News Article: Hoping for a breakthrough in relationship and career, Jessica Hsuan confirmed not returning to TVB

*** HOT OFF THE PRESS!! ***

Here's an article that just came out in today's issue of Mingpao Weekly Magazine that I felt would be a good idea to share...

First, for those who were wondering about a "Tiger Cubs" sequel -- well, based on the below article, looks like TVB definitely has plans to film the sequel, but they were waiting to see if Jessica Hsuan would accept the terms of the contract and come back to film it.  BUT, based on the article, looks like those plans will be scrapped now because Jessica just confirmed that she won't be returning to TVB -- she officially turned down their offer.

To be honest, I'm actually a little 'bummed' by this news because "Tiger Cubs" was one of the few series that I truly enjoyed watching last year -- not only that, it's also the only series that I really wanted to see a sequel made because for once, it actually MAKES SENSE (meaning that there's enough material for a sequel due to the 'individual story/cases' format of the series -- basically, continuing the story with the same characters wouldn't be a problem at all from a scripting point of view).  Since Jessica was such a critical part of the series, if she's not going to film the sequel, then that definitely reduces my 'interest' in wanting a sequel.  Such a pity!

Ah well...so much for that....

In any case, I will say that I'm happy to see that Jessica is doing work that she truly enjoys -- from the way she described her South Africa trip (both in the article and on Weibo), it's definitely obvious that she really enjoyed the trip (despite some of the 'issues' she encountered) and learned alot from it. 

Lastly, just a comment about the contract talks....Jessica stated that she was interested in filming the TC sequel and things looked positive on Tommy Leung's side, but in the end, the plans still fell through because of 'things' that both sides couldn't agree upon in the contract.  Well, based on everyone's 'knowledge' about TVB and what was implied in the article, I'm pretty sure we can all figure out what that 'thing' was that prevented Jessica from re-signing with TVB.   Personally, I'm 99.9% positive that the reason she didn't sign was because of the lack of freedom -- I'm willing to bet that TVB probably put some clause in there that restricted her from 'appearing' on other TV stations, which would have been a huge problem given the fact that she was already filming stuff for NowTV and might even collaborate with CTI in the future if the right opportunity comes up.  TVB (being the arrogant powerhouse that they are) probably refused to budge on the matter and Jessica of course was not going to let TVB tie her down again after being 'freed' from their grasp, so that probably caused the talks to break down.  If that's the case, that's truly sad....

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Hoping for a breakthrough in relationship and career, Jessica Hsuan confirmed not returning to TVB

Source:  Mingpao Weekly, Issue 2305

Translation:  llwy12

The lack of siu sangs and fadans at TVB is really becoming apparent.  With many artists leaving the nest the past few years as well as more and more of TVB’s own ‘biological’ sons and daughters heading up north to film series in Mainland China, TVB’s executives and producers are having a hard time finding artists for their series.

Former TVB fadan Jessica Hsuan’s (宣萱) contract with TVB expired back in 2011 and up until this point, she had not yet made a decision on whether she will re-sign a per series contract with the station.  Due to the good ratings and word of mouth for last year’s Tiger Cubs (飛虎), it’s been reported that TVB has been actively trying to persuade Jessica to return to TVB – in addition to using the filming of a sequel to Tiger Cubs as ‘bait’, TVB also sent production head Tommy Leung (梁家樹) to personally discuss the matter with her.  In the end however, things did not work out, as Jessica recently confirmed that she has officially declined TVB’s offer.

Asked about the matter, Jessica admitted that the discussions with TVB have ended:  “It’s true – I’ve officially replied back to TVB already and confirmed that I won’t be returning.  The main reason is because during the contract talks, there were some things that we couldn’t come to an agreement on.  I’m enjoying the position I’m in currently where I have the freedom to choose different types of jobs.”

Even though Jessica’s contract already expired back in 2011, the series Tiger Cubs, which she starred in last year with long-time partner Joe Ma (馬德鐘), became an unexpected success when it aired last year in the weekend time slot.  Not only did the series garner good word of mouth, it also broke ratings records by peaking at more than 30 points – a rare feat in that particular time slot.  To keep up the momentum, TVB already has plans to start filming a Tiger Cubs sequel in June – since the series’ leading actor Joe Ma already re-signed a ‘per series’ contract with TVB last year, all that was left was for the series’ leading actress Jessica Hsuan to return as well so they could move forward with the plans.  However, looks like those plans will have to change now.

