Gallen Lo is Selective in His Roles

The Patriot Yue Fei <精忠岳飛> premiered in mainland China on July 4. One of the leads, Gallen Lo (羅嘉良), who has mostly played upright roles in dramas, was cast as the villain Qin Hui.

Though this is not the first time that Gallen took on such characters, he explained that “Qin Hui is a not a bad person from the start, but because of the hardships and the hunger for power, it gradually drove him to change. He was also a well-known treacherous court official with his wrongdoings written in history books. When I portrayed the character, I want to play up the role as much as possible.”

Gallen remarked that he gladly takes on villain roles as it offers him more opportunities and recognition. When Gallen first started out, he has played mainly good and positive characters but unfortunately these roles did not leave much impression with the audiences. His role as Yip Weng Tim in TVB’s At the Threshold of an Era <創世紀> was a honorable character, however Gallen felt that “playing the scoundrel is fun as I can be more open and daring in my acting. As a good guy, I will be more hesitant.”

In recent years, there has been an avalanche of Hong Kong artists moving to mainland China for work. According to an insider, artists were willing to accept these jobs was because of the much better remuneration they received and will take on any scripts that come by, whether good or bad. However, Gallen will only be tempted if the role is good. Having been in this industry for decades, Gallen has learned to let go and not take things too seriously.

Gallen is full of praises for The Patriot of Yue Fei costar, Huang Xiaoming (黃曉明), “I find him to be a very professional and hardworking actor. His schedule is packed everyday with very little time to rest but he still insisted on going for his physical training so that he can appear in better shape onscreen. Besides, Xiaoming has many of his own views and often communicated these ideas with the directors to perfect his portrayal and enhance the series.”

Gallen’s wife gave birth to their daughter, Sela, in April this year. Fifty-year-old Gallen cried upon seeing the birth of his daughter. “When my son [from a previous marriage] was born, I was too busy, I did not experience the process of how the egg will grow in the womb. But this time, it compensated what I have missed the last time. When my wife was pregnant, I stopped work for one year and went through the journey with her. I felt extremely happy and satisfied.”

Gallen said that Sela will be taught well, to be able to separate what is the difference between real life and acting. Gallen’s villain roles have been received well by audiences so far and believes that his daughter should feel proud of him. He said “Though I have spent more time with my daughter, I will not have favoritism. I treat both my son and daughter equally. Now that I have the two of them, I feel very blessed and lucky.”

Source: Sina.com

This article is written by Jennifer for JayneStars.com.