Charmaine Sheh to Portray Mentally Challenged Girl; Will Partner With Raymond Lam Again
Several years ago, Roger Kwok Chung On gained immense popularity by portraying mentally challenged characters inSquare Pegs <戆夫成龙>and Life Made Simple <阿旺新傳>. Next month, Charmaine Sheh Si Man will also have the opportunity to play a mentally challenged character in the upcoming series, The Colorful World of Sister Fa <花花世界花家姐>, which will also star Raymond Lam Fung. Allegedly, Charmaine’s role will be very high profile and may even help her win the Best Actress Award again.
After filming Justice, My Foot <審死官> with Roger Kwok, Charmaine will shoot for twenty-episode series, The Colorful World of Sister Fa. As a delivery girl working at a restaurant, Charmaine’s character will have the mental capability of a ten-year-old girl. In the inspiring series, despite Charmaine’s mental disability, she faces life’s obstacles with perseverance. Her younger sister, Toby Leung Ching Kei, will be bullied by her supervisor at work, Raymond Lam. To protect Toby, Charmaine will work at the same company. As a spoilt rich heir, Raymond throws away the family fortune and in his impoverished state, falls in love with Charmaine.
Producer Kwan Wing Chung said, “Mentally challenged characters offer a great opportunity for actors. Charmaine is still filming in China now. Before leaving China , she will visit a school with mentally disabled children to gather research for the role.”
Raymond Lam Happy to Play Spoilt Heir
Raymond Lam said that he was unafraid that Charmaine will steal the limelight in The Colorful World of Sister Fa. “I always wanted to play flawed characters, to increase my acting versatility. If the audience hates the actor after watching the series, [the portrayal was successful] and I would be happy from an acting standpoint.”
Last year, Raymond and Charmaine wore matching outfits at a promotional function, sparking romantic rumors. Raymond said, “We will not have any more matching outfits, since I have my own clothing sponsor now. Due to our numerous past collaborations, I know Charmaine very well and am unafraid of rumors.”
Heavily promoted by TVB, Raymond’s new series Growing Through Life <摘星之旅> will be broadcast in August. Currently, he is rehearsing for his upcoming July concert. Yesterday, he was practicing with Kate Tsui Chi San and Ron Ng Cheuk Hei, who will be guest performers at the concert. Raymond thanked Kate and Ron for their participation. Ron said, “I should thank Raymond instead for allowing me the chance to perform at the concert. As his friend, I am happy about his upcoming concert.”
Excerpt from Appledaily
Jayne: The Colorful World of Sister Fa sounds similar to Life Made Simple in its general synopsis. Can’t Producer Kwan Wing Chung come up with something more original? Instead of another fairy-tale story requiring the audience to have massive suspension of belief, there are other inspirational topics to film.
Overall, TVB’s plots are already far-fetched, but I find the romantic arc between Raymond and Charmaine stretching our suspension of belief too much. It would be better to revise Charmaine’s character to a normally intelligent woman with a rare and pure, untouched innocence. To explain her pure heart, the character can grow up in a small village in China , such as the Miao minority in Guizhou . After arriving in Hong Kong , her character manages to retain an unspoiled and simple way of life…. Now, wouldn’t that be better?
Oh dear! How can an adult fall for an adult with 10 year old mental capacity?! And Charmaine as … ok, I will just shut up! Oh dear! And Toby Leung? Oh dear!
Toby Leung? lol I guess this is her dad’s new series that why shes in it .
not sure if i like the combination.
Funn Lim, you crack me up! Yes, the whole cast and the whole plot, what the hell. How can Charmaine protect Toby by working at the same company if her mental capability is only of a 10 yr old? And the thought of Raymond falling in love with someone with a mental capability of a 10yrs old is not very pleasing to the ear. That just sound perverse, nothing against the handicaps but so untrue for Prince Charming Raymond. Maybe they should cast Wayne instead. Can’t stand the pairing, haven’t they paired with each other enough already! And lastly, can’t stand her acting-sorry doggin tomatoes again.
