in comparison to his character in GMG. Maybe because Felix’s character in the series is pretty well-developed, so there is plenty of opportunity for Felix to utilize his great acting skills to bring out the depth of the character.

And the big question with Felix's character is whether his actions throughout the series can really be considered "wrong"? In my opinion, this is a difficult question to answer because it really depends on which perspective you're looking at it from....I'm actually not even going to try to answer the question in this review, because this topic would trigger a long debate in and of itself.

Again, there will be a deeper analysis of Felix’s character later on in the relationships section, so I will refrain from repeating myself in this section.

Jessica Hsuan (Kim Hui): If I had to choose a least favorite character among the main leads, I would have to choose Jessica’s character. It’s not that I don’t like her character, but I just feel that her character in this series was very similar to the characters that she normally plays – the typical strong woman character who at times can become a bit annoying with her overpowering nature. One redeeming factor to her character though (in my opinion at least) is that she does act ‘silly’ at certain times throughout the series – it’s almost as though the writers are trying to balance her “strong” nature by putting in some ‘schoolgirl type’ traits (which coincidentally matches perfectly with Michael’s “playful” personality). Even though I was not too fond of Jessica’s character, I actually loved her chemistry with Michael in the series (which I will touch on more later on).

Nancy Wu (Hui Man Sze): Ok, I really have to compliment Nancy’s performance in this series – she definitely put herself out there and gave an excellent performance. I’ve seen quite a few of her series in the past and up until this point, none of her other performances really had much of an impression on me. Don’t get me wrong – I think that her acting has always been pretty consistent and she is definitely one of the newer generation actresses with the most potential – but I just never really got “into” her performances in the past. It could be perhaps that her character in GMG was quite well written, so that helped her performance stand out. I personally was quite impressed with her performance – even though Nancy’s character was tough and strong, there was a good balance to the character and so I ended up liking Nancy’s character way more than Jessica’s. To summarize, Nancy’s performance came across very natural to me and I was really able to see the maturity in her acting.

Vincent Wong (Carson Yeung): I must say that I was quite impressed with Vincent’s performance in this series. Yes, he is a newbie and has not been in many series, plus his acting skills still need some work, but I was drawn to his character for some reason. Personally, I find his acting and mannerisms are very similar to Joe Ma (which means that his acting is a bit stiff and not very ‘natural’ looking), so I was surprised that I actually like Vincent’s performance in this series – again, just like with Nancy’s performance, I think part of the reason why I was drawn to Vincent’s performance was because his character was well-written in the series and was very appealing. To be honest, in the beginning, his character was a little annoying because the impression he gave off was that of a rich young kid who is only concerned about getting attention and doesn’t take anything seriously, but later on, when we find out that his character is actually very righteous and serious about his job, plus how he is toward Nancy’s character, he actually becomes quite endearing.


2). Relationships and Chemistry in the series:

I do have to compliment the writers (and producer) on how they handled the relationships in this story, as I feel that the various relationships – whether it’s romance, friendship, or family – were very well done. In this section, I am going to focus primarily on the romantic relationship between Michael / Jessica and Vincent / Nancy as well as the brotherly friendship between Michael / Felix.


Michael / Jessica relationship:

Though the Michael / Jessica relationship was somewhat 'typical' of what TVB usually does in their series, I actually didn't mind this time around because I found the relationship to be quite witty and clever the way it develops. IMO, Michael and Jessica matched quite well -- though they had alot of opposite qualities (i.e. Michael's personality is very suave and nonchalant, giving off the feeling that he is always playing around and doesn't take things seriously whereas Jessica is very rigid, hardworking, and takes her responsibilities too seriously to the point of going overboard)....maybe that's why they end up together (as the saying goes, 'opposites attract'). I read in a few forums that some people who watched the series felt that Michael and Jessica had zero chemistry – I actually disagree….their chemistry may not have been “the best”, but it was definitely there.

The bickering scenes between Michael and Jessica throughout the series were absolutely hilarious!! I got many good laughs out of seeing the two of them going at it, probably because most of the time, they were arguing over silly, childish things (the two of them actually provide a lot of ‘comic relief’ in the series without even intentionally doing so).

