Myolie Wu on Her Relationship with TVB’s Big Four Fadans
Promoting siu sangs and fadans have always been a tactic of TVB’s. In the 1970s, the station’s top leading fadans were Liza Wang (汪明荃), Angie Chiu (趙雅芝), Gigi Wong (黃淑儀), and Louise Lee (李司棋). During much of the 1980s, it was Idy Chan (陳玉蓮), Barbara Yung (翁美玲), Carina Lau (劉嘉玲), Margie Tsang (曾華倩), Jaime Chik (戚美珍), and Yammie Lam (藍潔瑛). In the early 1990s, it was Maggie Shiu(邵美琪), Kathy Chow (周海媚), Sheren Tang (鄧萃雯), Adia Chan (陳松伶), and Anita Lee (李婉華). The latter half of the 1990s to the early millennium saw the rise of Esther Kwan (關詠荷), Ada Choi (蔡少芬), Flora Chan (陳慧珊), Kenix Kwok (郭可盈), Jessica Hsuan (宣萱), and Maggie Cheung Ho Yee (張可頤). Gigi Lai (黎姿), and Charmaine Sheh (佘诗曼) soon followed.
Our current top TVB fadans of today are Myolie Wu (胡杏兒), Tavia Yeung (楊怡),Linda Chung (鍾嘉欣), Fala Chen (陳法拉), and Kate Tsui (徐子珊). Of the five, Myolie and Tavia have already achieved top critical honors in the Hong Kong television industry, winning TVB’s Best Actress award in the 2011 and 2012 award seasons, respectively.
Myolie Has No Worries
“It’s not bad to get recognized for your acting even when you don’t win an award,” said Myolie. “But this is what’s challenging about this industry. When you know you’re nominated, you will always tell everyone that it doesn’t matter if you win or not, but winning is a kind of recognition for the actor. You will definitely build a lot more confidence.”
Contrary to popular belief, winning the TV Queen honor has actually lessened Myolie’s stress. “People say that winning awards gives you more pressure, but I actual feel more relaxed! I have been swimming for all these years, and now I feel like I can finally go back on shore to rest! My acting is not as tense as before. I worried too much in the past, but now, I can let out a big sigh of relief.”
The Netizens as Her Judge
“Online forums are very powerful,” exclaimed Myolie. “The netizens can even pick out how many times I would cry in the final episode, and they’re not making it up!” She joked, “If my acting gets recognized and praised from netizens, then that means [my acting has] reached to the highest level. But of course, there are times when their views can get really subjective.
“There are many different roles I want to tackle in the future. I usually play characters that are happy and young; an exception was my role in Ghetto Justice <怒火街頭>. Now I have more opportunities to choose my roles. I felt like I’ve just crawled from hell to heaven. I do have demands for myself, and I want to take another step higher. I still have so many things I want to do. Honestly, I feel like I’m still living in the moment [of winning Best Actress]!”
Myolie’s Thoughts on TVB’s Four Fadans
On Tavia Yeung– “She is at about the same level as I am, as we debuted at around the same time. When we filmed Eternal Happiness <再生緣> [in mainland China], she was my roommate. We keep in contact, and when she encounters something difficult in her life, I will send her a text message to give her my support.”
On Linda Chung– “I am closest to her [out of the four]. House of Harmony and Vengeance<耀舞長安> was our first drama together. She is very pure and kind. Once, she called me and told me that she was very confused [with the script], and I would give her my advice. She is like my little sister.”
On Kate Tsui– “We’ve never collaborated, and both of us have very different styles.”
Many reports indicated that Myolie replaced Charmaine Sheh as TVB’s number one sister after Charmaine left the station last year. Myolie did not agree with these claims, and said, “I admire her very much! She’s a splendid actress! It’s unfortunate that we’ve never properly collaborated before. We were both in The Drive of Life <歲月風雲>, but we rarely shared scenes with each other. Hopefully, I’ll have the opportunity [to work with her] in the future!”
Source: ihktv.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
“On Kate Tsui– “We’ve never collaborated, and both of us have very different styles.””
This is very funny! Can you feel the frost?
But then why do we ever assume colleagues are best friends eh?
Lol. The first sentence was fine. Then the second sentence and I was like ooookay.
And no comments on Fala?
My favorite fadans must be the flora chan, kenix kwok batch.
The original article did mention Fala.
雖然不會與花旦談太深入的話題，但杏兒說：「咁唔代表不和，成日傳我爭戲份，如果（傳聞）太過分會講，之前同法拉都有講番，我想大家開心，唔想冷戰。」
Same here, my favorite fadans are flora chan, kenix kwok batch. The new generations cannot compete with them
Can someone please translate the fala part?
