Lawrence Ng Reveals “The Hippocratic Crush 2” Will Film in February 2013
Lawrence Ng’s (吳啟華) return to film TVB drama, The Hippocratic Crush 2 <On Call 36小時>, is highly anticipated. Since the drama is set to film in February 2013, Lawrence does not know who his female costar will be yet.
As TVB continues to lose its leading actors to the more lucrative mainland China market and rival local stations, the company has reached out to older veteran actors to lead upcoming heavyweight dramas. Aside from successfully staging Lawrence’s comeback, TVB is currently negotiating with Andy Lau (劉德華) and Esther Kwan (關詠荷) to star in new dramas.
Known for his iconic doctor role in the Healing Hands <妙手仁心>trilogy, Lawrence accepted TVB’s offer to film The Hippocratic Crush 2 in April, after running into TVB executive, Virginia Lok (樂易玲), at Eric Tsang’s (曾志偉) birthday party.
Lawrence’s Healing Hands costar, Ada Choi (蔡少芬), will be unable to star in The Hippocratic Crush 2. The new mother declined TVB’s offer since her schedule was too busy. Although Lawrence’s costar is yet to be finalized, he said that it will likely be an actress he has already worked with in the past.
Asked what prompted him to agree to film for TVB again, Lawrence replied that the terms were acceptable. “TVB will not realistically give you a lot of money. We all understand that it is not because of money. There are other advantages aside from money. I also benefit in working with TVB.” The company postponed the filming date from year-end to next February to accommodate Lawrence’s schedule.
By agreeing to film with TVB, Lawrence cannot appear on competing Hong Kong broadcasting stations one year afterward. Although Lawrence has met with City Telecom (CTI), the filming arrangements did not materialize.
Source: On.cc
Note: This article is written for JayneStars.com. DO NOT re-post this article on any other websites. No part of this article may be copied, reproduced, rearranged, redistributed, modified by any means or in any form whatsoever without prior written permission. You may use the content online and for your non-commercial, personal use only. Copying these materials for anything other than your personal use is a violation of copyright laws.
Should you wish to share this article, we recommend that you: (i) link directly to the article at JayneStars.com on your website; or (ii) share this article link via social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
I wonder who the actress will be if he says he worked with her before?
I don’t mind the new additions but I hope the focus will stay on Kenneth and Tavia.
I agree. Unless they make this a 40 episode grand production or something, then the 4 main characters can share the spot light. But if we’re worried about Kenneth and Tavia’s screen time, what’s going to happen to Mandy and Him. Their role might reduce to nothing.
Can’t wait for this series to be broadcasted! Lawerence, Tavia and Kenneth- great storyline MUST follow
My guess is either Charmaine Sheh, Jessica Hsuan, or Esther Kwan, though Kenix Kwok is a possibility as well….Yoyo Mung might be considered, but I don’t think she is ‘heavyweight’ enough, especially since this will be Lawrence’s ‘comeback’ series and he also said they are discussing with a ‘heavyweight’ fa dan…Sheren Tang is the other fa dan who comes to mind, but given TVB’s recent ‘backstabbing’ of her with the whole RB3 fiasco, I doubt she would even be considered. Most of his other previous co-stars from the past decade (Gigi Lai, Flora Chan, Melissa Ng, etc.) are either all retired already or have already stated they will not film any more series in the near future, so I doubt any of them will come back to film series for TVB….
llwy12,
I think Jessica Hsuan and Kenix Kwok would be a good bet. Esther is already discussing filming the tragic love drama with Bobby, so it will lower the chances of her being offered another role in “The Hippocratic Crush 2.”
TVB may try to secure an actress from “Healing Hands” if possible to add to the nostalgia.
In a different interview clip, Lawrence also revealed that in addition to the actress having collaborated with him before and being considered a ‘heavyweight’ (which I interpret as former TVB first-line fa dan, though he could have meant something else), he also dropped another significant clue: the actress is NOT MARRIED.
So that pretty much takes Kenix and Esther out of the equation. Makes me think more and more that it might be Charmaine or Jessica…though if they want to go with the “Healing Hands” nostalgia feel, Yoyo might very well be the one…
Of course, for all we know, could be someone we never thought of (especially since Lawrence left TVB for awhile to film series in the Mainland and I’m sure he collaborated with other former TVB artists while there)….
I bet is on Charmaine.
My biggest guess would be Charmaine since she’s supposed to come back and film a series for TVB. I think they’re waiting on Jessica so that she can film Tiger Cubs 2 instead, and Kenix signed with CTI, right?
@AC: No, Kenix hasn’t signed with CTI…at least not yet. Her husband Frankie is the one who signed with CTI….he clarified that Kenix had not signed yet and is still considering, as her focus right now is on taking care of their daughter….
Thanks llwy12. There’s just too many news about who joined CTI to keep track of. It’ll be interesting to see who she ends up with if she does decide to go back into acting.
Has he ever worked with Jessica before? I didn’t think he had good chemistry with Kenix in the past so I kind of hope it’s not her.
