Raymond Wong Diagnosed with Behcet’s Disease; Tony Hung Steps in for “Cheung Po Tsai”

The lead casting for TVB drama, Cheung Po Tsai <張保仔>, has been marred with obstacles. Bosco Wong (黃宗澤) was the initial choice to portray the titular pirate role, but turned it down due to scheduling conflicts. With Raymond Wong (黃浩然) suffering from Behcet’s disease and withdrawing from filming, Tony Hung (洪永城) has now landed the role.

Last week, Raymond Wong appeared at the costume fitting for Cheung Po Tsai alongside co-stars Ruco Chan (陳展鵬), Grace Chan (陳凱琳), and Mandy Wong (黃智雯). Suffering from inflamed tonsils and recurring fevers since August, Raymond had expressed doubt in whether he would be able to handle the action-packed scenes for the drama. After further blood tests, Raymond was diagnosed with Behcet’s disease–an autoimmune disease that causes sores in the mouth and inflammation throughout the body–forcing him to step down from his starring role in Cheung Po Tsai. Although there is no cure for Behcet’s disease, most patients can control symptoms with treatment

TVB management executive, Catherine Tsang (曾勵珍), called in Tony Hung as a last-minute casting choice. Tony had to sacrifice his vacation to New Zealand for the new drama, “I only lost out on the airplane tickets and hotel fees.  But it’s rare to come across a challenging role, which is a gain for me.” He also hopes to generate good sparks with romantic onscreen partner, Grace Chan, whom has received good feedback from former co-stars despite her limited acting experience.

Principal photography for Cheung Po Tsai starts in mid-September, followed by on location filming in Hengdian in November. Tony joked about TVB’s hectic schedule which leaves little personal time left once filming starts, “For the next four months, I will be without any family and friends.”

Producer Leung Choi Yuen (梁材遠) praised Tony as an optimistic and professional actor. Since Tony and Raymond possess different auras, some scenes may need to be revised accordingly. Collaborating frequently with Raymond in the past, Leung hopes that Raymond will have a speedy recovery.

Source: On.cc

This article is written by Jayne for JayneStars.com.