TVB Recruits Chrissie Chau, Janice Man, and Annie Liu to Star in Dramas
Due to TVB’s inability to retain leading artists, such as Charmaine Sheh (佘詩曼) and Bernice Liu (廖碧兒), in recent years, the company has been diligently recruiting “new blood” to feature in upcoming dramas. Aside from starring former ATV artists such as Alice Chan (陳煒) and Joey Meng (萬綺雯) in upcoming dramas, TVB was interested in pursuing Chrissie Chau (周秀娜), Janice Man (文詠珊), and Annie Liu (劉心悠) as well!
The lack of current TVB fadans was especially dire, as recent dramas often featured the same faces of Myolie Wu (胡杏兒), Kate Tsui (徐子珊), Tavia Yeung (楊怡), Linda Chung (鍾嘉欣) and Fala Chen (陳法拉). In addition, current popular TVB artists often wished to film in mainland China to earn more money, which benefited TVB in commissions as well. City Telecom’s hiring of former TVB talent made the staffing shortage even more dire.
TVB producer Lee Tim Shing (李添勝) declared earlier that he had no actress to lead his new drama, Detective Columbo <神探哥倫布>, due to the current staffing situation. Starring in Tim Gor’s new drama, Wayne Lai (黎耀祥) had suggested that the company cast Chrissie Chau. While Tim Gor did not offer Chrissie a role in Detective Columbo, other TVB managers were eager to work with her. Chrissie’s manager stated, “We are looking at Chrissie’s availability this year. If the timing and the script are good, we are truly interested!” Chrissie was a successful model turned actress, appearing in Hong Kong movies and mainland China dramas in recent years, as well as launching her own lingerie brand.
Annie Liu’s popularity increased in mainland China after last year’s airing of Bu Bu Jing Xin <步步惊心>. Annie was contacted by TVB earlier to appear in Ghetto Justice 2 <怒火街頭 2>. Annie’s manager, Ms. Lee, stated, “We have always possessed the interest. If we come across a good script and the time works out, Annie will film for TVB.”
Since the filming of Bottled Passion <我的如意狼君>, it was rumored that TVB was interested in making Niki Chow (周麗淇) a “biological daughter.” Niki possessed good affinity with the audience, bringing high ratings for the her dramas. Asked whether TVB wished to sign a management contract with her, Niki said, “Wah! Such a high level management secret, I cannot reveal it!”
Source: Apple Daily via ihktv.com
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Jayne: What do you think about seeing Chrissie Chau, Janice Man, and Annie Liu in TVB dramas? Chrissie and Janice will inject some sex appeal into their characters, while uniting Annie and Kevin Cheng together will likely fuel tabloid headlines once again.
mmm it will be interesting to see Chrissie on TV everyday.
yeah it would be but I don’t really like chrissie chau’s acting a bit fake, but I like janice and Annie If they do start doing tvb dramas I think it will be a one off.
Agree Chrissie can’t act, she’s only good to look at. It will b fresh to see Janice n Annie in TV series.
It is really a shame that TVB does not promote their 2nd line actresses, such as Nancy Wu, Joyce Tang, Elena Kong and others. Nancy Wu is only 30 years old, younger than Kate Tsui, Myolie Wu and Tavia Yeung, and same age as Fala Chen. Nancy’s acting is very good. However, she is never given a 1st line lead role to act. Shame on TVB. What is the point of working for TVB so loyally in those 9+ years of hard work and dedication?
I don’t think the new actresses mentioned above are good in acting. They are just younger and maybe prettier.
No wonder more and more artistes want to leave TVB. I think Nancy Wu should leave TVB and work for a competitor if she wants to have better opportunities in her acting career.
U don’t think Nancy has been given opportunities recently? She had the most outstanding character in FH3. And a mute boxer sounds like a very challenging role. She is almost lead now. Why leave tvb to start over?
Nancy Wu was only a support actress in FH3, after Maggie Cheung and Kate Tsui. I haven’t watched her acting 1st lead role yet. Her acting is much better than Kate Tsui. Why should she waste her good acting skills in an organization that doesn’t promote you?
