Fala Chen Goes Back to School for 4-Year Masters Program at Juilliard
Fala Chen (陳法拉) left behind mysterious footprints after leaving TVB in 2013. After shooting the Ronald Cheng (鄭中基) pirate film about Cheung Po Tsai in the summer of 2014, news of Fala almost completely disappeared, and the actress left Hong Kong for New York, where she said she would stay temporarily to finish an acting course. This acting course turned out to be a four-year masters program at the world’s leading performing arts school, the Juilliard School.
This month, while taking her semester break from Juilliard, Fala returned to Hong Kong to do a photoshoot for Cosmopolitan Hong Kong and the skincare brand, Olay. The actress, who will be turning 34 years old next month, revealed at the shoot that she has been attending Juilliard since September 2014. A full-time student, Fala would only be able to return to Hong Kong during her semester breaks.
It was a huge risk for Fala when she made the decision to apply for Juilliard. The Chengdu native has been in the Hong Kong industry since winning the Miss Chinese International Pageant in 2005, and was at the peak of her acting career when she decided to leave her agency of eight years, TVB. But time does not wait, and attending Juilliard has always been a dream of hers.
“Several thousand people apply for the school’s masters program every year, but they only accept five men and five women. I am still in shock that I was accepted. What great luck. After a long discussion with my manager, I finally decided to temporarily let go of my career in Hong Kong and study the program.”
In the blink of an eye, Fala went from being one of Hong Kong’s hottest actresses to a normal, full-time graduate student in New York City. It was a decision she did not take lightly. “There’s dangers to it. I felt uneasy about my decision at first. There were many job offers I had to give up. I also had to consider the finances; after all, when you’re a full-time student, money goes out, not in. But the school gives us a four-month break every year, so I would use this opportunity to return to Hong Kong and continue what I’ve been doing here, to earn more tuition money.”
When talking about life back in school, Fala laughed and said that she’s definitely not any less busier than her days filming dramas at TVB. “I wake up every morning at seven, start classes at nine, and eat dinner at five. After that, there are rehearsals until ten. It’s like this every day, six days a week. Sunday is the only day I get to rest. Whether it’s now or in the past, I still don’t get enough sleep!”
Needless to say, Fala’s everyday life has also become a lot more structured and patterned. “Simplicity is bliss. I don’t even need to wear makeup everyday now! When I first started class, I would at least apply on some foundation, but now I don’t even do that anymore. I see the same people every single day; they wouldn’t care about how I look. I’d hydrate my face with some cream, grab a slice of bread, get my backpack, and go to school just like that.”
Source: IHKTV
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
” But the school gives us a four-year break every year”
What?
Also, what master program takes 4 years? That’s even longer than a PhD. O_O
@anon hm, not longer than a PhD (field dependent, but in general), but absolutely longer than other Masters programs. I am not an artist, but I believe an MFA degree is a terminal degree and they are the highest degrees that studio artists normally earn. They are the degree that is usually required of studio art faculty in colleges and universities. Yet not comparable equivalent of a regular MA or an academic PhD (speaking from the PhD side, anyways).
Basically, apples and oranges. Congratulations to Fala!
@iampheng
Her program is longer than a Ph.D. if you focus just on the academics, thesis aside.
@anon i see. you should be more specific about which field you are speaking about. i am in anthropology and education and my own course work is 3 years. i’m average, unfortunately… if you are referring to just coursework, i am unfamiliar if an MFA requires a thesis or final project. but i’d bet on it. well, my original point was MFA and academic MA or PhD are hard to compare, except on a superficial basis.
regardless, this is an impressive step forward/ accomplishment for Fala. good luck to her.
The MFA program for acting at Julliard is indeed 4 years.
http://www.juilliard.edu/degrees-programs/drama/acting-programs
** A four month break every year** not a four year break every year.
i think this is a major risk for her given that she’s known for her beauty not other talents she may have. in about 3 years she graduates, she’ll be 37. not too many opportunities for an almost 40 yo woman in acting. not too sure about the china market, but in hk, women in their early 30s or even late 20s start acting in mom roles as seen in her predecessors.