Anyone know if anything happened between the two o.O
Kate got too close to Bosco perhaps? just a guess
always feel that kate isn’t close to any actress in tvb. she has rumoured to not getting along with sharon during filming that beauty pageant series. noticed that kate tends to be closer to the men such as bosco, raymond lam, laughing.
Kate is close to Kristin Tin the most among the girls.
Yeah I have noticed that Kate is really close with all the boys. I think she is also close with Ella Koon from Highs and Lows though…
kate did get too close to comfort with bosco and can easily hug him in public without any inhibitions.
always known that kate and myolie are not close and if kate is totally clean, why didn’t myo speak any comfort words or clarifications for her when the rumours printed? she spoke for niki. bosco and kate aren’t the saints.
at least if kate suddenly claim she’s close with myolie in near future, we can assure that kate is lying.
Curious mode: If Myolie claims she is close to Myolie next time, what will you say?
Typo: Myolie says she is close to Kate*
Yes, it was very funny how she spoke more about the fadans, but dismissed Kate with just a “both of us have very different styles.”
I was so focused in reading on what she had to say about each fadan until I read Kate’s…I literally laughed out loud LOL. Like a bucket of ice cold water poured over the head.
Haha yes!
Well there were plenty of rumours of Bosco and Kate so ….
When II saw the Astro award I already knew there’s smt going on between these two, I also thought it was because Kate’s getting close to Bosco but then I accidentally watched the very end of the award ceremony where Myolie tried to get close to Kate but Kate didn’t want to, seem like Kate was piss off with Myolie for some reason, maybe cause Myolie didn’t protect her in rumour with Bosco.
Must have something to do with how close Kate is with Bosco now. I remember they did singing shows and was together during some interviews and was hugging and very friendly towards each other.
BORING! Say something scandalous will ya? HK stars are so vapid.
i like the way myolie speaks to the press, it’s very gentle while revealing. i like that she’s close to Linda as I also like Linda’s off screen character.
Same. I have to say that Linda’s acting is not superb but I really admire her character outside of the industry. I have read a piece of news once that said she was told to go out and “please” the high level bosses (karaoke or something) but she refused and went back to her hotel room alone instead. All her other colleagues outcasted her or something but like she still stood by her principles. 🙂
This piece of news is very close to a statement of a lengmo last time with news in Jaynestars. Phoebe?
I agree. She knows the rules of the industry very well. No wonder she as a good relationship with the media – she speaks just enough to allow information that’s not too revealing, but will keep the media satisfied.
i agree too. myolie speaks very well about the four fadans. reveal enough for the media to write but not too revealing. she shows her wise and mature years inside the industry unlike some other fadan who will always continue to talk about ‘money and money’ in all interviews until it gets stale and showing that fadan’s lack of intelligence.
Quite happy that myolie said she is closest to linda…haha
Sharon Chan should be added as the 6th Fa Dan or else she’ll just be overlooked like Yoyo Mung , Sonija Kwok and Christine Ng.
isnt’ Aimee the 6th?
Aimee?! Are you serious?!
No thank you. zz
wow, yoyo mung and sonija kwok lose out to those five? is it me only? i smell favouritism
“On Tavia Yeung– “She is at about the same level as I am…”
LOL no way. They debuted at around the same time, but Tavia had actual training while Myolie was from Miss HK. Even wayyyyy back in Eternal Happiness, I thought it was obvious that Tavia was better at acting. Myolie’s crying scenes are so unnatural – she tries too hard to look sad, heartbroken, etc. and her facial expressions are so exaggerated, but some of Tavia’s crying scenes actually make me cry.
Ugh here comes those diehard Tavia fans…
Why, thank you for reading my comment even if you didn’t like my opinion! ^^
Why must one be a diehard fan to defend an actress? If someone were to defend a hobo on the street for being mistreated, that individual must be a hobo fan? …..
@Crystal – I stan hobos, too! Didn’t you know that?!?!?! XD
LOLOLOL. Yes, I do too. Start a union, yes? 🙂
@Crystal – let’s do it! ^^
no way. tavia’s acting/crying is one note and using the same expressions most of the time. tavia also always use the same image for multiple series and keep the same one note acting style. myolie is humble enough to put tavia on same position as her when tavia’s fees and market in mainland is like less than 1/4 of myolie’s.
