As promised, here is the article I came across awhile
back ago about the veteran artists who essentially stole the show due to their
top notch acting in OCTB. Note that this
article came out several weeks ago, back when the first few episodes of OCTB
were airing, so of course, many of the veterans who appeared later on in the
series – such as Ng Man Tat, Dominic Lam, Carrie Ng, Gregory Rivers, etc. –
weren’t mentioned in this particular article.
I am hoping that HK01 does an updated article later on that covers the
other veterans as well so that current audiences can know who these veterans
are and give them the accolades that they very much deserve!
I have decided that for this particular article, I am
going to depart from my regular style – instead of directly translating the
entire article pretty much word for word as I normally would, I will be
paraphrasing portions of it and adding some of my own commentary. The reason for this is because I’m actually
familiar with all but one of the veteran artists mentioned in this article (I grew up
watching most of them on TV) and have some additional knowledge of their
backgrounds not mentioned in this article that I feel is necessary to add. The parts in BLUE lettering are the “tidbits”
that I added (not in the article) based on my knowledge of the artists.
**NOTE – there
aren’t any spoilers for OCTB in the below article, however for those who never
watched the Young and Dangerous
movie franchise, some of the “collective memories” that are brought up below
may be akin to spoilers for you, so just a heads-up….
Source: HK01
Article originally
published 10/3/17
Hong Kong web series OCTB (反黑) has
been taking the Chinese television industry by storm! With only the first 10 episodes aired so
far, the series’ viewership ratings in the Mainland has already exceeded 300
million and its popularity in HK has already reached new heights. [TN: as of today, 10/14/17, with 22 episodes
aired, viewership ratings in Mainland is close to 800 million already!] In addition to praise for former category III
actor Justin Cheung’s (張建聲) convincing portrayal of villain
character ‘Chiu Jik’, audiences have also given high praise to the group of
veteran actors – most of whom older HK audiences grew up watching on screen
-- in the series who play the ‘bad guys’
(triad members) as well as the ‘good guys’ (cops).
From the moment all of these ‘uncles’ made their
appearances in episode 1, audiences were already excited to see so many
familiar actors back together on the screen -- as “icing on the cake” though, some of the characters that these actors portrayed were also ‘familiar names’ – for
example, Frankie Ng Chi Hung’s (吳志雄) ‘Uncle Bee’ [his iconic role from
the Young
and Dangerous movie franchise].
With the resurgence in HK audiences’ penchant for “nostalgia” and
“collective memories” in recent years, OCTB hit a sweet spot that has helped
propel the series to almost instant popularity.
In this article, we will be taking a look back at these
veteran actors and the ‘famous’ characters they portray.
Frankie Ng Chi
Hung (吳志雄)
– Uncle Bee from first installment of
Young
and Dangerous (古惑仔)
In the series OCTB, Frankie Ng’s character is also called Uncle Bee, except that this Uncle Bee is a triad boss already in his last days, with little to no power and essentially no say in anything. In the Young and Dangerous movie franchise, Uncle Bee was a character who only appeared in the first installment, but the righteousness of his character and the way he took care of his juniors endeared him at the time to many audiences….so in the movie, when Uncle Bee and his family were tragically killed -- ‘buried alive’ by Francis Ng’s (吳鎮宇) character Ugly Kwan, it evoked a strong reaction from audiences. Perhaps because of this, Y&D’s director Andrew Lau (劉偉強) decided to ‘resurrect’ Uncle Bee in the form of a different character played by Frankie in the third installment of the franchise – unfortunately, the effect wasn’t that great, as not too many people were able to recognize ‘Uncle Bee’…even his beloved ‘brothers’ from Hung Hing (Y&D’s triad society) didn’t recognize him!
My commentary: I
never got around to watching the entire Y&D franchise, but I did watch the
first installment and I absolutely remember Uncle Bee and family’s death scene
– it was pretty dramatic and intense…definitely not for the faint-hearted. In fact, the entire franchise was actually
quite violent with many intense scenes, though I’m not surprised that the
franchise became so popular given HK audiences’ love of cop and triad-themed
productions. I can’t remember which
installment of Y&D I stopped at, since it was so long ago (I think it was 3rd
or 4th installment?), but whatever the case, I have no intention of
finishing it up anytime soon, especially since I’m already getting my fill of
Y&D nostalgia currently with OCTB (which is way less violent in
comparisons).
Michael Chan Wai
Man (陳惠敏)
– “Camel” Lok from third installment
of Young
and Dangerous
My commentary:
The article didn’t mention much about Brother Wai Man’s background so I
will attempt to fill in the gaps for those who are interested. Brother Wai Man can best be described as a veteran
actor who has experience being on ‘both sides of the law’. In his early days (before joining the
entertainment industry), he had served as a correctional officer as well as a
cop and was once a boxing champion (a hobby and passion that he still practices
today). It is well-known that Brother
Wai Man used to be part of a few triad gangs and even though he is no longer
“officially” part of those gangs anymore, he is rumored to still have “close
ties” to some of them. Due to his background,
he obviously knows people from ‘both sides.’
