Myolie Wu Leaves TVB After 16 Years of Employment
Myolie Wu (胡杏兒) started her career with TVB when she was only 20 years old, after winning second runner-up in Miss Hong Kong 1999. After spending 16 years at the station with a successful career, she decided not to renew her contract with TVB. Myolie expressed her gratitude towards TVB, “Everything I have now was given to me by TVB.
While TVB has been known for producing top-notch dramas and creating legendary pop stars, the television station has also generated much negative publicity for overworking and underpaying its actors, particularly newcomers. Myolie expressed that she once went through the same grueling period of low pay and long hours, although she did not think it was something to grumble about. She elaborated “It was a special kind of training that we received from TVB, which equipped us with the mental strength to be better actors, keeping us grounded so we can work well with others. The people who succeed at TVB are often extremely determined and capable.”
Grateful Towards TVB
Considered one of the leading fadans at TVB, Myolie’s path to stardom was not always the smoothest. Myolie first gained attention with her supporting role in Golden Faith < 流金歲月> before landing another supporting role in the popular blockbuster drama Triumph in the Skies“<衝上雲霄>. Myolie was unfortunately openly criticized by fellow cast member Francis Ng (吳鎮宇) for her raw acting. Myolie subsequently proved herself in the comedy Wars of In-Laws <野蠻奶奶>, where her unorthodox image meant that she could only rely on her acting skills. Continuing to work hard for the next decade, she was finally crowned TV Queen in 2011 with her role in the period drama Curse of the Royal Harem <萬凰之王>.
Garnering impressive results after 16 years at TVB, Myolie believes it is now time to work a little less, enjoy a slower pace of life, and spend more time with her boyfriend Philip Lee. On her decision to not renew her contract with TVB, Myolie added, “This does not mean that I will never work with TVB again. I just want to experience different things for now, as I think filming outside of TVB may be a novel and interesting experience.”
On whether TVB had tried to persuade Myolie to stay, she emphasized, “Yes, and I am very appreciative of how sincere they were. My decision to leave has nothing to do with the terms. It’s purely because I wish to try something new and work in a different environment. Also, as I’m getting older; I’m looking forward to a slower-paced life.”
On her 16-year-long career at TVB, Myolie mused, “It’s hard to believe that it’s already been 16 years. The time flew by in the blink of an eye. I’ve been extremely lucky, and had a very exciting life – a life that is probably different from that of many others. From now on, however, I wish to stop and smell the roses. It doesn’t mean that I’ll stop working. I’ll have to take things as they come.”
As for the person or persons she is most grateful to, Myolie was hard-pressed to pinpoint any particular individual. She said, “There are simply too many people I would like to thank, ranging from the seniors who have guided me patiently to the directors who have reprimanded me. Actually, no, I haven’t really been reprimanded. It would be more accurate to say that they have corrected me. Everyone who has wished me well in one way or another needs to be thanked. I would also like to thank all my co-stars. I’m grateful to the entire company.”
Finally, on her method in achieving a successful career, Myolie said, “I can’t say that I’m extremely successful. All I can say is that I’m quite a detail-oriented person, and that I worked very hard on every opportunity that came my way. You can say that I’m quite determined and a perfectionist. Perhaps these traits allowed me to gain even more opportunities. I believe anyone who is able to perform at TVB is a very competent actor.”
Future Opportunities
Reports state that Myolie has signed a $25 million HKD contract for three years with Stephen Shiu, Jr. (蕭定一). Other rumors claim that Myolie will open a wedding studio in Tsim Sha Tsui while planning her own wedding at the end of the year. Since she is currently filming in Mainland China, Myolie did not directly respond to the rumors aside from acknowledging that she is indeed leaving TVB after her contract expired yesterday.
Source: Sina.com
This article is written by Jingles for JayneStars.com.
Not really a surprise, since Myolie has dodged questions regarding her TVB contract for months. It is more plausible that she signed with Stephen Shiu Jr. rather than opening her own wedding studio though.
Myolie Wu really knows how to speak to reporters ……… a very classy speech.
LOL another nail in the coffin for HK entertainment.
She needs to leave to find herself and come back a better actress. I have not seen her improve for many years now. She used to have such passion for acting but these few years I can see her interest is waning. I don’t see that eagerness anymore.
@funnlim Don’t think you can blame her or any TVB veteran for lacking heart and passion. You’re literally playing the same roles over and over again.
I enjoyed some of her dramas. She will be back one day.
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@freedalas Agree. Myolie Wu’s acting is very limited. She is only good in exaggerated roles. She needs to move outside of TVB to work on her acting skills and to pair up with other actors. Otherwise she will always be the same Myolie Wu no matter she is a 4-time TV Queen or not. In fact, she did not deserve to get Best Actress award (TV Queen) in “Curse of the Royal Harem” . She did not act well at all in that series.
@freedalas I disagree! It’s a significant loss to TVB. Despite her poor acting, she’s still leaps and bounds better than most newcomers, and is a household name in HK. TVB had already lost many veteran actors in recent years, with her departure, it makes the situation worse.
enjoy her the most in Wars of In-Laws too bad Bosco screw up the relation and too bad Liza doesn’t want to shoot a 3rd serie… she worked hard to be where she is, I guess it’s time for her to make real money in mainland and put the focus on building a family perhaps.
