Jessica Hsuan Wants to Reunite with Louis Koo for a TVB Drama
A few days ago, Jessica Hsuan (宣萱) attended a sharing session of a new book released by William Shum (沈慧林), the founder of Memorigin. The actress has been seeing a rise in popularity due to the broadcast of her TVB drama My Unfair Lady <不懂撒嬌的女人>, which will be airing its final episode this coming Sunday.
Reports have indicated that Jessica’s asking price tripled since the broadcast of My Unfair Lady, but the 46-year-old denied them. She said artists have seafood prices (fluctuating prices), and while more jobs have been coming her way since the success of My Unfair Lady, she hasn’t calculated on how much more she was getting paid for a job.
As for the talk that TVB has been inviting more and more former artists to return to the station, Jessica said it is a good thing. “The reason why I came back was because of the production team itself. The production value of My Unfair Lady is very different. Many people have asked me if I would film for TVB again, but I have to safeguard myself. I’ll look into the quality of the production, who I’m working with, the script, and the production team.”
Out of all of her former TVB colleagues, Jessica said she wishes to work with Louis Koo (古天樂) the most, her costar in the 2001 TVB drama A Step into the Past <尋秦記>. However, she believes that the possibility of Louis returning in a TVB drama with her is slim.
Recently, there’s been a rumor circulating around that Louis is trying to pursue Natalie Tong (唐詩詠). Natalie played Louis’ fiancee in the 2013 film Out of Inferno <逃出生天>. In regards to this, Jessica slightly changed the topic and said, “I can see why Louis would want to have younger actresses in his film. If there is a suitable role for her, I’m sure Louis would reach outs.”
Source: Mingpao
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
I am coincidentally rewatching Detective Investigation Files IV right now. The Louis and Jessica pairing was one of the most popular back then! Chances are slim, but bringing the pair back would be so nostalgic 🙂
And I actually find the possibility of Louis & Natalie together to be quite appealing!
@huynh ohh I love their pairing in DIF IV too. They looked so good together but I didn’t like the ending though. I wish Louis will really return and shoot a drama with Jessica. Missed seeing them together
@huynh Coincidentally, I just finished binge re-watching DIF I thru IV a few weeks ago….loved every minute!! DIF IV is actually not one of my favorites (mostly because I didn’t like any of the female characters in the series), but yes, the Jessica/Louis pairing was definitely popular.
There’s no way that Louis will return for a TVB series but there’s still chance for a reunion in the film world. Sure, Jessica isn’t a film actress but she can do a cameo in one of Louis’ films if she wants – I’m sure he wouldn’t mind. Hey, Louis reunited with his Return of the Condor Heroes partner Carmen Lee in a film last year (much to the delight of that pairing’s fans), so he can absolutely do it again with Jessica in another movie.
@llwy12 yeah it wasn’t the best drama but I watched it due to both of their chemistry. I like Sunny Chan in this drama too but I can’t stand that teh bao (Seh). Can’t act and damn irritating. Neither do I like LSS too but she was still more bearable than that teh bao. Hopefully Louis will really consider. Pray hard haha
@nigel To be very honest, I watched and liked DIF IV mostly because of Sunny Chan (kind of had a crush on him back then because he reminded me of my all time favorite actor Chow Yun Fat, lol — watch Sunny’s performance in The Bund remake “Once Upon a Time in Shanghai” and you’ll know what I mean). Needless to say that I was pissed with the way the pairings ended up in that series (ok, more like pissed at TVB for pairing Sunny with 2 extremely weak and irritating actresses). I actually hated the way all the relationships were done in that installment and hated the fact that all the women were so darn weak and whiny. The cases also were weak in comparisons with the first 3 installments. Regardless though, I would rewatch that series in a heartbeat rather than watch any of the new stuff that TVB churns out nowadays.
@llwy12 hehe it’s ok. haha I had the same thought where Sunny was concerned too. I thought he looked really good in DIF IV and also the remake of The Bund. He cannot beat CYF but he did looked very good in both dramas and yes if I had to choose I definitely preferred Tong Sum better though she looked alittle too big for him as she is really tall.
@nigel Haha…though for me, it wasn’t just the looks – the mannerisms and acting too. There were several scenes in Once Upon a Time in Shanghai where I was almost fooled into thinking it was CYF (yes, Sunny was THAT good in the series….though with that said, CYF will always be the best HMK in my book!). Of course, it wasn’t just that series either….but anyway, off topic so I’ll stop, lol…
@nigel I am one of the minority who prefers Ah Man. There were discussions back in those days supporting Tong Sum and Ah Man and why he should end up with who, hahaha.