She isn’t popular enough to head to mainland china. Also the other stations are just at the infant stages of competing with tvb. If you were nancy, would you risk all that hard work on so many unknowns? It’s not like tvb hasn’t promoted her, she’s been in more series than Kate has last year. All of her hardworking has been acknowledged by the audience and tvb. She was nominated more than Kate. Kate wasn’t even in the top 5 for her nominations.
But her position and her fame isn’t enough for her to go. It is the matter. In fact, if Kate leaves TVB to do in other companies, at this moment, she’ll be paid more than Nancy for sure.
Agreed. Nancy don’t receive the opportunity that Kate got although Kate can’t act and Nancy is excellent in her acting. Her new role sound interesting but it’s still a supporting role.
and now TVB is importing lengmos instead of giving chance to the second liners!
If looking at the business aspect, this one (if true) is a smart move of Txb.
Joyce Tang shouldn’t be in the list with Nancy and Elena because both of Nancy and Elena have never leaded (uhm or Nancy in Gloves but not sure) but Joyce has time when she is highly promoted.
Nancy Wu is just a support actress in “Gloves Come Off” (拳王). Her name is listed after Selena Li, Natalie Tong. Nancy is only the 3rd lead actress.
I don’t know if she is cocky or not, but I heard that she would accept any roles given to her by any producers. How cocky can she be?
Agree that she has been given many roles to act in many drama series, but they are all support roles, and some of them are 3rd lead roles, not even 2nd lead roles. She should deserve to act 1st lead role with her current acting skills.
I don’t know how cocky Nancy can be. The first time I’ve heard about Nancy’s princess illness is from Ma Ming’s mouth.
I thought that kenneth said that she did not have princess illness??
No, he said that he wanted to save her from the princess illness’s rumour by revealing that she dated him.
Really?? I thought that he said she is a nice girl and doesn’t have the princess illness?? So whether she has it or not is still a rumour right?
Yeah, it’s indeed a shame and TVB seems really desperate like people on a sinking ship!
Actresses like Selena and Natalie which I find so much more attractive in terms of appearance and acting skills compared to the highly promoted Medusa.
In terms of looks I only find Annie attractive even though I haven’t seen her act before. Chrissie may be more curvy however her face is worse than TVB klfs and who is Janice? Isn’t she yet another plastic doll?
My advice to TVB artists who has skills and courage is to jump ship and swim to the island nearby ASAP!
I agree that TVB is getting desperate. It is rare that they would want to sign anyone that is not from HK to their company since foreign artists often require a higher fee.
I find Annie Liu has the classiest look of all the girls. She looks beautiful and refined.
It will be awesome if they can promote Joyce Tang and Nancy Wu more and put them on 1st line.
My friend told me that she met Nancy b4 while she was working for advertising and she said Nancy is real cocky and hard to deal with. I think maybe that’s why she don’t get promoted.
Whoa, no wonder Wayne wanted chrissie cast! If she wore bikini or deep v in her scenes, the number of male viewers would skyrocket.
Adding JM or Annie would definitely bring some freshness and youth to tvb. Sorry but Alice and joey are kinda old to add much excitement. It’s like when theresa Li came back to tvb- disappointing.
But not sure if these 3 girls would be willing to film long, grueling hrs at tvb when they can make more money doing movies. Unless their popularity drops first.
adding 3 “new” girls to the fold with no acting abilities what so ever and just have a “pretty” face is just spending more money on useless people instead of using it for other things like filming in other locations other than tvb city….
Personally I don’t find Chrissie and as Janice “bad” actresses as of their latest work…but I am always peculiar hehe…
I have not seen any of Annie Liu’s peformance..but she does look attractive in photos.
They all 3 have acting experiences, and I’d rather watch their pretty faces than Txb’s old faces all the time. At least they are pretty :P.
chrissie hot
I like both Chrissie and Annie, and would not mind seeing them in TVB series at all. Janice looks and acts a bit young. I can imagine her taking roles similar to Elanne Kong and Cilla Kung’s, but not in anything serious.
