Joe Ma Has One Year Left in TVB Contract
Joe Ma Tak Chung and Koni Lui Wai Yee appeared at a men’s international underwear brand promotional event. Joe revealed that there is only one year remaining in his contract with TVB.
Due to Joe’s frequent filming schedule in China , there has not been time to fully discuss the terms of his contract renewal with TVB. Joe hoped to have a raise and ability to film quality productions.
Koni Lui joked that she will never leave TVB, as employees received a discount in purchasing the company’s stock.
Source: the Sun
Jayne: IMO, I don’t think TVB is promoting Joe Ma anymore. Among actors his age, TVB is promoting Moses Chan and Kevin Cheng. Also, there are younger actors such as Kenneth Ma and Raymond Wong, who appears to be a favorite among producers.
Joe does seem friendly with Virginia Lok (he appeared at her birthday party several times). But I think he killed his own chances at greater popularity when the paparazzi photographed him vacationing with his girlfriend in Thailand despite being obviously married in 2006. He reconciled with his wife afterwards, but the damage was done to his public reputation and perhaps, audiences never forgot his flirtatious ways.
I’m not a fan of Moses Chan and Kevin Cheng’s outcomes but you got it right Jayne that both of them are more valuable to TVB. Among the three Joe Ma has the least screen presence to me. He might be more suitable to play a supporting role instead of being the highlights. You’re right again that there’s also competition with younger “mid 30’s” actors such as Kenneth Ma and Raymond Wong who are being actively promoted by TVB. Don’t forget Ruco Chan Chin Pang who just signed a management(?) contract with TVB. He’s also in the “age group” and posing a competition too. It’s the norm of the ent biz, one day you’re “in”, the other day you’re “out” 😉
I disagree. He was heavily promoted. Filming in China means mainland production or TVB production filming in China? Either way he is heavily promoted.
Not seeing Ruco as a threat. In my books, Ruco is only a second lead material.
It will be a pity if they decide to end contract with Joe Ma as I find some of his recent works pretty good, albeit a messy personal life.
Jayne – you forgot Steven Ma but many people forget about him too. =( He’s going to make it! I’m certain about this.
And I’m so glad TVB is loving Kenneth Ma 😉
Yep, he lacks the presence and charisma as a male lead. He isn’t able to carry a series being the only male lead, and when he does share the lead with someone else, the other actor usually outshines him. His rumors also leave a bad impression of him to the audience. He is seen as the unloyal, flirtatius type. and of course none of us know him personally but of course in this industry, image is very important. Even if he gets his contract renewed, I doubt he will have the same level of popularity as Moses and Kevin, and the other guys that TVB is starting to promote. What will help him is his outer appearance and charm as he is a good looking guy afterall. But in the end, it’s going to depend on his acting and his audience fate that will determine how long he will stay with TVB and continue to play lead roles.
I don’t agree with you guys. I found out that Joe was pretty good with Lead role. More better than Raymond Wong and Kevin Cheng. I do love Raymond in recent series. But Joe Ma is good. Sometimes I found out people a little hypocrite and always judge other people.
In this century, doesn’t matter if you are just an ordinary people, celebrities, politician – people always have affair or cheating on their partners and not just him. Sometimes you have to look at the other way that as a good looking man and celebrity girls do throw themselves at him. As a man, who would turn away a temptation.
I don’t agree with you guys. I found out that Joe was pretty good with Lead role. More better than Raymond Wong and Kevin Cheng. I do love Raymond in recent series. But Joe Ma is good. Sometimes I found out people a little hypocrite and always judge other people.
I couldn’t care less about their private life. I admit from my POV that Joe Ma’s acting skills is better from Kevin Cheng, but Kevin Cheng has more charisma as a “leading” man. His beautiful facial features give him a lot of points. However everyone looks at the same thing with different perception 😀
I don’t agree that Joe is second lead material. Joe is out shined by no one. I always believed his acting is solid, in fact he did great in the Conquest and in the Drive of Life. I believe Joe is more fitted for Emperor like characters where he can exert the aggressiveness of his acting.
Joe Ma and Kevin Cheng suffers from the same affliction; lack of charisma. Joe Ma and Moses suffers from the same affliction as well which is also what Kevin is suffering; they can’t shoulder or carry a series at all. Look carefully and they’re not Bobby or Bowie or Kong Wah or even Wong Hei.
And Joe Ma does great in secondary role where he can sometimes take the spotlight but give him the spotlight he suddenly disappears. He is not a bad actor, he is a capable actor but not one I would say leading man material.
Kevin… Oh Kevin…. all the looks but why oh why.. why… WHY?!?!?!?
^ Wow I agree with you! Joe Ma is decent in certain roles since he acted horrible in Lady Fan and the modern series where Jessica’s a director. Joe and Kevin can’t carry a series by their own! I’m doubting about Moses ability too since these past few years I find him worsen since The Gentle Crackdown. Wong Hei, Bobby and Bowie are great and can really carry a series by their own.
“in fact he did great in the Conquest and in the Drive of Life.”
He’s ok in The Conquest but he’s not carrying the series. In DOL I disagree because he’s totally overshadowed by Damien Lau and Michael Miu and even Ray. He should stop pairing with Jessica, they never had any chemistry.