OMG! Funn Lim you are really funny. BTW, who is Toby Leung? I cannot stand Charmaine, she thinks she is Tony’s wife (could recall her name all of sudden). I cannot especially after watching her in Forensic Hero II in love triangle with Kevin Cheng and Sunny Lam (if I remember his name correctly).
haha agreed with Funn Lim… Oh dear! Toby Leung! But woot! Raymond! haha lolol
Nice to see Raymond again but can’t stand Charmaine at all. I can’t believe that she will play this kind of character. I don’t think she will do well at all. TVB is really running out of ideas…
Nice to know that Kate and Ron will both be guest performers at Ray’s concert! They all had great chemistry in the four and it is good to know that they are all friends in real life. Wish Ray the best at his upcoming concert! I hope that it will be a success for him.
It is because she once said a character she has never played before and wanted to act as was a “disabled” person or whatever… and then.. now her dream comes true.
You know I like charmaine. I do! But this role, didn’t she taken such a role in ermm… what’s the title? Moonlight? Return Of The Cuckold? That Steven Ma (editor) and Chilam (mute boy) series? Ok the role wasn’t mentally incapacitate BUT might as well have been. Yes her character was so annoying in there.
I don’t mind the mental incapacity but I can quite imagine how the role is played. The one who quite convinced me was Myolie in Golden Faith, before she decided she is funny and became boring.
And wow… i like charmaine but i think i’m gonna find her character really annoying.. as it’s charmaine. I prefer her in more serious/intelligent characters. It’s gonna be a joke.. but we’ll see….
Star, she played one before. In Return Of The Cuckold, granted the character wasn’t mentally incapacitated but might as well have been. I like Charmaine but I don’t think this role will be the breakthrough she should be taking.
Why not let her play an ugly duckling? Someone darn ugly but kind? Cliche yes BUT at least I think she can do these sort of roles well.
But Toby Leung! Somehow I feel Charmaine is more my cup of tea than the monotone drawl of Toby Leung.
Or better yet Ray plays the mentally incapacitated one. Can you imagine THAT as a love story?!
No worries, by the filming starts story might change a bit.
Another unchallenging role for Raymond as spoilt rich heir who fall inloves with the leading actress. Can TVB come out with something challenging for Raymond? like being a beggar, mentally retarded man, villain or something bad? I’m tired at watching Raymond always in these goody roles who always play rich, smart, handsome and etc roles.
ahahha I have nothing to say,,,after I read all the commnet, you guys cracked me up so badly ahhahahah,,,, and I have to agree with u all,,,, I think Charmaine just pretty,, but she is not my cup of tea,,,, and this series, I can pass,,,
oh dear oh dear ahahahahhahhahah,,,
agree with everyone… ray can stay… charmaine can be replaced. passing as well.
i don’t think i want to watch this series. Maybe just glance at it after waiting for the other series to air.
I don’t think Raymond will portrait as a beggar because he doesn’t have the face for it. Unlike Kenneth and Wayne, they can play in many roles.
I still watch Raymond but he somehow remind me of Kevin Cheng. Nice looking but bore in acting..He isn’t my cup of tea…
I’m not keen on the Charmaine+Ray combination too. Charmaine is too old for Ray and I’m not fond of her acting. I’m tired of the retarded roles in TVB too. Toby is just getting all these roles with her dad’s power. She’s not pretty and she cant act too. She’s just one damn of a lucky woman and looks older than her age.
Agree too Ray can stay and I’m sure he can paint his own colour to the spoilt rich man role but the actresses should be better than this!
“That just sound perverse, nothing against the handicaps but so untrue for Prince Charming Raymond. Maybe they should cast Wayne instead.”
What’s this? It’s perverse and untrue for your perfect Prince Charming but ok for Wayne Lai?
“To explain her pure heart, the character can grow up in a small village in China , such as the Miao minority in Guizhou
Then, some mainland viewer will write in to TVB complaining how TVB insulted the mainlanders by portraying them as still so backward. I read one such complaint in TVB forum regarding Tony Leung’s character in ‘Marriage of Inconvenience’. Toby play a girl from a minority tribe in china who came to HK.