I especially love the scenes where Michael 'plays' Jessica and gets her ticked off on purpose, knowing that she has a certain impression of him and rather than trying to 'correct' that impression, he purposefully 'misleads' her, just for fun. That one scene where Jessica is discussing one of the cases with both Michael and Felix at a cafe had me cracking up so hard -- how Jessica would speak to Felix in a soft, 'womanly' way but then she would turn around and speak to Michael in a curt, short-tempered manner. Then, when Michael playfully asks her why she gives him an attitude but speaks to Felix in such a soft way, she snaps at him that he should reflect on why she treats him that way -- Michael's facial expressions during that scene were very funny (almost like the 'innocent little child' look....which is in line with some of the previous 'child' imagery of him sucking on a lollipop and eating ice cream).


Vincent / Nancy relationship:

Surprisingly, I really like this couple and was rooting for them throughout the series (those who know me will understand why I use the word ‘surprisingly’). The way that the relationship developed between Vincent and Nancy was really well-done -- I liked how the relationship wasn’t “rushed” and was allowed to take its natural course.

From the beginning, Vincent obviously had a crush on Nancy and he was very open about it when he realized he had feelings for her. I like how he had no qualms about letting her know early on that he likes her and wants to pursue her – the directness of it was refreshing because normally, these relationships are handled in a way that makes the guy out to be very wishy washy or not sure of what he wants. Even though Nancy didn't like him in the beginning and sort of 'hated' him about a quarter of the way through because his dad was indirectly responsible for the deaths of her biological parents, he never gave up on his love for her. And I like how their relationship didn't follow the 'typical' formula -- for instance, after that huge car accident scene halfway through the series (when Nancy is captured by the photographer and Vincent goes to save her), my expectation was that Nancy was going to 'accept' Vincent's love because she was so touched by how he saved her life and so they would become a couple after that. But it turns out not to be the case -- instead, Nancy symbolically 'forgives' Vincent for what his father did and they become good friends and colleagues again -- in other words, she sees how sincere he is and so can't find it in her heart to hate him, but yet knows that she doesn't 'love' him (at least not yet), so doesn't even try to 'repay' him by being in a relationship with him when she knows she's not ready. Of course, the two of them end up getting together later on (obviously), but only when the timing was right and Nancy realized she truly did have feelings for Vincent.

I also liked how there were alot of "sweet" moments between Vincent and Nancy, even before they ‘officially’ got together as a couple – but the 'sweetness' was done in a way that wasn't cheesy or totally obvious….pretty much, these “sweet” moments were “nuances” throughout the series that were perhaps a hint of the relationship to come, but not ‘in your face’ type stuff.

One of my favorite “sweet moments” was in episode 18 (or was it 17?) when Nancy had gotten into an argument with Jessica earlier and so went to do some kickboxing to relieve her anger. Vincent shows up (he ‘says’ that he happened to go there to work out, but in reality, he knew Nancy goes there often so wanted to keep her company) and tells her that if she is upset, to ‘fight’ with him. She takes on the challenge and ends up giving him a bloody nose (not on purpose though). When he’s driving her home afterwards, she asks him to stop by the 7-11 to buy some stuff – when she gets back in the car, she gives him a band-aid for his nose. When he puts the band-aid on, he realizes it’s one of those ‘kiddie’ kind with like cartoon characters on it, yet he keeps the band-aid on – not only that, but he has this really happy, smiling expression on his face (probably overjoyed that Nancy cared about him enough to give him a band-aid for his sore nose, even though part of the motive on Nancy’s side was guilt over giving him a bloodied nose in the first place). This scene was quite funny and cute (I couldn’t help saying to myself – aww, how sweet!).

From the beginning of the series until they officially got together, Vincent was definitely Nancy’s “guardian angel” – constantly concerned for her and watching out for her. Seeing how much I liked their relationship, needless to say that I was saddened when Vincent’s character dies near the end.


Michael / Felix friendship and chemistry:

Ok, I admit it – I’m a huge 5 Tigers fan (it’s hard not to be growing up in the 80s), so of course, I was looking forward to the chemistry between real life Tiger brothers Michael and Felix. As I said earlier, I was unsure of what to expect of the series itself and didn’t want to put my hopes too high, but one thing I was definitely sure of from the beginning – the chemistry between Michael and Felix would be awesome, no matter how the rest of the series turns out.