@m0m0
“i think this is a major risk for her given that she’s known for her beauty not other talents she may have”
Agreed.
“in about 3 years she graduates, she’ll be 37. not too many opportunities for an almost 40 yo woman in acting”
Plenty of opportunities if you got fame and can act. S
he’s already said that she will remain in the spotlight doing ads and making appearances and such. So it’s not like she will be completely out of the spotlight.
“not too sure about the china market, but in hk, women in their early 30s or even late 20s start acting in mom roles as seen in her predecessors.”
She’s originally from China, the fact that she left TVB, shows her interest lies elsewhere. I doubt her focus is the HK market in the long term.
In the end, I highly doubt she will need to resort back to TVB unless something drastic happens (like a scandal).
@m0m0 “i think this is a major risk for her given that she’s known for her beauty not other talents she may have”
Hence her wish to attend acting school. I’m sure she will be a much better actress with talent when she graduates.
It’s a risk for sure but she seem happy so wishing her the best.
Wow I applaud her persistence and thirst for education. Getting into Julliard seems like it’s really friggin difficult. She will have a master that PWNs pretty much most of the Asian continent in terms of acting credentials. But man, 4 years! Four years is a verrrry, very long investment. She’s going to lose out of mucho dineros. For her interest, I think Julliard is great. But for her career, it will only be great if she plans on developing an acting career in the states ‘cus at 37+, there aren’t that many roles suitable for that age in HK or China. I don’t know, I really admire her drive and her stalwart pursual of skills and I wish her the best. Hope it’s a worthwhile investment for her
@coralie
I think she’s doing this more for personal accomplishment than for her career.
Top entertainers don’t need higher learning.
@anon “top entertainers don’t need higher training”… LMAOOOOO so true. for entertainers. hahaha
@anon em, well, she’s come out and stated she doesn’t think her acting skills is up to par yet, so I’m pretty sure getting into julliard is to get some genuine classical training
Charmaine is 40 and was cast in multiple movies last year. Liza Wang was main actress in Limelight Years. There are plenty of starring roles you can still play at age 37.
Juilliard is one of the most prestigious schools in the world for acting. I’m sure the faculty have connections that can help graduates with Hollywood and Broadway jobs post-graduation. Directors probably scout out the graduates every year. If they only accept 10 students total per year, they will invest heavily on these students and try to maintain the name of the school.
@krys327
“I’m sure the faculty have connections that can help graduates with Hollywood and Broadway jobs post-graduation. Directors probably scout out the graduates every year. If they only accept 10 students total per year, they will invest heavily on these students and try to maintain the name of the school.”
I question her ability to break out in China and be famous there. Let alone, Hollywood, the world’s biggest entertainment circle with a host of racial issues (a hot topic of discussion as of late). Let’s not get ahead of ourselves now. Lol
@krys327 quite disagree with that assessment. Charmaine was well known as the “goddaughter” of TVB – the company lurves her. So she will always have a place there. Liza Wang is also a stalwart supporter of TVB and had been for a long time, so again, she will have a place there. Fala was the girl who quit TVB and was always considered a loner in the field. Her popularity there is lukewarm at best. So roles for women her age and with her personality will not find jobs so easily at this mother company. And let’s be real, anyone who has genuine choice and popularity will not sign a long term contract with this company so you’re looking for roles for women 37+ in mainland China when you barely have any recognition. Do you see where I’m going with this?
Hopefully this will help her improve on her acting…
Real world experience is almost always better than what you can learn from school. This is particularly true in the world of art and acting. I question whether she will gain much from 4 years of “schooling” vs 4 years of real-world acting along/against your peers (in China – not TVB).
I suppose if she doesn’t learn from school. She will at least gained the reputation from going to school and a piece of paper.
