Lai Lok Yi Admits He Had an Awful Attitude
Reflecting on his past self, Lai Lok Yi (黎諾懿) admits that he was difficult to work with during the earlier days of his career and learned the toughest lesson of being in the entertainment industry.
Before becoming an actor, Lai Lok Yi worked in the accounting field after graduating from university. Bored of his 9 to 5 corporate job, he stepped out of his comfort zone and applied to be a TVB trainee against his family’s wishes – even running away from home to show his determination.
Receiving acting opportunities from the start, he received the lead role in Hearts of Fencing <當四葉草碰上劍尖時> and was promoted as one of TVB’s “Six Olympic Stars,” alongside Raymond Lam (林峯), Ron Ng (吳卓羲), Kenneth Ma (馬國明), Bosco Wong (黃宗澤), and Sammul Chan (陳鍵鋒). Lai Lok Yi boastfully thought he was going to become the next Andy Lau (劉德華) or Tony Leung (梁朝偉).
Angry Over “Demotion”
Despite these opportunities, Lai Lok Yi’s stardom paled in comparison to the other five actors, and eventually he was transferred to host children’s programs. Rising fast and falling even faster, he was angry at management’s decision.
“When they asked me to host children’s shows, I flipped out on them. I honestly thought I was going to be Andy Lau–why would I need to do children’s shows? Management told me that Stephen Chow (周星馳) did them as well. That was especially painful to hear because he did them prior to making his breakthrough. However, I was transferred – why weren’t my feelings considered?”
Taking his anger even further, Lai Lok Yi admitted to yelling at the backstage crew members over the littlest things. Recalling his mistakes, he sighed, “I want to apologize – I’ve really learned since then, and I know not to treat anyone like that anymore. Personality dictates luck, and I know I had a problem. Thinking back, I was really emotionally unstable.”
Working 10 years in the industry at that time, Lai Lok Yi was just about to call it quits and go back to his old accounting job when a variety show – Strictly Come Dancing <舞動奇蹟> changed his path. With no prior dancing knowledge, Lai Lok Yi participated in the show for fun and was teamed up with Chinese actress Jin Chen (金晨). Moved by Jin Chen’s dancing passion, Lai Lok Yi trained for 16 hours per day and kept practicing for four months, finally earning recognition for his talent.
Although he shot to stardom in China, Lai Lok Yi went back to Hong Kong and accepted his life-changing role as John Ma in Come Home Love <愛‧回家>. Since then, he has slowly built up his career and realized who his true friends are. Lai Lok Yi praised Ekin Cheng (鄭伊健), who has always been supportive and taught him one of his favorite life mottos: “You have to find hope in yourself, and not depend on others.”
Source: Lai Lok Yi
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
Most people learn and grow more mature with age… not everyone but most people do. We are not born perfect, even at my age…I am still learning to be a better person each day. I am glad Lai Lok Yi has learnt his lessons wisely.
Lai Lok Yi’s John Ma made me who I am today, so I’m glad he shined through. <3
It’s easy to lose oneself when things are good. I am glad that he found himself and true friends. I recall seeing him on the screen and thought he looked like daniel chan and thought he’d make it big. Then he seemed to have disappear. After reading about this it makes sense, he probably stepped on the wrong toes.
I mean…there’s a reason he wasn’t promoted. His acting is still not really great, but his character as John Ma was impressionable enough to establish him as a viable actor. Pure luck.
On his public image, though, he seems approachable and funny? So that helps with his popularity.
Andy Lau? This dude muz be joking! Mediocre actor at best and always thinks himself as God’s gift to women!