Jessica expressed:  “I’m definitely interested in filming the Tiger Cubs sequel, since Joe and I collaborate well – on Tommy’s side, everything is fine as well.   But unfortunately, during the course of the contract discussion, there were some things that both sides were not able to agree upon.  I already responded back to TVB – since I’m not able to do it, no point in keeping things open-ended.  Actually, in the past year that I’ve not had any contracts to worry about, I’ve had a lot more freedom in choosing my jobs and the feeling is great!  I want to do work that I enjoy and even if it’s filming series, I still want to have new breakthroughs and try different types of roles.  I understand TV stations wanting to go the ‘safe’ route, but after 20 years of playing the same ‘professional career woman’ roles, it starts to get boring.  That’s why I was willing to accept the role in Curse of the Royal Harem (萬凰之王) – since it was the type of character I had never played before, both my fans and I were very excited about the opportunity.  Even though my performance [in that series] wasn’t tremendously good, at least there was a sense of ‘freshness’ to the role.  I’m not the type of person who just takes a paycheck every month and that’s it – money is definitely not the most important factor.”

All along, there have been rumors that CTI’s Ricky Wong (王維基) has been actively trying to persuade Jessica to join his company.  Towards this, Jessica responded:  “Since I’m a free artist now, of course I’m not going to rule out the possibility of collaborating with any company – at this point, it pretty much depends on the role, the script, the terms of the collaboration, and whether my schedule permits.”


Filming for NowTV as a free artist

With her status as a ‘freelance’ artist for the past year, Jessica recently traveled to South Africa to film a special documentary program for NowTV and in the coming months, will be filming an animal-themed program for them:  “I will be hosting 6 to 7 episodes of the program.  It won’t be a program about pet grooming or taking care of pets, but rather, it will provide audiences with information on how to adopt abandoned cats and dogs.  Jobs like this one where I can share my experiences with others and do something that benefits society at the same time, I’m very willing to accept!  Just like with the South Africa documentary earlier, that was also a job that I really wanted to do – not only did I get the chance to meet new people and expand my social circle, I also got to interact with nature and rare animals – definitely a very enjoyable experience!    This time in South Africa, I also got the chance to try their local foods that were cooked very simply over a fire with only a few spices added, yet it was very delicious and tasty – it made me realize that sometimes, the most simplistic things are the most beautiful and also the happiest;  having lived in a big city my entire life, getting the chance to experience nature like this is a very comfortable feeling.”   As an animal-lover herself, the trip also gave Jessica the opportunity to ‘interact’ up close with various exotic animals such as giraffes, seals, cheetahs, etc.:  “I wasn’t afraid of interacting with the cheetahs because I had Walter Kei (紀曉華) with me [TN: Walter is a renown travel and food columnist in HK and China] – if the cheetahs were to bite, they would bite him first…haha!  But actually, the cheetahs were quite cute.  During my trip, I also ‘kissed’ a huge frog – the production crew teased that I kissed the frog because I wanted it to turn into a prince!”


Potential suitors in her life

Of course the frog didn’t turn into a prince, but what about Jessica’s love life?  Any potential suitors?  Earlier, Jessica was photographed ‘shopping’ with singer Fiona Sit’s (薛凱琪) ex-rumored boyfriend Reggie Martin.  Towards this, Jessica laughed and stated:  “Reggie is only a good friend whom I met through another friend -- we’re not dating!  Sometimes, when Reggie comes over from Macau, we would get together and have dinner along with other friends – in fact, just recently, I had dinner with him and also Michael Wong (王敏德) and a few others.  I actually have a lot of male friends and even though the Media always tries to create rumors, my friendships with them are never affected.”

Entering the year of the snake, a few geomancers predicted that Jessica will experience breakthroughs in her love life and career this year:   “Hopefully!  I also hope that there will be breakthroughs in both this year – happy to hear it!  I might appear very Westernized with certain things, but inside, I’m quite traditional.”  (Any potential suitors right now?)  “Yes, but so far, I haven’t met ‘Mr. Right’ yet.”


TVB’s response

Towards Jessica Hsuan turning down TVB’s offer, head of production Tommy Leung expressed:  “Earlier, producer Lam Chi Wah (林志華) [TN: the producer for Tiger Cubs] did talk to Jessica about it [filming the sequel].  I found out about a week ago that Jessica already responded and expressed that for the time being, she’s not interested in discussing it anymore – therefore, with regard to the Tiger Cubs sequel, we will need to go back and look at the storyline and casting again.  As of right now, Joe [Ma] will most likely still participate in the series."