@anon
I would disagree with that statement. There are benefits to both real world experience and school. Not everyone is just in it for the piece of paper :-p
I went to grad school in NYC for design. I was learning from the best professors and exposed to students from around the world, not to mention all the art that NYC had to offer. I also got honest and unbiased feedback in a structured and supportive environment. Things you don’t get from the real world. The experience was invaluable. It took my understanding and skills in design to a different level. In the working world now, I definitely see a difference between self-taught designers and those who studied it in school. The understanding of design is different. The real world is where you refine the skills you learned in school. Obviously I’m not an actress but I would guess it’s not that different.
As others have commented, it seems like she’s doing this for herself. Good for her. A degree is definitely worth earning and no one can ever diminish that fact.
@rikachicky Totally agree with you. If people cannot learn from good schools, why do people pay expensive tuition fees to get into those prestigious schools? Levels of skills are very different than those self-learning skills. You need those skills from school and then polish to make them perfect with your life experiences.
However, luck is also very important to an artiste. Fala Chen certainly needs some luck in her future career after graduating from Juilliard School’s MAF program.
@orchid123
“why do people pay expensive tuition fees to get into those prestigious schools?”
I work with plenty of people from ivy league schools. People attend those schools primarily NOT for the education, rather the social network they can build (primarily for the benefit of career prospecting at top 200 fortune companies). Good luck trying to land at Google or Microsoft as a fresh Engineer grad with decent grades without going to a good school. This is the real world, my friend.
@rikachicky Hence why I said ALMOST always better. There are some exceptions to every rule. For 90% of the jobs out there, university education is useless, for the most part. Most of what you will learn will be from your job.
@anon
Plus they work your butt off in grad school! I’ve not been worked so hard since in the 10+ years working professionally! I can’t imagine having the energy for that in your 30s. I could barely survive off the 10 hours/week of sleep I was getting back then in my early 20s.
If Fala Chen is a guy, it is not an issue. Unfortunately she is a pretty actress in Hong Kong. She is almost 34 now and will be around 37 when she graduates with her Master’s degree. It is not easy to stay as a first line actress in the entertainment industries in Hong Kong at that age. If she is a guy/artiste, she can work as a director, producer, actor, or any production manager after graduation, in Hong Kong, China or Hollywood. An actor can stay strong even at the age of 50+.
Perhaps Fala wants to fulfill her dream to study in Juilliard School and pursue her study as an interest, as well as her career. Let’s hope the best for her.
I admire Fala for the path she took. She did self-reflection and evaluated what life she really wants and took the steps to go for it. She quit TVB to have more time for herself and family and now she went to Julliard to improve her skill. Her path is really different from other HK actresses.
Attending Julliard shows her dedication and passion for the performing art. She wants to learn all the technical skills and nuances of acting and be an all round actress.
I just check out the MFA program. You really can’t learn this stuff just by work experience.
http://catalog.juilliard.edu/preview_program.php?catoid=22&poid=2529&returnto=2358
@kidd Did you mean “You really can learn this stuff just by work experience”, or “You really can’t learn this stuff just by work experience”?
@orchid123 Yeap. Typo error. I edited it liao.
I also admire Fala Chen for her persistence and “stubbornness” in taking her current path. She may lose a lot of opportunities/money by going back to school to fulfill her dream. By being a MAF graduate of Juilliard School, she will get more recognition, but not necessarily success, career and money in future.
No worries at all. She’s a very smart woman. She wouldn’t make such a risky decision at her age without a back up plan. And simply I think she has a supporting system ($$$) so she’s able to just focus in school. Celebrities don’t always tell us every details of their plans.
Whatever Fala chooses will always support her decision. Wish her all best. ..she’s an excellent hard working lady.
I have been working full-time 7 years straight. These 7 years I have job hopped because the job ended up not using my full potential. I am also completing my Master of Health Administration part-time. I have 3 years of hospital experience. I actually learned more about my career path interest and healthcare through my Master’s degree. It was a huge risk for me as well since my boyfriend didn’t want to get married till my education is done plus I purchased my own place so I had to deal with mortgage and tuition on my own . Right now I am almost 32 years old and finish in three more months so I am not like Fala who would be 37 years old when she is done. My friends are all married with kids already so I do feel old myself. However, sometimes you want to gain more knowledge and develop your career. Having higher education does change you a bit.