@llwy12 DIF IV is my least favorite of the franchise. I’m the few, if not the only one, who wasn’t lapping onto Jessica/Louis pairing. I liked Sunny and “Tong Sum” better. What happened to that actress btw?
I too highly doubt Louis would return to TVB to repay his debt. There’s nothing they can do really. They can sue but I’m sure he has enough wealth to pay the penalty. Who can blame him right? Money aside, TVB hasn’t exactly change/improve in any shape or way. He’ll truly be embracing ‘A Step into the Past’ theme if he does return, lol. He really got lucky huh? He didn’t film for TVB all that long before went off to greener pasture in film.
@jjwong You’re not the only one — I was never a fan of the Jessica/Louis pairing either, whether in DIF IV or their other 2 series. I of course rooted for Sunny, since was kind of a fan as stated above…technically I didn’t like either of his pairings in the series but if I had to choose, I also preferred him with “Tong Sum” rather than “Ah Man” (sidetrack: fun fact — did you know they filmed multiple endings for DIF IV, with the pairings for Sunny different in each one? It was in one of the issues of TVB Magazine from that time, which I still have, and unlike today, the magazine back then actually had interesting behind-the-scenes stuff about various series).
Lee Shan Shan was in the news a couple months back for various things, with the biggest one being that she was planning to auction off her MHK crown for charity. Also, when Bowie Lam’s Margaret and David was airing on ViuTV (she’s still good friends with Bowie after their collaboration in Untraceable Evidence), she did a whole fan spread thing on Weibo to support him and (indirectly) help promote the series.
LOL…Louis likely will go down Stephen Chow’s path and owe TVB series commitments that he is never going to fulfill. And there is nothing TVB is going to do about it. Besides, if Louis really wanted to return to TVB, he wouldn’t have worked as hard to achieve as much as he could in the 8 short years he was with them so he could get the hell out of there as quickly as he did.
@llwy12 Yes! I also recalled the extended ending after the rolling credits. TVB hyped up the ending to DIF4. lol
@jjwong Just heard about LSS 2 days ago. Mum told me she’s going through cancer treatment now 🙁 sigh. Hope she gets well soon.
@nigel @llwy12
…Oh heck, what happened to my text… ugh… They just disappeared…
Here’s a summary:
Hope LSS recovers too! I thought she had most potential back in then.
I liked Sunny back then too but NOONE can replace CYF as HMK!!! Lol.
I didn’t watch Jessica and Louis 3rd collab. I found their chem was so-so in DIV 4 and ASITP. So I don’t understand their collab hype/urge now besides getting a big name like Louis back.
DIF 4 has nada to do with 1-3. Should had been called something else. But TVB is notorious about milking EVERYTHING.
@nigel Well, she hasn’t publicly admitted to having cancer, only that her health hasn’t been too good and she has been in and out of the hospital various times. The media has been hounding her though, which sucks when she is trying to recover from whatever she has. Hope the media leaves her alone!
@huynh the best chemistry in DIF IV… wish they would come back for it!
as long as louis continues to be the biggest actor in hong kong there’s no way tvb even comes close to affording his asking price. however, wasn’t louis going to produce a step into the past movie at one point? with the original cast? anyone have any updates on that?
@rucofan1100 Last I heard (this was back in January of this year), Louis confirmed that he is indeed moving forward with plans to do a movie version of ASITP, but didn’t give much detail or specific timeframe – guesstimates from the media was that filming would start in late 2017 or early 2018 (of course, take this with a grain of salt, since there was no specific timeframe given). No cast announced yet but he did say he would like to re-assemble original cast as much as possible (hey Jessica, here’s your opportunity to collaborate with Louis again!). Meanwhile though, Mainland China was filming a web series version of ASITP (unrelated to the TVB version or movie version), but not sure how that was progressing, since I don’t follow Mainland entertainment all that much.
@llwy12 thanks for the update! fingers crossed they can get the original cast; kwong wah out of retirement would be awesome!!!
I’d love seeing them pairing up again on TV or in movie. They have always been my favorite onscreen couple, the other being Bobby and Esther. Would be better if Louis and JH becomes a couple in real life although that is wishful thinking on my part.
@bearbear indeed that is wishful thinking but seriously their chemistry is just so amazing. I cannot verify this but a friend told me that Louis is a gay so that would definitely be impossible.