Janice to me is not bad. She holds her own in Potential Criminals, and there was one earlier film she made with Elanne Kong where she donned a short hair and did not use the “pretty” image, but still did quite well, in my POV.
Why can’t TVB recruit NEW people? Like hold auditions from people who are actually capable of holding their own against more veteran actors. If they continue this path of hiring ‘pretty faces’ mostly from their beauty pageant then it’s no wonder the television industry is suffering. Not to mention the movie industry (with the current exceptions of Love in the Buff and A Simple Life which are doing well at the box office)
TBB lacks strong material especially in screenplay and direction. Love in the Buff, A Simple Life and BBJX benefited mostly from the rich screenplay and direction, which is TBB’s weak point. Great plot and character development and great direction have a great possibility to bring out the best from the cast.
By calling out “help” from Chrissie, Janice, and Annie, it appears to me that TBB is taking the approach towards grabbing audience with “attractive and sensual” cast rather than developing good scripts and direction(which will help to introduce no-name actors more).
Agree …… “it appears to me that TBB is taking the approach towards grabbing audience with “attractive and sensual” cast rather than developing good scripts and direction”. Is it a good approach for TVB to pursue her drama series that way? It is TV and not movies.
Agree completely. Despite my frequent complaints of TVB actors – I do think there’s talent there. But talent needs nurture, which is something TVB artistes do not get.
Getting talented actors from other places – China, Taiwan, ATV, it’s pointless when the rest of TVB’s production values continue to decline in quality. If TVB really wanted to, they could get some of their 90s stars back if only they would give them more freedom and flexibility. But good actors need to be complemented by good scripts and direction, which TVB is lacking.
I like Chrissie and Janice, but I personally prefer for them to not appear in TBB’s project… 😐
Not interested unless they can act their pants off. As in act well, pants need not be off.
love to see annie in tvb series
i don’t know if Annie would suit the TVB kind of dramas. I just can’t imagine her in one since I saw her in Bu Bu Jing Xin and a TW drama called I Do with actor Blue Lan. Those are definitely not typical TVB types… don’t get me wrong though I like her and it may give her more exposure in HK for sure but I kind of think she’s too good for TVB ahahaha
It’s an interesting move of Txb if they really recruit these pretty girls to their series. They are lacking pretty girls like this. Their acting isn’t really a problem because now ppl mostly watch roles, not the acting and if the role is good, the acting will be praised.
Therefore, TVB should spend money on the scriptwriters to have good roles.
@Fox: Their acting isn’t really a problem because now ppl mostly watch roles, not the acting and if the role is good, the acting will be praised.
So true!
I have to admit, it’ll be nice to have some “fresh faces” in the dramas. Getting tired of seeing the same 4 girls play all the major roles.
But I agree with some here that maybe TVB should look at possibility promoting some of their 2nd liners up as well, they have some talented women already with the company. Why not give them a chance to shine?
Damn I feel sorry for the more talented existing artists in TVB! TVB is importing lengmos who can’t act instead of promoting the loyal existing actresses!
i hope that they can make Niki the biological daughter of TVB. i really like her and feel that she has improved in Bottled Passion
Niki is charismatic and natural.
Some ppl think she lacks punch in her acting but I feel that she has improved tremendously since BP .
Her latest “Sergeant tabloid” shows her breakthrough and maturity in role and acting.
i think they should promote Nancy and Joyce, their acting are good compared to the newer actresses. It makes TVB so low to recruit actresses that promote sex appeal. I feel bad for the future generation kids that dont have the same opportunity as the older generation with excellent and good actors, actresses, and dramas.
I feel that TVB didn’t really want to maintain Bernice. She was great for advertisements but as an actress she never improved…she did have some charm though.
As for Annie Liu acting with TVB dramas…that’s not a bad idea. I did like her role in Sacred Heart..but I’m not sure if she’ll be a versatile actress.