I absolutely loved seeing the interaction between Michael and Felix – each of the scenes where there was just the two of them either talking (discussing a case, for instance) or arguing (Michael reprimanding Felix for ‘crossing the line’ and Felix defending his actions as justified) were so satisfying…it was definitely a real treat for a Tiger fan like me!

All those rooftop scenes (where Michael and Felix go to talk about the cases or if they don't want the others to hear what they are saying) were quite defining -- it's as though that's Michael and Felix's personal "space"....what I found really interesting though was how the setup reminded me of the whole 'rooftop' thing in the movie "Infernal Affairs" (coincidentally starring their fellow Tiger Buddies Andy and Tony). I'm wondering if that 'imagery' was done purposefully or not?

Of course, how could I do a review on GMG and not talk about the ‘conflicts’ that Michael and Felix encounter (the core of the series)? Obviously, Michael's character and Felix's character are complete opposites in the series: Michael is a righteous cop who may not necessarily follow the rulebook 100%, but knows very clearly where the line is and does not cross it; Felix, on the other hand, can also be seen as 'righteous' in a sense, but his definition of 'righteousness' is different from everyone else's, due to his own experience spending 15 years in jail for a crime he did not commit -- he ends up crossing that 'line' and doing things that are "wrong" and even criminal, but to him, are completely justified (basically carrying out justice on his own rather than trusting the legal system).

Surprisingly, I actually liked Michael's character -- even though he was an 'enabler' in a sense because he didn't 'rat' Felix out when he suspected him of crossing the line and also covered up for him a few times (partly because he felt guilty that his testimony contributed to Felix going to jail), he didn't do "stupid" things such as blindly defending Felix or being in denial that Felix had issues. He was smart enough to suspect that Felix may be 'crossing the line' and knew that he didn't have any proof (so he kept his suspicions a secret until he gathered evidence) and also asked Vincent to help keep an eye on Felix behind the scenes. For me, this was very refreshing because TVB is notoriously bad when it comes to handling these types of characters (they usually make the lead character overly righteous to the point of being naive and stupid and allowing the bad people to walk all over him/her) and I usually end up hating the character(s) rather than liking them. Once again, I really have to compliment the writers this time around for doing a good job in terms of character development (for Michael, Felix, Nancy, and Vincent, at least).


3). The flaws and ‘low-lights’

Of course, every series has its flaws and this one is no exception. No matter how much I like or enjoy a series, I will undoubtedly always find fault with it because the fact of the matter is that no series is perfect. Despite the flaws, my enjoyment of the series will not change and I still feel that the series was well-made – especially in comparisons to the crappy stuff that TVB has been putting out as of late.

In GMG, I did notice quite a few ‘implausible’ and ‘cheesy’ situations that occur in the series which definitely could be improved. Here are the main ones that come to mind right away:

>> The fact that Felix was able to get his old policeman job back without much difficulty (even after he was in jail for 15 years) and then to be promoted not too long after that (keep in mind that his name isn’t actually “cleared” until later on) -- not very realistic if you ask me. Logic tells me that even if they allow him to be a cop again (which is already rare), they would wait until his name is completely cleared and he is truly proven innocent before doing so…right?

>> I totally did not get that part about Michael having 'extraordinary' hearing abilities (he can hear people's heart beating and such) due to the tumor in his brain…was that supposed to be a way of incorporating some ‘supernatural’ element to the series? Whatever the case, I don't think that was really necessary.

>> It would have been better if they did not have that one scene where Felix is in the storage room holding a gun and you see the "evil Felix" on the wall, then all that fire sprays out like in a comic book or something...that was totally unnecessary and pointless. My hunch is that the producer put that part in to show Felix's 'official' transition to 'villain' so to speak in terms of him doing something a righteous cop should not have done. But to be honest, it wasn't necessary because this was already obvious from the previous scenes (when he 'shot' the evil Sau Dai Fu with another cop's gun and lied about it) -- to me, they were "trying too hard" with the 'fire imagery' scene.

