Edwin Siu’s Bittersweet Career

Debuting as a popular idol singer in 2002, Edwin Siu (蕭正楠) had a bright future. His music records were certified, his singles topped the charts, and he was Hong Kong’s favorite rookie singer of 2002. When all of that came crashing down two years later, it was like as if he had dropped from heaven to hell.

“I didn’t know what to do,” said Edwin.

At an awards show afterparty in January 2003, Edwin made a comment about his rookie rival Juno Mak (麥浚龍). His words were overblown by tabloids, which claimed that Edwin was attempting to mock Juno’s loss despite having an influential father. Edwin’s popularity suffered a huge blow after the incident, and in 2004, his management sent him to mainland China to restart his career as an actor.

“None of my dramas there did well,” explained Edwin. “Some didn’t even make it to broadcast. I struggled a lot back then. Nothing went well, and I kept asking myself why I was like this? What did I do wrong? I was really unhappy, but I try not to think about it now. I had too many people protecting me then, and I wasn’t capable to touch the outside world. I’ve learned how to do that now.

“My thinking has become simpler and more positive. As long as I have a job, I will have hope in life. I don’t know how my old company is doing now, but I’ve grown.”

On Rivalry with Juno Mak

Even until this day, reporters would bring up the intense rivalry with Juno ten years ago. “There is no need to remember old dreams,” said Edwin. Maybe Edwin did not want to remember. Maybe he did not want to repeat the same mistake he did ten years ago.

Edwin once said that his rivalry with Juno was a promotional tactic. His record company wanted to create some noise surrounding Edwin’s debut, and becoming rivals with Juno – the son of entrepreneur Clement Mak (麥紹棠) – was the perfect opportunity. It worked, but in the end, it was Edwin who had to suffer the consequences.

“Everyone contributed. My company invested a lot of money on me, and when such unfortunate circumstances came about, it became a struggle for everyone. I didn’t blame it on anyone.”

Becoming a Leading Star

“I ran too fast when I first started, that’s why I fell down just as fast. I had stopped, but now I’m back on track. That makes me cherish my opportunities even more now.”

Edwin had to start from scratch when he returned to TVB in 2008. After going through a bottleneck period in mainland China, Edwin grasped onto any opportunity that was handed to him by TVB. From portraying an abused husband in Can’t Buy Me Love <公主嫁到>, the hilarious Yap in Daddy Good Deeds <當旺爸爸>, and the villainous Ling Tim Sau in The Confidant <大太監>, Edwin proved that he is not only a singer, but also an actor of all colors. In 2013’s A Great Way to Care 2 <仁心解碼II>, Edwin portrayed the “ugly” Bucktooth Jackson – his screen time in the show was even comparable to that of main lead, Alex Fong (方中信).

“I actually don’t think I was ugly enough. I could have done better. In the past, I would have minded this role because I had the baggage of a singer, but now, I will carefully look after each role that is handed to me. For example, like in [Brother’s Keeper], which talks about the vicissitudes of life, I had many different images throughout the show. My character changes a lot and it can leave deep impressions on the audience.”

Brother’s Keeper <巨輪> is Edwin’s first drama as a lead actor. The 32-episode series explores the changing events and diverging destinies that occurred during the final years of colonial Hong Kong and Macau.

Edwin portrays Lo Wai Son, a struggling food vendor in Macau who, after years of hard work and failures, eventually becomes the owner of Macau’s most popular bakery chain. But the fate of his elder half-brother Kiu Ting Sang, portrayed by Ruco Chan (陳展鵬), takes a different turn. Once an extinguished Hong Kong police officer, greed and ambition eventually took over his life, and he falls to a tragic end.

In real life, Edwin and Ruco good friends, they were also primary school classmates of the same year. Edwin debunked rumors, “No one is really the first male lead or second. Both of us are the leads. There’s no need to fight for screen time. I guess the only thing we fought over was for Linda Chung (鍾嘉欣)! In the drama it spoke about how I had a crush on her, but after finding out that she was my brother’s girlfriend, I stopped thinking about it. I actually end up with my best friend, portrayed by Kristal Tin (田蕊妮).”

Wants to Win for His Late Father

Edwin’s father passed away from cancer in 2004, the year Edwin’s career spiraled down. At the mention of his father, Edwin choked, “He was so strong. He never complained about anything.”

Edwin’s father taught him what it meant to be strong and persevering. “So what if my career had hit an obstacle? My father was always strong. When he was sick, I reached a down period in my career. I feel very regretful. I used to not care about winning awards, but now it’s different. I really want to go on stage to win an award. I want to give my award to my father. I want to thank him.”

Source: 3 Weekly via ihktv.com

This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.