Yeah I agree, i like to see Raymond act but Charmaine, i cant stand her either, her voice is soooo annoying!!! Toby is alright…better then some Miss Hk contestants who cant act at all!! but yeah a very weird series in which i am not really looking forward to.
boo to Charmaine if she wins the end of year award for her role in this series!!
After reading all the comments, I can’t believe there are so many anti-charmaine supporters…as I am one of them too. =)
love charray! 😀
although the plot of the series doesn’t seem very original, i still anticipate raymond’s and charmaine’s chemistry together!
and perhaps we shouldn’t stereotype too much…it’s possible that charmaine and raymond can bring out a different feeling of this motivational drama from how Roger Kwok and Jessica Hsuan did in Life Made Simple.
HAHA I AM EXCITED (:
Eugh I didn’t like the pairing of Jessica and Roger in LMS. Roger is really annoying and they look more like friends. I don’t know how Charmaine will make her character not annoying and I don’t held her acting highly so far.
love Raymond but not looking forward to see Charmaine…omg i can’t stand Charmaine’s acting… obviously TVB wants to create a “challenging” role for Charmaine to win best actress award again.
Again, haven’t even started production and the whole best actress award thing again. It is like granted this or this will win. For all my love of Wayne, I won’t even go as far as to say he will win with Rosy Business 2 without at least one scene from that series.
Any role will be challenging if the actor or actress concerned is god awful. Charmaine isn’t but I think this role will not kill her, it will kill us! I’d rather she play sophisticated mature intelligent women who is girlish and smile, much like her only performance I love that is in An Herbalist Affair.
As for Life Made Simple (is this the modern one? I meant the olden days one), everybody was right for their roles, except for Jess being the odd one out.
Good point Funn Lim. How can you guys keep saying she will win best actress award. It’s just crazy.
There is no such a rich spoil guy will fall in love with a girl with a mind of a 10 years old in real life. It’s just a fantasy…
I can understand if the story line is about a rich spoil guy will fall for an ugly girl but have a big heart. That does exist in real life because it’s what inside your heart counts.
Funn, olden days one is Square Peg lah.
In Life Made Simple, the original ending was supposed to be Jess ending up with Roger in marriage. But, Jess objected because it’s too unrealistic. So, they made the ending ambiguous instead.
Kidd, I absolutely cannot remember the title. I can’t even remember the ending for the new one, Life Made Simple. He did remain mentally challenged in the end right as opposed to Square Peg where he got cured?
Yeap, he remained mentally challenged, but, he can take care of himself and has a successful tong yuen business.
Funn Lim: you cracked me up again,,,
“I think this role will not kill her, it will kill us” I don’t know if its kill others but I am sure its will kill me if I watch it,,, and I am SURE i can pass this series
^ I know it will kill me. I’m torn now. This has Ray but at the same time has Charmaine as female version ah Wong 🙁
I don’t get it….why is Charmaine protecting her little sister….with her mental capacity, it should be the other way around. Ray bullies Toby and Charmaine is supposed to get a job and protect her? Is Toby more mentally challenged?
Anyhow, I don’t think Toby can act…not very convincing….just really annoying to listen to her monotones.
Ray really needs to get other roles that will challenge him as an actor. I mean how many times can you act the spoilt rich boy??? He was that in Yummy Yummy, Golden Faith, Tai Chi.
Seriously, we know that he comes from a rich family in real life. Stop getting those parts! He has the ability to act, so act!
playing a person with mental illness is very challenging. i’m not sure Charmaine’s acting is at that level yet… after all those years…
If the picture above is what she portrait in the series she doesn’t look mental illness to me or a girl with a mind of a 10 years old. I probably pass this series b/c it doesn’t appeal to me at all. It’s so unrealistic….
Whoa, Whoa, whats with all the harsh comments? If people can like/love Roger and Jessica in SP, why can’t they like the pairing of Charmaine & Raymond? Aren’t they the same, with the roles reverse?
Jayne, your story sounds stretching too. haha XD
JN, I don’t think that will be her image…that picture is more like her in something forty…
Funn Lim, her character in that series wasn’t sophisticated at all, more like girly and annoying.