@NP: Yes, he has worked with Jessica before….recently in fact in a Mainland series (the one directed by former TVB producer Kwong Yip Sung).
Hmm dont rmb charmaine sheh acting as a doctor before in any series… Actually i feel that she doesnt have a “doctor” face- she has a brooding look most of the tlme- eg when heaven burns. Hmm kenix hasnt acted for ages too (the last how was prolly born rich) so not sure if tvb will get her to act lawrence’s comeback drama
A nurse yes (oh how I HATED that portrayal!!) but doctor, no. Won;t be convincing. She will be convincing as the ultra fashionable businesswoman who runs a pharmaceutical company but not the doctor.
This sentence caught my eye:
By agreeing to film with TVB, Lawrence cannot appear on competing Hong Kong broadcasting stations one year afterward.
I didn’t know TVB had the power to do that. Did the ex-TVB employees (whether actors or behind-the-scenes folks) who joined CTI also wait out a one-year period, or did the clause not apply to them? I don’t quite remember.
That’s TVB
@Tegan: I don’t know about the ‘one year’ clause, but it has always been the case that artists who work for TVB are not allowed to appear on other TV stations (in fact, they aren’t even allowed to interview with other stations in Cantonese — they are required to speak Mandarin)…
That’s one of the reasons why some of the artists went to CTI — because they have the freedom to work for / appear on any station they want.
Probably a contractual clause, not like they manipulate other stations not to use the artists
Thanks for the replies; contracts confuse me. I’ve heard of non-compete clauses, but am a bit surprised it applies to Lawrence Ng (since I was under the impression that he wasn’t under contract with TVB and that filming THC2 would be a one-off deal for him) and can’t remember if such a clause was mentioned in the previous reports about people leaving TVB for CTI.
lol, fans didn’t want Lawrence to break up FishHead. Wish granted. But, with another A-list added, FishHead’s screen time might get reduced. I wonder if fans would have preferred a triangle love.
Nah…I don’t want to see either one. Actually, I was one of those fans who was adamantly opposed to doing a sequel in the first place because no matter which way they decide to slice things, it’s just not going to be the same (plus TVB is notorious for screwing up the sequels). I would much rather they not touch the series and just leave it as is –after all, why ruin a good thing?
I think it might be Maggie Siu
Ooh hopefully!
I prefer Jessica but if she is grabed in Tiger Cubs 2 then seriously I want her in that drama. I wonder why they have to bring Lawrence in TC2? No need. Just increase time screen of young crew as Mandy, Him.
one sentense to describe my feeling about tis news, TxB u will ruin my wonderful memory of THC. Why there is need to add the casts when the success of tis series were due to good script , excellent chemistry among the original casts n lovely pairing of FishHead couple. Wat a pathetic to the original casts tat their position will demote in tis series after add in lead casts.
I agree with you a-pop. Me watching this serie is very slim now if tvb changes the name i will watch it cuz is a whole new serie/storyline but if is THC2 ill give it one week and see how it goes if tav and ken screentime is cut alot i will not watch it at all
TVb ruins wonderful memories when they have a sequel.
If Lawrence and Ada lead this series, I’ll consider watching it coz I like HH. At least I only need to fast fwd half of the series whenever have the fishhead and still can watch Lawrence and Ada.
It would’ve been so nice to see Lawrence and Ada together again but alas, no fate.
But Jessica or charmaine could work too. If they kill off tavia, then they can do a triangle w/ Kenneth too. It would be an interesting rivalry btwn Kenneth and Dr. Ching, personally and professionally.
Have just read that Ada won’t appear.
I only care for Lawrence’s doctor role as I’m a big fan of Paul Ching, you know.
I must be in the minority; Paul was just okay to me, and I didn’t care much about the pairing between him and Jackie. I think Lawrence has the looks of a good, educated man, so I prefer watching him playing against type. I prefer him EVIL. Or sleazy.
Playing evil is not against type for Lawrence. He played a lot of villains in the 80s and 90s.
I like Lawrence-Kenix pairing the best!
I hope they wont kill of Tavia and put Christine Kuo in this series then I’ll be so dissappointed in TVB lor………
Christine Kuo is so not ready to be leading in any heavy roles seriously!!!!
Lawrence will play his character from Healing Hands and Charmaine will play her character from The White Flame. You heard it hear first….
Actually that’s not a bad idea. B/c “white flame” was a spin-off of “healing hands” anyway (Maggie siu’s Dr. Man guest starred). So it would be a cross-over of THC and HH and WF.
But charmaine’s nurse Charlie was too bubbly. They would need to make her character more serious by saying her bf sammul died. And of course Dr. Ching’s 3rd gf (gigi) also died. Then kill off tavia and it’s a series about a bunch of widows working at the same hospital. Too depressing.
It does sound tragic lol. Sammul character doesn’t necessarily have to die for her to mature. After all, it has been quite a few years. People mature as they get older. Maybe Charmaine can be head nurse or something.
Except, “The White Flame” was a warehouse series, only release overseas til 2007 when it shown HK Jade channel at very early morning hours. Wasnt memorable.