If I were to rate the fadans listed above regarding their skills… It would be:
1. Charmaine
2. Myolie
3. Tavia
4. Kate/ Linda
I agree that Tavia’s roles are not versatile enough. Sometimes I wonder whether it’s when someone starts to get popular, TVB casts them in the roles that are too safe in order to not alienate the C9s and ruin their image with the audience and sponsors. I think that’s not good for the actor/actress, because it doesn’t allow them to became more versatile and try out different roles.
Anyways, I suppose it’s different strokes for different folks.
Cara:
I share the same feeling. This definitely happened to Linda Chung, Myolie Wu and Tavia Yeung. They were acting very similar roles all the time, and with the same facial expressions and images, especially Linda and Tavia.
agree. linda and tavia are really one note artistes. myolie is the most versatile out of them all and she’s easily the best singer too. besides my friend met linda and tavia in real life and said that they look older and less good in real life than in photoshopped pictures.
Linda is the better singer for me. And my ranking the fadans listed above are:
1. Charmaine
2. Tavia
3. Linda
4. Myolie
5. Kate
6. Fala
Even though Kate has improved heaps, she’s still behind the others for me. And Fala is just… I don’t know. :\
linda’s singing in korea is shaky and nervous. myolie had a hard song and she did very well with her strong vocals. raymond however did a crappy attempt at dancing.
my ranking based on acting/personality/singing/intelligence/classiness:
1. myolie
2. charmaine
3. nancy
4. mandy
5. elaine
6. sharon
7. linda
8. fala
9. kate
10. tavia
It is laughable that you said myolie has strong vocals. If linda is able to shake off her stage fright, myolie and linda are about the same in terms singing capabilities with a difference between singing styles. Linda has a softer more ballad approach where as Myolie has a better range than Linda therefore she is not limited to one genre of music. But neither should be considered strong vocalists.
Ugh here comes those diehard Tavia fans…
Haha, looking at the list of top fadans, you can see how the acting quality deteriorated in my opinion after the early millenium. Even Ada, Jessica, and Esther can basically pull off any role and I will still like their acting, but Charmaine can be a hit or miss, and I don’t think Maggie can act. And to say Fala, Linda, and Kate are now the top fadans TVB has to offer….how sad LOLZ! I stan Tavia, but even I know she is not as versatile as, say, Ada, Esther, or Kenix. It doesn’t help that TVB’s scripts are now so canned and recycled.
That’s only your opinion, not the mass… how saf!! Haha
Of course that’s my opinion, did you miss me saying “in my opinion” and “I don’t think” above? Thanks for stating the obvious.
20 years from now, you’ll be thinking the 2010s fadans are much better than the 2030s.
That is probably true!
Myo is closest to Nancy in TVB. They’re like sisters! Her other good friends are Sharon Chan, Elaine Yiu and Mandy Wong. I thought she was a bit more close to Kate though…since Kate looked so happy for Myo when she won Best Actress.
Yes. I find it strange how Myolie seemed closer to Linda than Kate. They did a singing show together, I think it was called “My song, my Story” with Linda and Kate. And Myolie and Kate seemed like they were very close.
It is strange that Myolie did not say anything about Fala Chen.
Don’t recall they having collaborated either.
In the Eyes of the Beholder and the newly filmed TITS2.
雖然不會與花旦談太深入的話題，但杏兒說：「咁唔代表不和，成日傳我爭戲份，如果（傳聞）太過分會講，之前同法拉都有講番，我想大家開心，唔想冷戰。」
Would help if it was translated. If people can read Chinese they wouldn’t be on this site.
Though (Myolie) may not talk about personal stuff with other fadans, but Myolie said,”this doesn’t mean we are on bad terms, often, there are rumours about us fighting for screen time, if they go overboard we’ll talk. Previously had a talk with Fala, I want everyone to be happy, don’t want any cold wars.”
Kate was suppose to be the closest with myolie because they always supported each other during their functions.. i think its all because of bosco
Myolie looks great in the above pic. Thanks for putting up articles re: myolie Jayne. I always enjoy reading articles about myolie, I find her to be open and honest. I find her acting and personality to be quite endearing. I am so happy she won best actress for CORH. I found her performance to be captivating. I hated her character with such a passion, she obviously did the job properly! Lol
I love u Myolie, support you all the way!! Hope you get gritty roles like that again 🙂
rofl i love her response to kate…..
Myolie has the smartness in answering and she handles the interviews better than others. It makes her career better than others in the top 5.
agree. if we all look at how others such as tavia and kate handle their interviews, myolie wins big time in showing her sincerity, classiness and intelligence.
kate recently non stop saying she wants to get married and quit entertainment business right away and tavia non stop talking about digging money. no offense but this kind of responses in exclusive interviews just shows how desperate you are.