>> Vincent’s role as one of the Senior Inspectors on the police squad who is actually on the same level as Michael does not seem very plausible. First of all, he seems too young to have that high of a position. Second, if I remember correctly, he had become a cop because of his father and actually liked his previous job (as a stock broker??) better at first – with his age, how could he have been promoted to such a high level position so quickly? Third, Vincent’s character is not mature enough to be the team leader of a police unit in the same capacity as Michael – it’s just not convincing given his age and the development of the character.


Concluding comments:

This series is definitely on my “favorites” list for the ‘after 2000’ era – not only because I liked the series itself, but also because I really liked the chemistry of the cast as well. I truly enjoyed following the cast on Weibo as the series aired in HK and seeing the various commentary as well as behind-the-scenes ‘tidbits’ about the filming, the artists, the series, etc. From everything that I’ve read about the dinner gatherings of the cast, various interviews, etc., I could definitely tell that the GMG cast really enjoyed working together on this series and were able to develop a genuine friendship outside of work as well.

Overall, awesome series, awesome cast, awesome chemistry! Definitely a keeper!

My ‘TVB Rant’ #6: Another LAME-O decision by TVB!!!

"Gun Metal Grey" neglected at TVB Anniversary Gala, Michael Miu & Felix Wong bursts in anger at TVB - AsianFanatics Forum

Felix Wong anger continues: Don't rape the public; TVB tries to 'put out fire' - AsianFanatics Forum

Source: Asianfanatics.net

***

Once again, TVB makes a stupid move and successfully pisses off one of its former artists as well as legions of fans and audiences / netizens! When will TVB ever learn their lesson? (Never mind – that’s a rhetorical question….)

I can't believe there was barely any mention of GMG at the anniversary gala -- in fact, it was in the news that the cast of GMG was not even invited to the gala (the supporting cast who were there -- I.e. Nancy, Grace, Oscar) were there only because they were performing in other segments not related to the series.

After watching the show, it was obvious to me that CBML and NR dominated -- NR I can understand since it's an anniversary series, but CBML? Obviously they're playing favorites...

I can totally understand why Felix is mad and goes off on TVB – they are definitely acting stupid again by blatantly showing their favoritism through complete neglect of GMG….extremely DISRESPECTFUL to say the least!

To make things worse, TVB once again responds STUPIDLY to the situation. Talk about lame!!! TVB once again puts their stupid foot in their mouths!!! They now claim that they didn't include GMG in the anniversary gala because it's a cop series and needs to be taken seriously so they can't parody it? Must I remind them that NR is also a "serious" series (in fact, the scenes and theme are probably way more intense than GMG) and it's also about cops? Or did they "conveniently" forget that just so they could cover themselves for neglecting GMG? What kind of a BS lame excuse is that?

And for the stupid producer of the anniversary gala to ‘blame’ the GMG cast by saying that they didn’t show up to rehearsal and so that’s why they weren’t invited? Really? WHAT REHEARSAL? The GMG cast WASN’T EVEN SLATED TO PERFORM!!!! What, was TVB expecting Felix / Michael / Jessica to show up and practice standing around waiting for them to draw names for the raffle prizes? That’s SO STUPID!!!!

Oh, and then for Mr. Ho Lai Chuen to say that there was no favoritism and TVB would invite the GMG cast to the awards ceremony….come on, dude – that’s another lame response and proves that Ho Lai Chuen as well as TVB are “out of touch” with the true situation! Felix DOES NOT CARE about the awards – he is upset that both himself as well as the cast of GMG was disrespected at the anniversary gala….why even mention the awards ceremony????

I am totally with Felix on this one and kudos to him for speaking out! TVB went too far this time and they continue to add insult to injury by deflecting blame and running around in circles with their responses. Why don’t they just simply apologize and move on? Oh, I know why – because that would mean they are wrong and God forbid that they’re ever wrong….they are THE PREMIERE TV station in HK and the biggest and most powerful – they can never do anything wrong!!!!! UGH!!!!!

