Jason Chan’s Road to Stardom Did Not Come Easy
Jason Chan’s (陳智燊) breakthrough opportunity as the male lead for the recent TVB series “Missing You” <幸福摩天輪> came with a mixed bag of reviews. The road to becoming a male lead was not easy for this fresh-faced actor hailing from London. Coming from a family of 4 boys, Jason felt the added pressure to make something of himself.
With his eldest brother as a dentist, younger brother as an optician and his youngest brother currently in college with aspirations of becoming a lawyer, Jason had hopes of becoming an accountant or consultant with his Masters in Economics. Unfortunately he was unsuccessful in his job search. “I didn’t demonstrate my ambition during the interviews, but I think it’s really because I didn’t find my passion.” He eventually worked as a hospital administrator and decided that he wanted to move to Hong Kong and pursue a career in acting.
After moving to Hong Kong and working as an English tutor, Jason waited patiently for the right opportunity to come along. He once considered participating in the Mr. Hong Kong competition, but backed out before submitting the application. Finally, after a year of waiting, he jumped at the opportunity when TVB had open recruitment. “I was very nervous during the interview. There were some Chinese words I couldn’t read. When I was asked to sing, I stopped after 30 seconds. I really thought I had no chance.”
To his surprise, Jason was called back. And thus began Jason’s journey into acting. From hosting gigs such as the New Year’s Eve fireworks show to being called-in as Bosco Wong’s (黃宗澤) stunt double when Bosco was injured, Jason’s breakthrough finally came when he was cast as the lead in Missing You at the age of 35.
“With my age comes wisdom and experience. In my TVB acting class, I was 26 and some of my classmates were 16, so there were a lot of things they didn’t know nor understand and wasted a lot of time.”
When asked how his parents felt about his transition into acting, Jason admitted, “My mom was worried when I went into acting. But she is still my biggest fan. She recently texted me: ‘You’ve improved and the acting is pretty natural. But why you have your hands in your pockets? I am not so sure…’ What does she mean by ‘not so sure’?” Jason questioned.
He also shared that acting has brought him closer to his family. “My parents wouldn’t ask my dentist brother how many teeth did he pull today, but they would have a lot of questions for me as an actor, so it has brought us closer together.”
Source: Ming Pao Weekly via kuangaitvb.com
This article is written by Natalie for JayneStars.com.
he is with TVB, 8 years???
I remembered him from pages of treasure starring wayne lai, sonjia kwok. The girl who played his sister in MY played as his lover in POT.
Jason’s breakthrough came as the pasty chef in Be Home for Dinner. His acting is the same now as it was back then. Poor.
Be Home for Dinner is at least better than this drama…
How is this “not come easy” for him? He is just talking about his family, Jason is a nice person, but his acting needs lots of improvement.
TVB didn’t give Jason enough opportunities to act in the pass 8 years he’s with them.
Totally agree…. if not his acting would improve faster.
I think overall he does seem a bit of a ‘too nice guy’ kind of image which often is NOT too noticeable in showbiz. His acting does seem a bit too stiff right now, he was not bad in home for dinner but since hes a lead its quite noticeable but he has an ok so he can definitely improve giving more opportunities. new faces are always better than seeing the same boring dudes all the time….
I literally “pfft” after reading the whole article. his journey to stardom came relatively swift as compared to others who had to struggled for decades to gain recognition. they had to take up odd-jobs to sustain life. Jason’s journey looks like a fairly easy road to me.
Not true, he wasnt given much roles, only small bits here & there.
but his role to stardom came pretty quick as compared to others. and he might have kelefe roles last time, but he had a consistent job as a host.
Something is off, the article state:
“He eventually worked as a hospital administrator and decided that at age 27, he wanted to move to Hong Kong and pursue a career in acting.”
“With my age comes wisdom and experience. In my TVB acting class, I was 26 and some of my classmates were 16, so there were a lot of things they didn’t know nor understand and wasted a lot of time.”
So did he move to HK when he was 27 and 26 join TVB acting class?
Littlegalpal,
Thanks for spotting the age discrepancies. The article has been corrected.
The above is a really good picture of him. Perhaps he didn’t suit the role, apart from not having the acting skills. Maybe he should be the ultimate villain. As a villain, he can be suave villain, campy villain, etc. It could work. Anyway great picture.
Anyway I must say he has courage to change career at the age of 27. I admire his steel!
Did you watch No Good Either Way with Ruco and Kristal Tin? Jason was kind of a villian in there and he was not very good in that series either. lol
True… playing villians are easier. Handsome villians are always appreciated hahhaha……..
Wow, im amazed by his brothers’ careers and im even more surprised he didnt choose similar paths. Kudos to him.
He doesnt look 35.
To me, he makes a better host than an actor. His delivery is just not very natural.
i agree with you. he’s a pretty ok host.
You do ur thang Jason. U did good in Missing You.
you serious? he did good doing what? carrying the backpack? lol
and putting his hands in his pockets. xD
I like his acting when he was in the final episodes of Missing You, Jason looked really sad and dropped tears, when Linda were telling his story.
he is born with a good-look & fit image healthy and not bad-boy image… he can either be a model or enter the “pageant” route…i still remember watching him playing “3rd tier” character like “Only You”..where Kevin dated Yoyo Mung and Jason is sitting at the small shop doing small roles of “servicing hand-phone”, where i been thinking “why is this hot guy who have the “1st lead” look, not been given more screen-time? then suddenly now he upgraded to 1st lead with the help of Catherine Tsang…so, now happy to see him more & not just sitting behind while lead actors talking
Jason once acted as a pervert who molested Celina Mah in a park but Wong Cho Nam was accused of the deed instead. Hahahaha. He has come a long way since. I thought he wasn’t too bad in Be Home for Dinner. Haven’t watched Missing U.
Don’t like him. Lousy acting. His road to stardom is not that difficult compared with a lot of other people, hello!
As for his looks, I don’t think he’s that good looking. Average, if you ask me.
to me he is Kenneth Ma 2
i better run , Kenneth Ma fans gonna skin me
jason is top notch “bachelor” due to his handsome & babyface look.. no wonder many actresses in TVB try to attract his attention long time ago but he ignores them as he is a top notch “bachelor”…even top notch winners of “Miss” want to date him but fail…example sarah song or eliza sam
is he gay?
I think he did date Sarah song.
just rumours
8years but his acting is still so so. I hope he don’t get leading role anymore. In missing you, his acting wasn’t oustanding and he kinda wooden.
Give the guy a fair go, people.