Charmaine Sheh is the best for interviews and public speaking.
Myolie Wu is okay in interviews (at least she is sincere and genuine), but she is no good in public speaking (like her thank-you speech at 2011 TVB Anniversary Awards Ceremony).
Tavia Yeung is the worst. She always says that she cares about money, money and money.
For newbies, Eliza Sam is good at interviews while Christine Kuo is terrible.
A girl that looking forward to a marriage is that annoying? Are you anti-marriage?
Btw, forgot to say welcome back, vivien or lol or fake Funn Lim or someone else I don’t rmb :P.
travia always take about money because she feels insecure? why didn’t she get a rich boyfriend instead of her current boyfriend
That‘s FIona, who goes by SELlie in other forums. 😉
It is amazing how people can form judgments about celebrities simply by what they say or do. What ever happened to the wisdom human beings are suppose to possess? Have people forgotten that what they hear and see could not be the truth?
Kate and Tavia were both asked general questions about their future. There is nothing wrong in expressing the desire to earn money and to get married even if it is excessive. Why can’t people think in a more positive direction? Perhaps, Tavia uses money to avoid saying the thing she really wants like marrying Him or other personal matters. Perhaps Kate really does want to get married and leave the entertainment industry. More so, these two are probably being honest and now people are claiming they lack intelligence? What ever happened to speaking the truth?
It amazes me even more these things only happens to celebrities. Its almost as if humans are only restricted to jealousy when it comes to people who are more popular and have found complacment in their lives.
I think it is too much for a person to talk about money, money, nothing but money all the time at interviews. People got fed up with her. I don’t blame them to think that Tavia Yeung only cares about money.
If you have a friend who keeps talking about money or making money whenever you see him/her, would you get annoyed at him/her? I would.
It goes both ways. I would rather have an honest friend who annoys me talking about money versus a friend who acts like he/she is well spoken in front of the public but behind closed doors, him or her is a mindless greedy and selfish person.
In other words, she is losing her place/foot, and will eventually be forgotten unless she takes stronger initiative and pursue even better roles.
Myolie is amazing!!
hi Addy what is interesting and informative article. enjoyed reading all the comments too
they are all staying too long at tvb now,im tired to see the same ppl again and again.they should give newbies more chances. eliza and christine are two hot chics that can replace myolie and tavia,who is too old in my opinion.
Christine?? Only 4 years younger than Myolie and Tavia.
4 years isnt really much,but she is hot! and i want more hot chics on tv.. haha.
Christine Kuo may be a hot chic, but she can’t act or speak proper Cantonese. What is she for? Acting some sexy roles only? Why don’t you just watch those sexy movies …….. more sexy girls and bed scenes.
Sexy…I think Samantha ko is sexier than christine and can act better.
So why Christine is a hot chic? I don’t see it anyway. She is only a pretty girl to me, like a flower vase, who cannot act!
LOL does Myolie not acknowledge Fala Chen as one of the fadans thus there is no comment? I used to like Myolie very much but ever since she won the Best Actress award I feel like she’s become a bit conceited. I do not know what the reasons are but she receieved Bosco’s support for eight years and right after she wins, she leaves him. Not too grateful eh?
Ohmygawd. She did comment on fala. Pls read the comments above. I am lazy to even copy snd paste it here for you.
I guess you didn’t like her very much in the first place since you forgot she thanked him in her speech.
Why Maggie Cheung Man Yuk not listed among the top fadan in the list of 1980an with kitty lai, maggie cheung suppose themost popularfadan in tvb during theera, am right? And why not carmen lee , gigi fu listed as topfadan of 1990an? And why mandy wong , sharon chan and nancy wu listed as fadan in 2000an, these girl acting are more better than fadan like linda chung , why jayne you not listed them?am iright?
As per Wikipedia, Maggie Cheung Man-Yuk only acted 5 TVB drama series, as follows:
1984 畫出彩虹 Rainbow Round My Shoulder
1984 新紮師兄 Police Cadet ’84
1985 武林世家 The Fallen Family
1985 拆擋拍擋
1985 楊家將 The Yang’s Saga
As far as I could remember, she was terrible in TVB drama series, especially in the first one . She was one of the worst 1st lead actresses in drama series. She was just memorizing her dialogues with no eye and facial reactions.
She got popular later in movies, but not in TVB drama series. Therefore, she could NOT be ranked as a top fadan in TVB in 80s.