TVB should try to get their old TVB actors to film again (at least 1 or 2 series)…like Annie Man, Michelle Ye, Amy Kwok, Kenix Kwok…
They should also promote within…like Nancy Wu or Yoyo Chen
Man.. whut is this. -____- I’m not hater of lengmo. But srsly, tvb you disappoint me. They should promote people like Joyce Tang, Lin Xia Wei, Nancy Wu. They are good. Niki Chow? srsly? Idk. I dislike her acting. It looks the same all the TIME.
They might be good but they aren’t famous (yet) and can’t attract the attention of the audiences like Chrissie or Annie or Janice Man in a series. Imagining how ppl will react when these 3 appear in a series? Like them or not, most of ppl will be curious and watch the series. It’s a gimmick.
If TVB’s willing to invest and put more effort and money onto newcomers like Lin Xiawei, William Chak, Nathan Ngai, list goes on, etc. then it doesn’t matter if they’re not famous. The dramas they appear in will be the key of making them famous. This was how TVB used to work. I guess it’s different now.
I agree. THC for example was a very good series and successfully introduced Nathan Ngai, Candy Chang, Benjamin Yuen and other newbies because it was a great production. It’s a shame if TVB don’t plan to take their popularity from this successful series further and promote these new faces.
Nancy Wu is a great actress and Lin Xia Wei is good in her first performance in the sitcom.
@Addy: Well, if Txb gives Nathan/Xia Wei/William/Cilla/Benjamin/etc. leading roles by now, ppl will complain that they are not having enough supporting roles to get famous at first. Just look at how they treat Rebecca Zhu and you will see.
On the other hand, if investing these newbies slowly, at this moment they need to have someone to attract the audience. Don’t tell me that you want to see the old 5 faces time after time in the next 5 years before having new faces.
In business term, the invitations (if true) is also a good gimmick and save money for them. That dun mean that they dun promote new faces. Two things can do at the same time. No harm.
Honesty, again, I’d like to see how these lengmos act in Txb series. I just dun want to see the old 5 faces series after series like we are having now.
@Fox – I do not disagree, and I am the first one to raise my hand when it comes to being tired of watching the same Big 5 over and over again. I do not follow the gossip around Rebecca Zhu so I’m not familiar to what’s going on with her, but there has been many times in the past when TVB had successfully promoted relatively “new faces” to leading actors – for example, the Five Tigers of the 80s, the Miss HKs of the 90s, and in the early 21st century, Sonija Kwok, Raymond Lam, Shirley Yeung, and Bernice Liu, to name a few.
The problem I have with TVB is that they are unwilling to invest on better producers, managers, and PRs that are capable of producing well-rounded artistes, like what they had in the 80s. TVB has become very wooden – we see the same actors starring in very similar roles in extremely formulaic and predictable dramas. No improvement. Everyone’s playing the game safe. I feel like TVB does not have the same sincerity they have had before, when the producers actually cared and placed effort in promoting and developing their new stars.
I’m not saying that signing lengmos under their umbrella is a bad idea (though I rather not see Chrissie Chau in my TV, I admit it’s a good breather from the usual actors), and it’s a good business tactic. I just feel like TVB’s wasting a lot of money on their own artists, because I’m sure given time, these artists will do extremely well. A great example of this is the Five Tigers. These new people should b e the priority.
Therefore, I’m glad TVB has made a move on Rebecca Zhu. She’s a new face, and she does have the charisma to be a star. I am now patiently waiting for Nathan Ngai, Oceane Zhu and William Chak to meet the same fate.
Addy,
“The problem I have with TVB is that they are unwilling to invest on better producers, managers, and PRs that are capable of producing well-rounded artistes, like what they had in the 80s. TVB has become very wooden – we see the same actors starring in very similar roles in extremely formulaic and predictable dramas.”
TVB dramas do recycle old plot devices and 2012 is known as the year of sequels. They like to play it safe and will cater dramas driven by ratings and Hong Kong audience’s tastes. Since Miu Siu Ching’s dramas have been the ratings king over the last 3 years, the artistic direction of the dramas have followed suit.