News Article: With both TVB and CTI fighting for her, Jessica Hsuan intends to ‘return’ to HK television on her own terms

The latest issue of Mingpao Magazine is out and there are actually quite a few interesting articles in it this time around (well, interesting to me, at least...LOL!).  Hopefully I'll have time to translate some of the other articles in this week's issue, but for now, here's an interesting article about one of TVB's former top fa dans from the 90s -- Jessica Hsuan.

Personally, I'm not a fan of Jessica's by any means (I like some of her series, but overall, as an actress, she's just not my cup of tea), however she is definitely an experienced, talented actress and I respect her for that.  Plus I've actually been watching the series Tiger Cubs the past couple weeks and must admit that the series is truly quite good, so I enjoyed reading this brief article about Jessica as well as the series itself. 

Anway, not really going to comment much on the article except to say that Jessica's contract with TVB ended last year and as a free artist, she has pretty much been focusing her career in the Mainland.  Ever since her contract ended, there has been speculation as to whether she will join one of the rival TV stations.  Well, now with the success of the Tiger Cubs series and TVB approaching Jessica to re-sign a per series contract with them, looks like the answer to that question is most likely 'no' -- after reading this article, it looks like the chance of Jessica re-siging with TVB is extremely high.

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With both TVB and CTI fighting for her, Jessica Hsuan intends to ‘return’ to HK television on her own terms

Source:  Mingpao Weekly, Issue 2283

Translation:  llwy12

Under the leadership of its chairmain Ricky Wong (王維基), City Telecom (CTI) has been aggressively expanding its footprint in the HK television circle these past few months. After successfully ‘poaching’ a large group of veteran and talent-path artists from rival TVB, CTI is now setting their sights on recruiting first line siu sangs and fa dans, which they currently lack. One of CTI’s latest recruitment ‘targets’ is actress Jessica Hsuan (宣萱), whose popularity once again soared recently due to the TVB series Tiger Cubs《飛虎》. After losing so many artists to rival stations as well as to the Mainland [China] market, it is said that TVB does not want to take any chances and so will likely use the ‘lure’ of a Tiger Cubs sequel to get Jessica to re-sign with them. Towards this, Jessica made her position very clear: “My number one request is for a good role and good script – otherwise, I wouldn’t have declined at least 5 TV series in HK and Mainland. To me, the chance to film the sequel [to Tiger Cubs] is not necessarily the most attractive offer.”

It has been rumored that Ricky Wong’s CTI has been consistently in contact with Jessica, giving her numerous scripts to review in the hopes of recruiting her to join their company. According to behind-the-scenes personnel [at CTI], many of the roles that were offered to Jessica for review were specially written for her and cater to her strength in playing ‘professional’ roles. Asked about this, Jessica expressed: “I have been in discussions with CTI, however the offers so far were to once again portray a cop and other ‘professional’ roles – this is the primary reason why I declined the offers. Tiger Cubs was the last series that I filmed in HK and since a large amount of time has passed, I hope that my return will give HK audiences a different feeling. It’s not that I won’t play a cop or lawyer ever again, but rather I prefer for my ‘return’ series to not be the same type of role.”

Declines offer to film 5 series, loses 8 figure earnings

Jessica continues: “As for TVB, we were in discussions previously and recently resumed discussions once again. However, I still need to look at suitability of the role and also a confirmed good script. There was talk of a possible sequel to Tiger Cubs, but all along, I’ve never been a fan of sequels. For example, back when Dicey Business 《賭場風雲》aired, the audience reaction was also very good, however as soon as the company suggested filming a sequel, I immediately said no. I feel that whether it’s a HK series, movie, or even a Hollywood film, sequels rarely ever live up to the original – I would much rather leave behind beautiful memories of the series and not wait until the story is filmed to death before stopping. Recently, I’ve given it some serious thought and asked myself if a sequel were to be filmed, what would be the most attractive ‘selling point’? But I will say that with the good ratings and word of mouth for Tiger Cubs, it truly does give me a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. If there truly is a sequel, I wouldn’t mind using my ‘friendship cards’ and invite friends such as Bobby [AuYeung] (歐陽震華), Louis [Koo] (古天樂), Gallen [Lo] (羅嘉良), etc. to participate.” (What do the salary offers look like from both sides?) “Of course CTI’s salary offer is more attractive than TVB’s, however I would not request an amount comparable to Mainland salary. More important for me is who I would be collaborating with – I’m not necessarily requesting to ‘choose’ who I want to collaborate with, but I do prefer working with artists who have more of a professional attitude. Right now, all I want is to be happy doing my work – if the people I work with can’t even meet the ‘basics’ of being punctual and studying their script, I don’t want to get myself all upset over it.”

