Kenneth Ma’s TVB Contract Status Still Unclear; Wants to Venture Outside of TVB
The annual TVB Anniversary Awards will be held on January 12, 2020. With the highly anticipated event just around the corner, speculation about this year’s win is at an all-time high. Kenneth Ma (馬國明), as with previous years, is one of the nominees this year and is considered a strong contender for Best Actor.
Despite being nominated 11 times in the past, the award seems to evade Kenneth every year. While his performance in Big White Duel <白色強人> makes him a strong contender, Philip Keung (姜皓文) in The Defected (鐵探) and Joel Chan (陳山聰) in Barrack O’Karma <今宵大廈> are also strong competitors.
Asked whether he felt confident in finally securing the win this year, the 45-year-old actor humbly responded, “It’s difficult to say, because there are so many strong contenders this year. There are Benjamin Yuen (袁偉豪) in The Defected, and Vincent Wong (王浩信) in The Man Who Kills Troubles <解決師>. Actually, with the awards occurring at this time of year is to their advantage, because the audience’s memories of the drama are still very fresh. So it is difficult to guess who will win Best Actor this year. I am just approaching it with a casual mentality.”
Having been with TVB since 1999, it is reported that Kenneth’s contract with the station is expiring at the end of this year. His good friend and fellow actor, Kevin Cheng (鄭嘉穎), reportedly advised Kenneth to use his contract renewal as a wager for the award. When asked about this rumor, Kenneth responded, “Actually, I still have quite some time left on my contract. [The company and I] have been discussing the renewal terms intermittently. There are a lot of things to consider…. I understand that it is very difficult to ask for a raise during this time. Instead, I want to see about other opportunities to try new things and challenges, or maybe even see if there is a chance for the freedom to do more of what I want. After all, I have been in the industry for quite some time. There are a lot of things I want to see and experience, and not just focus on money anymore. Actually, I do want to try to film projects outside of TVB. I’m sure this is something every artiste hopes for.
“In regards to Kevin giving me advice, there is no such thing. That piece of news is fake. He has been busy taking care of his son lately, so he has no time for me!”
Source: HK01
This article is written by Huynh for JayneStars.com.
i think its time for kenneth to venture outside tvb now otherwise it will be too late for him. with his 45 years old he is not young anymore. he better follow the way of his buddies raymond lam and bosco wong. maybe signing for louis koo’s company is good for him.
If he doesn’t get to win best actor this time maybe he’ll leave tvb after his contract expires. I always thought him and Selena would make a cute couple.
honestly for him, it’s better to stay in tvb because his acting still needs improvement. unless he’s got the connections then it’s a different story. you could see from ron ng, he almost completely disappeared. in a few years, kenneth will be 50 so it will be harder to get lead role at that age b/c showbiz almost always favors to the younger generation.
@m0m0 Ron Ng is still sticking at TVB. He signed with Shaw Brothers and Shaw Brothers is actually TVB’s subsidairy. But all he can do is police and police again, even for his small roles in movies.
However, it isn’t a thing to him. He opens an exhibition and gains money from it. So it is only passionate to keep him in acting, of which unfortunately a field he isn’t good at.
In terms of Kenneth Ma’s personality, age and acting, I have doubts that Kenneth should leave TVB and try to switch his career to film in China. He should make negotiations with TVB in his new contract such as 1) more freedom and flexibility to accept jobs outside of TVB, 2) a shorter term of the new contract, 3) etc.
There are just too many young actors with good acting and good looks in the Chinese market, ad it is not easy to break in. There are not that many Hong Kong artistes who were successful in China though they tried very hard to enter Chinese market.
Same here.. i don’t think it’s wise to leave TVB. Kenneth should negotiate for better term or flexibility in his contract. Or possible join Louis koo’s agency like raymond lam. I thinj raymond lam didn’t exactly succeed after he left TVB though he has huge fans based.
Kenneth acting is not exactly good or wow. Can be tough to compete with other younger actors in china or other market
He should be true out. He got the height, the looks and the personality viewers love. Take a challenge and switch to 1 series per year with tvb, earn that cash in China and come back a better actor.