How Priscilla Wong Motivates Herself to Become a Stronger Actress

Earning praise for her performance in Life After Death <那些我愛過的人>, Priscilla Wong (黃翠如) revealed this was the most challenging role in her career. Since this role was her first drama in two years, Priscilla had plenty of time to prepare and mentally coach herself to get into character. In a recent interview, Priscilla describes how her transformation took place and why she was able to give a career-defining performance in Life After Death.

In the drama, Priscilla portrays a single mother who is dealt a bitter twist of fate. After Priscilla’s character loses her husband and one of her twin babies in a car accident, the surviving twin has a heart condition. She also has to raise her husband’s son from a previous marriage. Just when it seems that she has found love again, it turns out that he is the husband of the woman who was driving the other car in the accident.

Due to the intense emotions her character has to go through, Priscilla is grateful that she was able to take a long vacation before filming started to really delve into the script and analyze the character. It was difficult for her to understand what is was like to be someone with so many burdens, so she decided to start with a blank slate and treat herself as a new actress. She completely trusted her co-star Frankie Lam (林文龍) to lead her. “He was like a teacher–we would study the script every day and discuss how we should act. I learned a lot from him!”

Criticism Made Her Stronger

Aware of viewers’ criticism towards her acting in the past, Priscilla had felt very discouraged, but she had used the honest feedback to motivate herself to become stronger. Drawing parallels of her acting journey to her role in Life After Death, Priscilla said, “This character is like a representation of my acting career. We both travel with our pain, but we will not stop because of it. Every battle scar will allow you to become stronger. You need to become stronger to face the curve balls life throws at you. No one else can help you with this!”

As she naturally has low confidence and can be easily affected by criticism, Priscilla had been so thoroughly affected at one point and wondered whether she should continue as an actress. “Nowadays, it is so easy for anyone to share their opinions online. Even if I don’t actively seek them out, people will forward them to me. There’s no avoiding it! However, I have learned to accept and co-exist with negative reviews. Previously, I would think that criticism was fact-based and praise was pity. Now, I view criticism as motivation. As an actress, you need to be confident and humble at the same time. After a two-year break, I feel like a new actress again. I hope that everyone who has been waiting for me is able to see my growth.”

Thanks Husband for His Support

Before Life After Death aired, Priscilla’s husband Edwin Siu (蕭正楠) made sure that she would be ready for viewers’ reactions, even if they turn out to be negative. Edwin shared a touching message on Instagram, “Conventionally every time you have a new drama airing, there will be a lot of criticism. If there really is, I will be with you to reflect upon them. However, I am well aware of your effort and I wanted to tell you that you are the best.”

Grateful for Edwin always supporting her, Priscilla said he is a very giving person with high tolerance. He accepts all her imperfections and loves her with all his heart. Getting married has not caused much change in her life, “The way we interact has not changed. Edwin has always given me freedom and does not require me to change. I actually want to apologize to him. He is much smarter, and his self discipline is much greater than mine.

“Even if he is tired after work, he will still come home and cook for us. I have very low expectations towards food–my parents joke that I just need a bowl of rice. With the pandemic, there was a long period of time when both of us didn’t have work. Edwin used this time to teach me how to cook. Even though my cooking is not great, he will try his best to finish everything. He has the best personality!”

Source: Sing Tao

This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.