If the amount of salary is not the most important, does that mean that Jessica has already earned enough money? She replied: “Earned enough? I don’t think anyone will ever say they’ve earned ‘enough’ money! As a kid, when I earned my first dollar, I would think how great it’d be if I earned 10 dollars, then when I have that 10 dollars, I would think about earning 100 dollars – when I started working and earned my first hundred thousand, I’d think about how satisfying it would be to earn more…it’s an endless cycle. However I also know that I can’t earn all the money in the world and slowly I realized that all these years, I’ve put so much focus on my work that I ended up missing out on a lot of things around me….earlier, I actually declined offers to film 5 series in both HK and Mainland – quite a lot of money involved.” (Loss of earnings in the 8 figures?) “Since I already declined the offers, no point in calculating.”

Ready anytime for new relationship

With all the time that Jessica has spent working, what does she feel are some of her ‘regrets’? Jessica expressed: “I missed out on the weddings of many many friends and it’s something that I can’t make up for anymore. In the past, work always took first priority – when my friends would invite me to their weddings, I would always tell them that I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to make it and in the end, I would choose work over attending the wedding. But things are different now…” (Missed out on [love] relationships as well?) “Yes, but it’s not entirely regrettable, as I believe in fate when it comes to relationships. I once had a 6 year relationship during which I asked myself whether I would regret it in the future if I were to give up my career for the relationship – the answer was: yes, I would regret it! If you were to ask me to choose again now, I would still make the same choice. I feel that modern women, even if married, still need to have a career – I would never be able to endure being locked into a housewife role at home with nothing to do! Doesn’t matter how much money you give me, I just can’t do it – I have my own interests such as going diving or meeting up with friends for dinner and such.”

In recent months, Jessica definitely appears more relaxed and happier, which caused many people to think that perhaps she’s in a new relationship – in reality, Jessica actually hired a personal trainer to help her get back into shape. Asked whether she is currently in a new relationship, Jessica replied: “Nope! Since I’m not currently tied down by any contracts, I figured I’d use the break to get myself back into shape and also to look after my health. Pretty much right now, I’m ready for whatever that may come my way – whether work or relationship. I’ve always been a bit on the skinny side and with age, my body doesn’t work as fast as it used too – therefore I felt it was necessary to tone myself up, do more exercise, upgrade myself. I must admit that after I started doing this, I’ve felt a lot more alert and energetic! Even my fans and other friends have asked me whether I’m dating – it’s quite funny actually!”

Since breaking up with her veterinarian boyfriend Ruan last year, Jessica has not started any new relationships yet. Towards this, Jessica laughed and replied: “Leave it up to fate! My life right now is very happy – I have a pretty steady circle of friends, both male and female. If I were to start a relationship, I’d have to find someone whom I can ‘click’ with – someone I could mutually rely on and take care of each other.” (Are you accepting of an ‘older woman/younger man’ relationship?) “It would depend upon whether the other person is mature in his thinking or not. If I have to ‘take care’ of him like a son, then no thanks! I already have 3 people that I ‘take care of’ at home: my elderly parents and a housekeeper who helped raise me since birth – sometimes I do wish that I had a shoulder to lean on, but if it’s not the right person, can’t force it! My 80 year old father used to nag me about finding a good man and getting married, but now, he actually tells me not to rush into things – if not compatible, then don’t get married…being happy is most important. Those are my sentiments exactly!”

Success of Tiger Cubs opens up a new timeslot for TVB

In the hopes of opening up a new weekend timeslot , TVB arranged for Tiger Cubs to be the inaugural series to help test the waters – the results were very successful, as the series beat out all of the variety shows with its unprecedented high ratings in that timeslot. Previously, the ‘grand production’ variety special TVB Singers Red and White Battle, in which more than 100 singers participated, only averaged 19 point ratings in the weekend timeslot – so far, Tiger Cubs has been able to garner peak ratings of 26 points in the Saturday timeslot, with ratings reaching 31 points in the Sunday timeslot, which is even higher than some of the regular series airing on the weekdays! It’s no wonder then that TVB would try so hard to persuade the series’ stars Joe Ma (馬德鐘) and Jessica Hsuan to re-sign filming contracts with them. Head of production Tommy Leung (梁家樹) has already confirmed that there are plans to film a Tiger Cubs sequel next year and he hopes that they will be able to maintain the original cast. Joe Ma has already re-signed a per series contract with TVB – now all they are waiting for is Jessica to give the green light to re-sign with them.