@nigel I haven’t heard about that. A friend told me years ago that he was a player. Regardless, really hope to see both of them pairing up again.
Their 3 collaborations have not been very satisfying – Comparing to the earlier installments, DIF IV cases were of substandard. It should have just been given a different name, rather than banking on the popularity of the series. And they didn’t even end up together.
A Step into the Past was good but the romance, especially between them, was passable and though the drama removed most of his wives in the novels, he still had two (but it was a time traveling period drama, men were entitled to have a harem).
As for Man’s Best Friend, probably would have given a miss if they weren’t a couple in it.
@bearbear You know what I have to agree with you that all 3 collab sucked. 1st one – Coz the ending was super, duper stupid. 2nd – Yeah, didn’t like the fact that Jessica had to share him with Sonia emm 🙁 3rd – I didn’t like Louis in that role. It just doesn’t suit him. I still prefer him as Tsui Fei. haha. He was so cool-looking. He looked best in forlorn roles haha
@bearbear @nigel MBF was a joke lol Even Louis couldn’t save it.
DIF4 – Louis and Jessica came up with the ending. Went for that bittersweet feeling, which caused quite an uproar back then. They succeeded since fans still remembered lol
ASITP – Jessica was sick during filming; hence, Sonija’s screen time increased. Louis and Jessica’s relationship was also poorly developed.
@tiffany @nigel did they come up with that “opening” ending at the bar in DIF IV since Tsui Fei would go back to his ex girlfriend anyway? Or did they suggest that he should go back to his ex girlfriend?
Both LJ didn’t quite fit the roles in MBF. He is not the laid back cop material, neither is she the shy, rural girl. Besides, the plot was quite pointless, the ending even more so. The only good thing that came out from it was that they ended up together and the themesongs by Sammi were quite good.
Yes, no fault of hers as she was sick to cut back the screen time in ASITP. Their romance development would probably be less choppy than it was. He was basically dealing with politics and into his modern-times-lookalike love interest when suddenly, JH saved him and they became a couple.Their flirty prior to that was a weak twist leading to this love development. As for the ending, even her giving him his only son didn’t appease fans that he had two wives and he was more into his other wife (or maybe his modern times girlfriend), lol.
@bearbear Yes you are right. Their roles in MBF was a huge mistake. Not like them at all haha. I still prefer him in forlorn and cool roles haha.
Louis still own TVB a drama but there’s no time limit … he can basically come back when he like 60 y.o lol
Louis would not come back to TVB to film, and TVB can’t afford him. Dream on!
If you’re a big enough star, you don’t need to honour the episodes owed. Stephen Chow still owes TVB 40 episodes, you think he will be forced to come back to TVB to film? Heck, he hasn’t been associated with TVB for over 20 years and was given a 30-year service award a couple of years ago (which he did not even attend, mind you). What a joke!
@anon I don’t blame Stephen Chow not attending. TVB only gave him the award because they wanted to use his name, to associate his “fung gwan.” He doesn’t need jack from them, lol. They probably thought it’ll get them into his grace. Like you, I doubt neither will ever return to TVB. Money aside, they have no ties whatsoever with them. Don’t blame them.
@jjwong @anon So true! But you know the HK media — they are going to go crazy now. They are going to do the same thing to Louis that they did to Andy Lau and Chow Yun Fat — basically, next step is for the reporters to ask Louis if he is going to return to TVB and if he gives any answer other than a straight NO (since most artists are going to be nice and give vague answers so as not to disrespect TVB), the media is going to have a field day with it and hype up his “return” as though it were true and imminent. (TVB is not going to bother clarifying because this gives them an opportunity to use his name.) Then comes the “speculation” stage where everyone is going to get all excited about “who is Louis going to collaborate with” and reporters will be asking various artists for their opinion and whether they would like to collaborate with Louis, etc. etc. Then a few months down the road, everyone forgets since other stuff comes up and this becomes old news and so both the media as well as TVB got away with using Louis for their own promotional benefit.
I still remember back when the media was hyping up Andy Lau’s supposed return to TVB a few years ago and made it into such a big deal, with everyone and their mothers seeming to go along with it….and did he return? Of course not!! (though I guess the media counts the movie “From Vegas to Macau” as his “return” to TVB, since Shaw Bros was one of the investors for that movie and one of the promo events was actually held at TVB City — yea, far stretch I know but hey, the HK media is shameless)…