In terms of acting career, Brother Wai Man is actually not really active
in the industry anymore, as he has a wine business and a production company
that keeps him busy, however he will still participate in some movies and/or TV
series if he has time. In a recent
interview, Brother Wai Man confirmed that, regardless of his busy schedule and
a few health issues he is dealing with, he has already ‘signed up’ to film OCTB
season 2 (which is scheduled to commence filming early 2018).
Hugo Ng (吳岱融)
– Big Mouth Lin from Jiang
Hu – The Triad Zone (江湖告急)
With his oft-praised portrayal as the villain character
in TVB series Brother’s Keeper 2 (巨輪2) last year, Hugo Ng not only made
a successful comeback to the HK small screen, he has also successfully
imprinted his name in the memories of a new generation of television-viewing
audiences. It’s no secret that Hugo
participated in a few category III films in the 1990s -- because he often
played ‘crazy, psychopathic’ characters in those films, there was a certain
‘villain air’ to him that also led to roles in a series of triad-themed films
back then. One of his most famous movie
roles was in the Dante Lam directed Jiang Hu-The Triad Zone where he
played a gangster character named Big
Mouth Lin who lit up the opening scene by going against the main character
played by the film’s star Tony Leung Ka Fai and eventually getting a bottle
broken over his head. Despite only
having a brief appearance in the film and a few lines of dialogue, Hugo was
able to leave an impression on audiences with his performance – definitely no
easy feat!
My commentary:
Most of you may already know this, since Hugo has been active in HK
again ever since re-joining TVB again in 2015, but I will give my spiel anyway,
lol. Hugo is originally from Singapore
and before joining TVB back in 1987, he was actually already a popular leading
actor in the Singaporean television circle.
He filmed quite a few series for TVB in the late 80s and was considered
one of TVB’s most popular ‘wuxia’ siu sangs.
His most famous role at TVB was of course as Fa Mo Kuet in 1988’s Two Most Honorable Knights (TVB’s
adaptation of Gu Long’s famous wuxia epic Jue Dai Shuang Jiao 絕代雙驕). His wife is
former actress (and beauty pageant winner) Lily Chung (鍾淑慧), whom he had met on the set of TVB series The Man, The Ghost, and The Fox (人·鬼·狐) back in 1992 – they married in 1995 and have a son who
is currently serving in the military in Singapore. Hugo was actually one of my favorite actors
back in the 80s (believe me, my ‘favorites’ list was LONG back then, lol) –
even back then, his acting was top notch and he was quite versatile, as he was
able to handle the wide range of characters thrown at him – good guy, bad guy,
and everything in between – with ease. I
know most people probably only remember Hugo’s Fa Mo Kuet role (not surprising,
since he was so good in the role) and he was largely typecast in wuxia dramas
back then, but he also did a few non-costume dramas as well that are worth
watching. I actually stopped following
his career after he left TVB (similar to many other 80s artists, he didn’t part
on good terms with TVB), but I did know that both he and his wife did some
category III films during the 90s before he shifted his career to
Mainland. I’m glad Hugo is back on HK
television screens, as he is a great actor who can definitely carry his weight
in the acting realm (oh and I recently discovered that he is a talented singer
too!).
Ben Ng (吳毅將)
– psychopathic rapist in Red to Kill (弱殺)
As the fiery-tempered For
Shi (火屎) in OCTB, Ben’s character seems to be right
up his alley! But actually, his
character here can be considered ‘mild’ when compared to the ‘psychopath’ roles
he usually played in movies. His first
foray into the ‘psychopath’ role was 1994’s Red to Kill where his
chilling portrayal of a psychopathic rapist left a huge impression on
audiences, though it also resulted in him being typecast in similar roles later
in his career. In that movie, Ben had
actually taken his performance to extremes, not only shedding his clothes for
some of the scenes, but also shaving his head in efforts to make the character
more realistic. With that type of
‘extreme’ experience, asking Ben to play an impulsive gangster in OCTB is ‘a
piece of cake’ in comparisons!
My commentary:
Not sure how familiar audiences are with Ben now but those who followed
ATV and TVB back in the 80s/90s will definitely know who he is. Ben was a graduate of ATV’s acting class and
filmed various series for them up through the 80s, jumping ship to TVB in the
mid-90s. He started filming movies in
the 90s and actually has had a simultaneous film and television career ever
since. Ben moved his career to Mainland
a long time ago, which is why it’s not surprising if current HK audiences
aren’t too familiar with him. He’s
actually a decent actor, though a bit too ‘crazy’ for my tastes, lol. I remember many of the ATV and TVB series he
was in, though I don’t recall any of his roles back then being memorable. To be honest, I’m actually more familiar with
his wife – former actress and Miss HK 2nd runner up (1984) Joan Tong
(唐麗球), even though she was active in the industry for less
time than him (probably because she was in series/movies that I actually
watched and am familiar with, lol).
