Gallen Lo Takes on Role of Treacherous Villain in “The Patriot Yue Fei”
Although he is most known for the honest and sincere characters he has portrayed in TVB dramas, Hong Kong actor Gallen Lo (羅嘉良) will show viewers a different side of him when he appears as the treacherous court official, Qin Hui, in the upcoming TV series, The Patriot Yue Fei <精忠岳飛>.
Slated to begin airing on July 4, The Patriot Yue Fei tells the story of the revered Song Dynasty general, Yue Fei (Huang Xiaoming (黃曉明)). During this time, Qin Hui served as a leading government official and supported the idea of making peace with the invading Jin Empire. As a result of his involvement in the subsequent peace talks, Yue Fei was imprisoned and executed, leading many to believe that Qin Hui had betrayed the general.
Gallen shared that acting out Qin Hui gave him an “unprecedented pressure,” because he had to display the respectable aspect of the favored court official, while also hinting at the crafty man working for personal benefit. Nevertheless, he saw the character’s complexity as an interesting challenge and strove to magnify the dichotomy between Qin Hui’s loyal appearance and his more sinister undertones.
Before accepting the role, Gallen was not particularly familiar with this section of history, and admitted that he thought of Qin Hui as the textbook definition of a traitor. However, while perusing history books in preparation for the role, he learned that Qin Hui was not that simple of a character.
“Although [Qin Hui] was a sinister official, he liked poetry and literature,” revealed Gallen. “It’s because of his crime of supporting peace with the Jin Empire and framing Yue Fei that his accomplishments in calligraphy gradually became dim. The question I thought about the most was how to interpret this type of transformation that gradually turned an ambitious and talented man into a cunning and sinister official.”
When asked if he was afraid of receiving backlash for portraying such an infamous role, Gallen laughed and said he had been quite conflicted himself – he wanted to take on the challenge, but was also a little afraid. Now, however, his fears have been alleviated.
“If the drama airs and no one scolds Qin Hui, then I will have failed,” Gallen said. “But viewers are all very rational now, and can judge for themselves. The person they are scolding is Qin Hui and not me, Gallen Lo.”
Source: 21CN.com
This article is written by Joanna for JayneStars.com.
i first watch Gallen as a villain, heh and he did some damn good Villain rolls back in his TVB days. It’s good for actors to do research on their characters before production, I hope he will do well. I still like him regardless of his scandal.
I have seen that no one is perfect and was upset about his scandal and all. However, maybe there is truly a lot behind the scenes that we don’t know. Maybe it isn’t as bad as we think??? However, I still enjoy watching his series since I don’t always go for cast anyways. Deep down, maybe Gallen isn’t as bad a person as we all think??
HTS I agree with most of your thinking! <3
Thanks Ping0 and was just saying what I think. There are times that we must look beyond the surface since many times things and people truly are not as bad if we look deeper into them…
Who cares about his scandal? In the context of a drama/movie, an actor should be judged for his acting.
If you just like to see him act then yes. However, if you are a big fan of his and look up to him, then things that happen beyond his acting/singing would matter…
I have been waiting for this series like forever. Really anticipating this.
Scandal or no scandal if he’s a great actor then he deserves our respect which Gallen does. Honestly who cares what he does in his personal life, we’re in no position to judge as we all made bad decisions though I’m not saying he did but for those that assume he did.
Agreed.
Totally agree with you. He is an actor and his obligation to his audience is to perform and act well and he does. What he does in his personal life does not affect his acting skills and if we like him, it should be because be is a good actor.
Agree with you Austin and well said as usual! We truly should not judge him since we do not even know him personally or how he truly is. Everyone makes bad decisions and mistakes since no one is perfect.
I am looking forward to this series : Gallen, Huang Xiao Ming (yum), Cecelia Liu and Ruby as well! The trailer looked great! Only 4 days left!
I am sure Gallen will do well in the Qin Hui role. He adds layers of depth in the character he plays. And he started off playing evil villians before the sincere honest man so Gallen has no need to worry about his performance.