I could go on for longer since I’m so worked up about this issue, but I think I’m going to stop here before I say something that I’ll probably regret….so I’ll end it with a few last words for TVB: The days of the audiences being stupid and naïve are OVER!!!! So don’t you dare try to ‘play’ us by trying to pull the wool over our eyes…IT’S NOT GOING TO WORK ANYMORE!!!!!

The Green Room (今日VIP): Interview with Michael Miu and Felix Wong – PART 2

In part 2 of the Green Room interview, the focus was more Michael and Felix’s personal lives rather than on work. Also, I like how this part talks more about ‘the good ole days’ (the 80s).

Here are the highlights:

.> When Carlo asked Felix how he felt about coming back to film GMG, Felix said that he rediscovered the feelings from when he collaborated with Michael back in the 80s – the good times they had hanging out with each other, working together, eating together, etc.

.> Michael actually was really desperate to have Felix film GMG and so was willing to make any accommodations needed in order for it to happen. For example, Felix is not too keen on doing the early morning shooting scenes since he sleeps late, whereas Michael sleeps early so he gets up early as well, so he agreed to take on all the early morning shifts and give Felix the later shifts so that he can sleep in.

.> Felix hadn’t been back to TVB in 9 years, so Carlo asked him from that period until now, what differences has he noticed stepping back into TVB City. Felix jokingly replied that when he watched the video playbacks of his scenes, he noticed the dark circles under his eyes.

.> Michael mentioned again why Felix doesn’t have to film series nowadays and why he is able to live such a comfortable, leisurely life for the past 10 years: his Condor Heroes Trilogy from the 80s still continues to be popular all over the world and has an especially huge following in mainland China…so Felix is invited to do various performances on stage all over China and Asia (one performance is actually quite lucrative)….plus all the royalties from the trilogy repeatedly airing everywhere is enough to last him a lifetime.

.> Felix says that he has gotten into singing and doing karaoke recently, so he’s been doing a lot of ‘Fai Wong’ (輝黃) c oncerts in China with his buddy Eddie Cheung (the ‘fai’ is Eddie and ‘wong’ is Felix).

.> Of course, at some point during the interview, Carlo asked the 24 thousand dollar question: Will Felix do another series any time soon if at all?

Felix’s response: Leave it up to fate – he doesn’t want to ‘shut the door’ immediately by saying that he never will, as no one knows what may happen in the future. Felix also emphasized that during the filming of GMG, he was able to ‘rekindle’ those feelings from the 80s when he would collaborate with his buddies and it made him want to work with them again (though he also said that realistically, it wasn’t going to happen – more on this later).

.> They also talked about their fellow Tiger buddy Andy Lau. Michael said that Andy had promised that if the 2 of them (Michael and Felix) did a series, he would do a cameo or be an ‘extra’ in the series – however he didn’t honor his promise (there’s a story behind it actually – more on that later)…Felix chimed in that Andy at least did come to visit them on set (though Michael claimed that the reason why Andy came was because Felix was known for being a bit temperamental on set in the olden days and so Andy came to see if he was going to ‘flare up’ like in the past….LOL!)

.> Felix said that Andy caused a huge commotion in TVB when he visited because he was walking around all over the place saying hi to people – everyone (especially the newbies who idolized him) went wild and wanted to take pictures with him. (Well, we know Nancy Wu was one of those ‘crazy’ ones because she talked about it on Weibo and also uploaded the picture she took with Andy, Michael, Felix, and Jessica).

.> The other big question that everyone wanted to know was whether Andy would ever go back to film another series for TVB. They said that Andy actually really wants to do a series, but realistically, it's not going to happen because of his tremendously busy schedule -- but he is open to doing cameos and such....in fact, he almost did a cameo for GMG -- he had visited the set while they were filming and when he was in the TVB canteen chatting with Michael and Felix, they had to shoot the next scene...Andy kept sitting there and didn't want to leave, so Michael asked him if he wanted to be in the scene...Andy said "sure" and continued to sit there....in the end, Michael and Felix decided not to let him do the scene because it would be wasted, since the focus would be on Andy (Michael said that even if Andy sat in a far corner with his back to the cameras, everyone would know it's him, since he's easily recognizable) -- they jokingly said that they didn't want Andy to steal their thunder so they kicked him out -- plus he had already caused such a disruption on set already just by showing up (LOL!).