Although Jonathan Chik’s “When Heaven Burns” veered from mainstream dramas, the ratings were almost dismal. Since 2012 is such a critical year for TVB to retain viewership, they will likely play it safe and avoid controversial subject matter.
No need to see anywhere, just in jaynestar and you can see a lot of ppl questioned on Rebecca’s big role in Silver something I don’t rmb name. They required her to have supporting roles first and maybe, waste her youth for few years with these things.
I do notice that Txb don’t have young actress as leading for years. Youngest is Linda and she is 28, not young anymore. They don’t have 18-20 year old girls to act in high school/university series and they also don’t do series on it. What’s a waste. Seriously, the young students now, especially the young boys, are they really interested in the 30+- year old “goddess”. And these girls look not as good as they used to be because there is aging factor. So I agree that Txb is becoming wooden and only can do the family clapping clapping singing and lame gags series. They even dun dare to try some more “bloody” types and the side of young ppl, are vanished (last one must be the series about Horse ft Ken Hung). No fresh, no challenge. That’s why Txb series are so boring now.
Again, I blv Txb still can’t see their problems of having no good scripts. They ran and followed something I can’t understand. I don’t feel strange when I can’t finish Txb series now.
Just wondering but who is the lead actress for detective columbo then? Or did he not cast one yet still?
Someone said Natalie Tong.
The lead actresses will be Natalie Tong and Sire Ma. I’ve read an article about Tim Gor praising these two.
I have noticed Natalie Tong. I think her beauty is noticable. Fair, rosy complexion and good looks.
She is better in modern series but as much as I like her looks, her acting in period dramas could have been better. In Life and Times of a Sentinel, she had a great role, in the hands of a good actress like Michelle Yim, she could have done more with the role. The mixed feelings of your husband having an affair with your cousin, your love for your cousin, wanting more love from your husband… I think these were difficult emotions which were not portrayed adequately by her. Perhaps she is still young.
But I am glad for more chances to develop her.
I’m all for new faces, but is this even necessary when TVB still has so many other actors and actresses under their belt that’s still waiting for a chance to get a good role? These should be a priority.
I replied you above: Two things can do at the same time – promoting new faces and recruiting new faces.
meh.
One of the reasons that I love TVB is because the dramas aren’t “dirty”. and chrissie chau has this “sex goddess” title attached to her and i just can’t see TVB with that type of title. I can’t really imagine that. Also, i have watched some movies with chrissie in it and I never really liked her acting…
I get that everyone thinks that TVB’s been always having the same faces like Myolie, Kate, Fala…etc but i’m kind of fine with that because I like original and i don’t really like changes. hehe
Can you imagine Chrissie now shaking and flaunting her boobs in a TVB series.
Yucks! Chrissie , no!
What is TVB thinking to get these leng mos like Janice and Chrissie? Annie Liu is ok but I don’t see how she fits TVB series.
I really don’t get what TVB management is thinking. The problem here is the lack of script writers. Poor plot development = bad series. Even high-profile actors cannot save the series. I would rather TVB focus on writing/producing better series than going the “sex appeal” route.
Also, I would rather watch the original fadans and veterans than the bad-acting-girls. But, I understand that Chrissie and them appeal to the younger audience. TVB is losing it.
Yup, agree that Txb is lacking good scripts but they are also lacking pretty girls :P.
Haha…pretty lengmos
Not sure who the other two are, but I do know of Annie Liu and seen her act before, she is not bad at all! And I think she is quite pretty, so good luck to her.
I’m all for Annie Liu. I’ve seen her act in a couple of HK movies before, and not only do I think she’s gorgeous, I also think she’s quite competent an actress. Chrissie and Janice’s acting abilities are questionable at this stage, so I’m less optimistic about them. I think we have enough pretty, yet incompetent actresses in TVB at the moment.
If Chrissie Chau starts in Detective Columbo , I don’t think I will watch it
what?! i thought Tavia is going to film Detective Columbo! i was SO looking forward to it! i wish she didn’t film that crappy drama with damien lau. yuk.
grrr!!!
NOoO! shattered!
the sale presentation clip with Tavia and Wayne looked SO good!