Oh my god…don’t like this pairing..Charmaine is too old for Raymond..i hate TVB why they always let charmaine pair up with raymond ..they are totaly not match together…i think a lot of ppl don’t like to see them together
Life Made Simple and Square Peg were different…you can even say that Jessica sort of Pitied him at first but she still didn’t want to marry. I think in SP, Roger turned back to normal, but LMS is like he stays mentally challenged but even then, she’s still like deciding: raymond, him, raymond…(raymond cho i mean)
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really really tired of seeing charmaine and raymond together. To be quite honest, they’re rather overrated: one film after another? And well, the storyline really has no originality and is wrong at certain points. wait and see kids…ratings.
charmaine acting is sucks…don’t like her acting so fake..esp couple with Raymond totaly do not match..tvb is blind…when tvb make this 2 in couple the rating very very low…what ashamed..don’t they know that a lot of ppl don’t like to see raymond pair with charmaine..look so old for him…
I don’t feel anything for this onscreen couple but I don’t think Charmaine’s acting is as bad as people are saying. She has improved a lot since her earliest performance. I must point out that she has a leading actress feel.
Leading actress vs competent actress vs best actress. Which do you want? There are some with all 3 elements but Charmaine, yes she has improved tremendously but I still feel her best role is still to come. She still doesn’t affect me as much in her performances, something not there yet. I find her acting still very calculating, very deliberate, not very natural. She is not the worst. She used to be but now there are many worst than her but given her experience, opportunity and range of roles, I can’t blame many for still thinking she is not the competent best leading actress so to speak.
I don’t see Charmaine as a Best Actress material the way Kara Hui and Sheren Tang are, and also not as competent as Ada Choi or Esther Kwan, but I would categorize her as a good leading actress. She doesn’t have the best acting, but she has the right amount of screen presence to lead a drama and her acting is fine now :D.
OMG agree with most comments here…storyline kinda lame for a 20 chapter series, prolly good enough for an hour 1/2 movie instead. How much mentally disable and falling in love can you watch in 20 chapters…in between everything else is walking, talking, eating and shopping…waste of film. Challenge in role??? What happened to the ancient and action roles? And yes, Charmine is too old to couple with Raymond (wouldn’t Tavia be a better match)
for god sake, toby cannot act, her voice and accent is really annoying too. Charmine and Raymond start off with small unknown roles. Toby started with leading and supporting actress role…anyhow see no potential in her, she must get paid well thru her father’s connection…corrupted
OMG, I often find the frequent dinner scenes with the family silly. Yes, they are trying to depict the character’s daily routine, but these scenes are too chirpy, in which everyone tries to have the best punch line. Or the office scenes where nobody works and they just stand around to gossip or TVB dubs the “important client meetings” over with music. There is a lot of these filler scenes as OMG mentioned.
“And yes, Charmine is too old to couple with Raymond (wouldn’t Tavia be a better match)
They should change Raymond as the male lead then since the central character of this series is Charmaine’s character.
They should really reconsider the combination…
Umm you guys need to chill on the couple.. i dont like charmaine with raymond either but tvb most of the times pair with girls older then guys alot like tavia and raymond, tavia and bosco, myolie with bosco.. it happens a lot you just need to get over it i almost killed myself seeing myolie and bosco in 2 series… you just need to let it go..
Im gonna watch this drama anyways since you shouldnt judge the drama because you hate the couple who knows maybe in the drama something happens that makes you like them the storyline is unrealistic but “think” atleast the story is fresh you know mentally disabled with a rich guy and if you watch korean dramas, taiwan dramas, and japanese dramas they are even more unrealistic dramas..
The whole plot is ridiculous.
if it was just about a mentally challenged girl, fine. but having her work and protect her sister? ugh..
not looking forward to this series.
I think they should have Charmaine to play Ada’s character in that superwoman series. Ada looks ridiculous in it even though she’s one of my favorite actresses
CHARRAY SUPPORT THEM ALL THE WAY !!
I like Charmaine and Ray and I like CharRay and I absolutely loathe the plot! It sounds so ridiculously far-fetched! A grown-up man who falls in love with a mentally 10 old girl? And WTH to the fact that Charmaine’s handicapped character starts working in her sister’s company to defend her against her bullying boss (Ray). Utter ridiculous! Ugh, and Toby!