.> Felix did say that he is open to doing another series if the right opportunity presents itself, but it’s not something that he actively seeks (especially since he does not like the crazy lifestyle of the television industry). Felix did mention that he is interested in doing a comedy – he said that people think he is too ‘upright’ (people always have that ‘hero’ type view of him from his character in Condor Heroes and also from all the ancient series he had done) and wonder at his comedic abilities, so he wanted to prove to people that he is capable of comedy (as a side note, Michael interrupted and said that he was just about to mention this about Felix, but was afraid to, so glad that Felix brought it up himself…hahaha).

.> A funny part was when Carlo mixed up Felix’s Kwok Jing character with Andy’s Yang Guo character (Carlo accidently said ‘Shun Diao’ instead of ‘Sheh Diao’)…Michael and Felix pretended to be shocked (like how dare he mix them up…LOL!) and then corrected him.

.> After this, the conversation turned to Michael and Felix’s 30 year friendship and also 80s Acting Class stuff…

.> Michael and Felix actually met back on September 1st, 1979 as part of TVB’s 9th Acting Class…when asked about their classmates from that class, they said that most of them are no longer in the industry.

.> They also described how the Acting Classes in those days worked and how different it is from today. Pretty much the acting classes during that time lasted 1 year and were separated into 4 quarters of 3 months each. There would be a total of 5000 to 6000 people who would apply and only 60 would get accepted; those 60 would then do through classes and various tests – those who didn’t pass the tests would get eliminated…by the end of the year, there would usually only be about 20 people (at least that was the case with their class) who get to graduate. Once they graduate, they get a chance to sign with TVB to become part of the drama department, but of course not everyone signs in the end (so realistically speaking, it’s actually only a handful who go through the entire course, pass all the tests, graduate, and sign with the company).

.> I really liked the part where Michael and Felix talked about their 30 year friendship: they described how they went through thick and thin together and almost all of life’s milestones together (marriage, children, etc.). Also, they love playing soccer (that’s one of their common interests – bowling is another one)…Felix said that they’ve been through so much together that they’ve even seen each other in their underwear! (hahaha). Michael quickly clarified that what Felix meant by ‘underwear’ are the soccer shorts that they used to wear to play (shorts so short that they could almost see each other’s underwear….lol!)

.> Asked if they ever fought in their 30 year friendship, both Michael and Felix confidently said “No” – not even verbal arguments! They said part of the reason for this is because the 2 of them have always been especially close – they play all types of ‘ball’s ports together (soccer, bowling, etc.) and since they live so close to each other and know each other’s families, they also have family gatherings together a lot, so they have a pretty deep relationship.

.> We know that Michael and Felix have a close relationship, but how about the rest of the Tigers? Michael was about to respond and Felix jumped in to tell Michael to be careful what he said (hahaha)…Michael expressed that the 5 of them are definitely good friends due to being colleagues for so long and seeing each other a lot during the 80s because of work. However, in terms of personal life, Tony is more shy and quiet and has fewer common interests with the other 4, so they didn’t hang out as much outside of work.

.> How about the possibility of a 5 Tiger reunion (aka the 5 Tigers getting together in another series or film)?

Michael’s response: Never say never – again, let’s leave it up to fate. He also said that realistically speaking, it would be very hard due to their schedules. Michael said that the closest they came to a reunion was when they did the movie ‘Brothers’ back in 2007 – Andy had actually suggested them getting back together, but unfortunately Tony was too busy and wasn’t able to do it. Michael added that the opportunity for a reunion – though highly unlikely – is still open as long as there’s still ‘heart’ to do so.

.> Felix chimed in by saying that it would be so great if the 5 of them would be able to get together and do a ‘world tour’ of sorts (pretty much travel all over the world to perform)…when he said this, Felix put his head on Michael’s shoulder and sighed (hahahaha…that was a funny moment – it was like they were a couple or something….teeheehee…)

.> Next, Carlo asked if it was possible that Felix’s wife would make a comeback (since both Michael and Jamie as well as Felix already did). Felix pretty much said no, there is not much opportunity for that, since she is tremendously busy (she’s an insurance agent) and has no interest whatsoever in the entertainment industry anymore.