I liked Joe Ma best in “Revolving Doors of Vengeance,” a smooth and suave role which seems custom tailored for him. Joe is a decent actor, but doesn’t always come across genuine in his roles. Due to his physique, he makes a very good cop and manly roles.
IMO, I feel that TVB has less tolerance for male leads (in relation to female leads) that can not truly carry a series or lack the audience’s favor. Michael Tse became very popular after E.U., but he was not consistently promoted afterwards.
In most shows, except notable female-dominated series such as “Beyond the Realm of Conscience” and “Moonlight Resonance,” the male lead still carries the series. Aside from a few exceptions, male actors with questionable talent are rarely tolerated. The male actors do not always need to be very handsome.
On the other hand, actresses are rarely given leads unless they are considered pretty enough. In TVB series, many actresses start out as “pretty vases” and even if their acting skills do not improve remarkably, they continue to get significant roles. Onscreen, women are first judged by their beauty and then their acting skills. Due to a male-dominated script-writing team, directing team, and producer team, the male lead often carries more weight than the female lead.
Joe’s representative work imho is ‘The Conquest’.
I thought he did pretty well in the Triumph in the Sky-I think that’s the name with Flora, Francis, Ron, Sammul, etc…
If Joe Ma ruined his chances when he was caught with his girlfriend when he was married then I don’t understand how Kevin Cheng is still being promoted. Yes, Kevin is not married but cheating is cheating, regardless of location, marital status, who the third party is/was.
I think he should focus on Mainland, more competition but also more opportunities. I don’t really see his future w/ TVB get any better, unless if he gets one of those roles like Wayne in Rosy Business, but then again, Wayne is an very talented actor
“If Joe Ma ruined his chances when he was caught with his girlfriend when he was married then I don’t understand how Kevin Cheng is still being promoted. Yes, Kevin is not married but cheating is cheating, regardless of location, marital status, who the third party is/was.”
1. Cheating on your spouse has always been viewed as more serious than cheating on bf/gf because of the official status of marriage and the vow taken (which signify commitment). Dating is still testing phase. You still have options to choose, breakup and go for another person if you find someone better. It’s also a great offense to go for someone’s spouse than someone’s gf/bf.
2. Kevin was not caught cheating, unlike Joe. There were a lot of speculations, but, not hard proof.
“I think he should focus on Mainland, more competition but also more opportunities. I don’t really see his future w/ TVB get any better, unless if he gets one of those roles like Wayne in Rosy Business, but then again, Wayne is an very talented actor”
That’s the diff btw Joe and Wayne. Wayne is very talented and can act any roles and carry a series but Joe not. Francis Ng and Flora carried TITS not Joe
I disagree that dating should be seen as a testing phase. Marriage is only a signed piece of paper and bears no greater importance. Look at Johnny Depp and his girlfriend. They aren’t married but have decided to do everything a married couple would do by creating a family and staying committed to each other.
@Sukibus,
I don’t quite agree with you since I think that you should get married on paper. I do not believe that your marriage license is just any old piece of paper. Your university degree is also just a piece of paper as well, but many people work so hard for it. It is a piece of paper that has a lot of power. Money is also just paper and is really dirty paper as well but people live and die because of it.
Also, dating actually is a testing phase for many people, especially if they have never dated before. You need to date in order to get to know a person to see if they are compatible with you or not. If you do not date them then how would you know if they are the one for you? It is true that many people just live together and never get married, but if they are not married then they can just leave in the blink of an eye. If you are legally married then the other person cannot just leave in the blink of an eye. You have a lot more to deal with. Also, if you really love a person then why don’t you just marry them? If you don’t marry them,then I think that you just aren’t 100% committed and may want to leave them one day. If you aren’t married on paper, then it is way easier to just leave and not really deal with all of the legal issues that come with divorce.
Marriage bears a lot of weight in a relationship. It may just be a paper but it changes you legal status, rights and as well as commitment. If a man or woman is willing to stay with you, and yet refuses to sign that paper, something is very wrong.
Marriage bears a lot of weight in a relationship. It may just be a paper but it changes you legal status, rights and as well as commitment. If a man or woman is willing to stay with you, and yet refuses to sign that paper, something is very wrong
Yes. Marriage is at a whole different level than dating in terms of legal status, rights, commitment and responsibility 🙂
I agree, marriage is different from dating and bears more weight in a relationship. I know nowadays, a lot of people no longer put a lot of emphasis in marriage and would enter into partnerships instead, but for me, marriage is still the ultimate commitment one person can make to another. I still believe that marriage is a sacred lifelong commitment between two individuals that should be honoured and respected, whereas people can’t date for life and there’s nothing stopping someone from just walking out of that kind of a relationship 🙂
Agree with HeTieShou and Funn Lim. It’s not just a piece of paper. It’s a paper that signifies and bears a lot of things.
Isn’t Joe Ma divorced..after the Thailand incident. Recently he was photographed with his son alone..
He’s never a 1st-liner. I guess no matter how you are favoured by the powers in TVB, if you can’t act nor flesh-out a character, you’ll never make it. Having said all these, I still enjoy watching him in some of the series..