Jones Soong (宋本中)
– ‘Big Wong’ Ah Chun in 1999 film Street
Kids Violence (三五成群)
The name Jones Soong probably won’t sound familiar to
most people, but those who did watch the 1999 cult film Street Kids Violence will
probably remember Jones playing the character Ah Chun in the film. If you don’t though, it’s not surprising, as
that movie was pretty much Jones’ only ‘memorable’ acting performance – after
that film, he played mostly ‘kelefe’ roles in subsequent movies. With a never-ending passion for film, Jones
decided to take his love for the art behind-the-scenes and after much learning
as well as hard work, he later became a director and producer. Jones is co-owner of the production company
Visual Brothers (alongside Danny Chan Kwok Kwan), which is the creative team
behind OCTB – Jones is credited as executive producer / producer / director for
the series and also has a cameo role in the series. If you didn’t know who Jones was before, you
probably know him now after the OCTB’s huge success!
My commentary: I
actually had never heard of Jones Soong until OCTB, lol. Because of this series, I’ve been reading up
on Jones a bit the last couple weeks (there isn’t much information out there
unfortunately) and was a little surprised to learn that he’s actually quite
well connected in the industry. I guess
it does make sense, since he’s been a producer and director a long time now and
has undoubtedly worked with enough people in the industry to be able to
establish a good amount of connections.
There were also a few things I learned about Jones and Danny’s company
Visual Brothers that I feel are very interesting and also promising in terms of
this company’s future endeavors in the area of film and television series
production. I won’t go into too much
detail here but will do a separate post later on when I have time.
Philip Chan (陳欣健)
– the entertainment industry’s real life ‘Dai Sir’!
In OCTB, there is definitely no shortage of police
officers! The main leads Jordan Chan (陳小春)
and Danny Chan (陳國坤) both portray police officers in the
series, but let’s not forget that there was another significant police figure
above both of them – ‘Dai Sir’ Cheung Kwok Jim, portrayed by veteran actor
Philip Chan (陳欣健). Younger
audiences who don’t know Philip Chan’s background might be wondering – what’s
so special about this ‘uncle’? Well, let’s
start with the fact that he has been in the entertainment industry for more
than 40 years already and has had one of the most prolific careers in the
industry – in addition to being an actor, he was also a screenwriter, director,
producer, singer, TV program host, record company executive, etc. – the list
goes on. In the 80s and 90s, Philip
served as MC for numerous shows and events (both on screen and off) and at one
point, was also a high level executive at record label Capital Artists. It can be said that Philip is truly one of
the first generation of HK artists to find success in the industry in various
capacities across multiple media platforms.
But Philip’s biggest legacy involved his career prior to entering show
business – in 1965, Philip officially
joined the HK Royal Police force and within 9 years, was promoted to
Superintendent of Police. One of the
most famous cases he was involved in during his tenure was the Shanghai Street
bank robbery hostage case back in 1974 – Philip was the top level officer in
charge of the case and was personally at the scene directing police operations…at
the time, TVB had sent reporters out to cover the case and even interviewed Philip
on site!
My commentary: I
wouldn’t be surprised if the current generation of audiences don’t have a clue
who Philip Chan is, since he was most active in the industry back in the 80s
and 90s. While he is still involved in
the industry even now, he mostly does behind-the-scenes work and also hosting
for major business and charity events, plus he also has his own companies that
do entertainment consulting and event arrangement type stuff. For those who are wondering how Philip ended
up joining the entertainment industry, he’s actually told the story many times
over the past 4 decades – in 1975, Philip was offered the opportunity to write
a script (in his spare time of course) for a movie about cops that one of the
production companies at the time planned on making. Due to his experience in the HK police force,
Philip was able to write a script that was true to life in its portrayal of
police officers and the film went down in history as being the HK film industry’s
first realistic cop film -- the name of the movie was Jumping Ash (跳灰), which was officially
released in theaters in 1976. [Side note:
For all you OCTB fans out there, here’s a fun fact – the theme song to Philip’s
movie (in Chinese, the name of the song is 大丈夫, which is
loosely translated as “Masculinity”) is the same song that OCTB’s production
team decided to have re-produced and used as OCTB’s theme song currently!] This brief foray into film sparked Philip’s
interest in film-making and in 1976, when he was invited by the head of his
film’s production company to join their team, he accepted the offer, deciding
to give up his high-paying job as police superintendent to enter showbiz.