.> Both Michael and Felix stated that their next goal is to get Andy to come back and do a cameo in a series (he wouldn’t have time to do an entire series, but a cameo would be nice)

.> Near the end of the interview, Carlo asked about Michael’s and Felix’s family, especially their kids. Now that all of their kids are grown, does this mean they are more free now to do their own thing? Carlo was really interested in Michael and Felix’s interaction with their children because he has 3(?) children of his own and so wanted to get some pointers. Both guys are good friends with Carlo and hang out with him a lot as well: they said that Carlo is actually a very good father – when he plays bowling with them, he is always looking at his watch and when time comes to pick up his kids, he leaves no matter what happens (he puts his wife and kids above ‘playing’ with his buddies)….they kept praising how Carlo is such a good father and husband.

.> Michael said that back in the 90s, when he immigrated overseas, he did so because of his kids, but now that they are grown (his son is 17 and his daughter is almost 20), he and Jamie don’t need to ‘take care’ of them anymore.

.> As for Felix, he stated that in terms of interacting with his daughter, it’s not as much about the physical strength as it is about mental energy and spirit. Michael interrupted and teased Felix, revealing that the other reason why Felix doesn’t have time to film series is because he has to do ‘chauffeur’ duties (drive his daughter and wife around).

.> Both guys have been successful in raising their children, so how do they interact with their kids – like friends or parents?

Michael didn’t really answer the question (though he’s said before that he treats them like friends). However he teased Felix again by revealing that Felix’s daughter is very pretty and looks almost exactly like his wife, so when he communicates with his daughter, it’s reminiscent of when he was courting his wife (hahaha…how does Michael know?). Michael also said that Felix is like ‘putty’ when it comes to his daughter (hinting that he is ‘afraid’ of her and waits on her hand and foot…LOL) – he says that Felix buys everything for his daughter and if she says that he is wrong about something, then he’s wrong – but then Michael added that he is like that with his daughter as well (ahahahaha!!).

That was pretty much the end of the interview (definitely a great one)!!

The Green Room (今日VIP): Interview with Michael Miu and Felix Wong – PART 1

Just finished watching the episode of The Green Room where Carlo Ng Kar Lok interviews Michael Miu and Felix Wong a few days before “Gun Metal Grey” is slated to air.

Since I’m an 80s girl and a 5 Tigers fan (plus I love interview shows), I definitely paid attention to the interview so I could absorb what Felix and Michael had to say about their experiences filming GMG.

Some highlights from the episode:

.> I love Michael and Felix’s chemistry – it’s obvious that they have a long-time friendship (30 years!) and get together often in their personal lives, as they are very comfortable around each other. It was funny how they were able to finish each other’s sentences at certain points during the interview – in fact, it didn’t feel like a formal interview at all…instead, it felt like 3 friends (they’re good friends with Carlo as well) hanging out and talking.

.> Felix started off by recounting the story of how he came about agreeing to film GMG after 9 years away from the small screen. I was cracking up big time during this part because it was hilarious how Felix kept getting interrupted by Michael and how they kept joking with each other when telling the story. The story of how it occurred is quite funny!

.> As the story goes, Michael actually really wanted Felix to film GMG with him, but he knew that if he personally asked, Felix wouldn’t do it (Felix jokingly told the story of how Michael would always win his money whenever they played snooker and so Felix would pretend to get mad and out of ‘revenge’, refuse to do anything for him…lol!!). Therefore, Michael asked his wife Jamie (also good friends with Felix) to go talk to him and persuade him. So one day, Jamie went over to Felix’s house (apparently, Michael and Felix are ‘neighbors’ as well, since they live very close to each other), put on a very serious expression, and told him that she really needs his help. Felix thought at first that she needed help in terms of money or some other favor (the part where he says he doesn’t have any money was hilarious!), but it turns out she wanted him to consider filming a series with Michael.

.> As Felix was recounting the story, Michael interrupted at certain points to clarify some parts (like when Felix said there were 2 cop characters and he ended up portraying Stone Sir – Michael reminded him that he LET him choose which character he wanted to be because he so desperately wanted him to do the series – it was funny how Michael pulled out all the stops and agreed to do anything Felix wanted as long as he agreed to film the series).