To be honest, I’m kind of offended with the paragraph about the long hours and low pay thing not worth grumbling about. Myolie may feel that it’s silly to complain about that stuff but that just goes to show she’s not in tune with (and probably not aware of) what truly goes on behind-the-scenes at TVB. Veteran actor Samuel Kwok did an interview with Mingpao recently where he talked in detail about how the non-contracted artists were being treated, especially the veteran supporting artists (for example: they had to start at 5 or 6am and wait all day to film their next scenes while the biological children got to start at 9am and film all their scenes first) — to get treated like that on top of having to work long hours with no rest and get paid low wages (and the current management team doesn’t give a crap either, which is the biggest issue Samuel had with TVB and one of the reasons why he left), of course it’s worth complaining about! This is why I kind of wish those artists who were ‘never treated unfairly’ (or those who feel that working long hours with low pay isn’t a problem, like Myolie) don’t even comment on that topic, since it makes them look unempathetic and foolish.
@llwy12
First, Myolie Wu is super good and classy in her interviews. That is why she is so popular and favoured by the media, as well as her employer (TVB).
Secondly, how an artiste is treated by TVB depends a lot of his/value, status, and popularity. If you are a popular 1st lead artiste, you would of course get top preferred treatments. It works same in any industry. These are her natural gift and tactfulness. Or you can say “she is a 世界女”.
Who is Samuel Kwok? Could I have his Chinese name? I believe he is a veteran, but not a 1st, 2nd or 3rd lead artiste. In the entertainment world, it is not what you can act, it is what you can get for them (employers). Superior acting does not get you status, money, seniority, work or treatments.
@orchid123 First of all, my comment was not meant as a ‘diss’ on Myolie (though of course I can’t stop people from interpreting as such). She of course is subject to her opinion and I’m not saying that opinion is right or wrong – in fact, what she said is not untrue, just a bit insensitive in my opinion given all the issues that have plagued TVB in recent years with their treatment of artists. Again, as I already stated in my earlier comment, it’s possible that she was always treated well and therefore may or may not know how management treats other artists. Nothing against Myolie, I just didn’t like that particular comment.
Samuel Kwok is veteran actor Kwok Fung (郭鋒). And no, he may not be 1st lead now, but that doesn’t mean he never played lead roles back in the day (and wasn’t once popular – in fact, back when he was popular, most of us probably weren’t even born yet!). To be honest, I really don’t get the mentality that it’s ‘ok’ to cast supporting artists aside and treat them with less respect and dignity just because they are ‘older’ and ‘less popular’ than the so-called lead artists (and when they bring up the issues, they are labeled as ‘whiners’ or ‘complainers’ or are seen as ‘bitter’).
As for your comment about the entertainment world not being about acting but rather about what you are able to ‘give’ your employer (which I interpret as ‘kissing up’ to your employer – if that’s not what you meant then feel free to clarify) — sorry, but I have to disagree with your comment. If the entertainment industry should always be about who can kiss whose behind better than the next person, then what’s the point of even having a career in acting? Sure, there might be some audiences out there who don’t give a crap whether someone can act or not or whether the person has talent but by the same token, there are a lot of us who care about good acting and appreciate artists having passion toward their work. As to whether it ‘works the same in any industry’ – well, not really in my opinion but for others it may very well be. Just speaking from personal experience….in all the companies I’ve worked for, being ‘popular’ definitely does NOT mean preferential treatment – doesn’t matter how popular the person is or what ‘connections’ they may have or how good they are at kissing up…if they can’t do the work and the quality sucks, they will not get far nor will they get rewarded (and they likely won’t have a job for long either).
Anyway, here’s the Samuel Kwok interview in case you’re interested in reading it – I think it will give a bit clearer insight on what I was referring to in my earlier comment: http://llsmusings.blogspot.com/2015/07/mingpao-weekly-interview-with-samuel.html
@llwy12
“Anyway, here’s the Samuel Kwok interview in case you’re interested in reading it – I think it will give a bit clearer insight on what I was referring to in my earlier comment: http://llsmusings.blogspot.com/2015/07/mingpao-weekly-interview-with-samuel.html”
Thank you for the link. An insightful interview.
@funnlim Thanks for posting the link. I had already listened to Kwok Fung’s interview.
@llwy12 I don’t disagree with you totally. It works in some industries and does not work in some. Good interpersonal skills always help a lot in a person’s career whether it is in entertainment or not. Of course some people are luckier than others even when they have the same qualifications and abilities/talents.
You are very lucky to have good employers so far, and I hope you will always have this luck.
Many veterans are excellent in acting ……… through experience, but not all of them had the opportunities to do first leads. I believe Kwok Fung had it once or twice, but not for long. Perhaps he was not that good in acting when he was young, or he did not have the luck to last for long.
I had listened to Kwok Fung’s interview. I just did not know his English name. He was always called Kwok Fung in TVB. Agree that he is an excellent actor.
We have to admit that life is never too fair. Some people are luckier than others. Personally I don’t think Myolie Wu is very good in acting. Nancy Wu would outshine her in almost every character, but Nancy only got promoted recently due to TVB’s shortage of young actresses. However, Myolie won TV Queen in one of her mediocre roles, while Nancy only got 1st lead roles recently. Would you call that “preferential” treatment or not for Myolie Wu?