.> When Felix was recounting the story of how Michael/Jamie convinced him to film GMG, he was saying how Jamie started off by saying "Hey, Baldie....", then Michael interrupts and tells him to tell everyone where that nickname came from (another funny moment!). Felix said that he got that nickname because back in the days, he filmed alot of ancient series and for almost every single one, he had to shave his head (practically the only ones he didn't have to shave his head for were the modern ones....lol!)....so Michael and Jamie took to calling him "Baldie" from that time on.

.> Michael kept teasing Felix on how he has such an 'easy, leisurely' life now (drinks tea, cuts the grass, takes care of rabbits, etc.)....hahahaha....cute!

.> During the interview, Michael revealed a "secret" behind how Felix came about returning to the small screen. Those of us who have raved on and on about how much we love Felix and enjoy seeing him on the small screen again (I'm one of them!!) can actually thank veteran actor (and the 2nd of my two idols) Chow Yun Fat!! Fat Gor is very good friends with Michael and Felix and get together quite often to 'drink tea' and go for walks in the mountains (Michael teased Felix that he is actually living that type of leisurely life right now). One day, after they went for a long walk in the mountains, Fat Gor told Felix that he should consider filming series again, since he's good at it and it's been so long....Michael jokingly recounted how Fat Gor pretty much told Felix that if he doesn't put those acting skills to use again and film another series, he will disown him as a friend (hahaha -- actually, Fat Gor didn't say that last part -- Michael was actually just kidding -- but Fat Gor did tell Felix that he should do another series). So when Michael heard this (he was there I assume), that's when he quickly got to work figuring out how he was going to convince his buddy to film another series.

.> Michael also revealed that when Felix films series (or anything for that matter), he never brings the script with him -- in fact, he leaves the script at home. Yet, as soon as the cameras roll, Felix has no problems doing his lines (except for this one time when the script changed and Felix wasn't aware). Michael kept saying how amazed he was that Felix is able to do that. Felix said that it goes back to his acting class days, as that was the way he was trained and that's actually the way alot of the veteran artists did things. He also said that it was actually Dodo (Carol) Cheng who opened his eyes to that because she always did it when filming series -- back in the early 80s when they filmed "The Lonely Hunter" together (he was a newbie back then), she told him that they are not allowed to have scripts on set and so took his script and threw it out of the studio. Since then, he's trained himself to memorize all his lines at home and not bring his script to work with him. (I actually already knew about this 'trait' of Felix's through weibo -- but it was awesome to hear him recount the story again -- plus I didn't know the part about Dodo).

.> Felix kept referring to himself as a "Newbie" to TVB (lol)....newbie or not, as Michael pointed out, the newer generation artists definitely have alot of respect for him -- especially those he worked with in GMG (i.e.: Oscar Leung, Grace Wong, Nancy Wu, etc.)

.> It was so cute how Michael would be the 'big brother' (though technically Felix entered the industry before Michael) for Felix during the filming of GMG. Michael said that he had promised Felix that he would 'take good care of him' (it was also one of the reasons why Felix agreed to comeback).....therefore, whenever Felix came across an issue while filming, he would let Michael know and Michael would work it out for him (not because Felix was afraid to say anything, but because he hasn't been back to TVB in 9 years and so was less familiar with things -- plus he didn't want to impose on others)

.> With GMG being a cop series, there are bound to be dangerous scenes chase scenes, so host Carlo asked Michael and Felix about the most dangerous scenes they had to film for the series and whether stunt doubles were used. Felix described this one scene where he had to jump off a building in order to chase a crook -- the way he described the shooting of that scene was absolutely hilarious!!! I won't go into detail about it here, since I wouldn't be able to do justice to it (gotta hear him describe it himself)...

.> All in all, the interview was a trip down memory lane for me because Felix and Michael also recounted how things were like during their generation (the senior artists / elders would teach the newbies how to act / give them pointers whereas now people pretty much do their own thing, etc.)

To be Continued (the interview is a two-parter)…..