Fala Chen Learns from Failures
Fala Chen’s (陳法拉) popularity may have skyrocketed after Triumph in the Skies 2 <衝上雲霄II>, however, the 31-year-old actress has also received a large amount of backslash on her acting abilities. Despite given a possibility to take home the Best Actress title this year for her role as Holiday Ho, Fala ended her contract with TVB and flew to the United States to continue her studies. During that time, Fala’s personal life also took a toll as it was rumored that she broke up with her boyfriend, Daniel Sit (薛世恆).
Finding Improvements From Failure
Fala kick-started her career in 2005 when she was crowned first runner-up in the Miss Chinese International pageant. Since Fala signed with TVB immediately and did not have time to focus on actual training, she had to learn at the job. Fala was previously pegged for having a rigid method of acting and an inability to adapt to situations.
In an emotional scene in Triumph in the Skies 2, Holiday was supposed to shed tears after finding an engagement ring from her deceased boyfriend. However, under all the pressure and forcing herself to cry – Fala was incapable of even shedding a single tear. Initially angered by the massive amount of criticism, Fala eventually took full responsibility for her performance and said there is still much for her to learn.
It was not until she was given advice from her acting professor did Fala regain some of her confidence and began to understand where she went wrong. “I accept the failures! The road of discovery and exploration may take a long time in the future and during the process, my growth will not be defined by one goal, one award, or one number. I will only enjoy the journey and receive acknowledgement on the way.”
Fala Needs a Break From Confusion
After spending eight confused years at TVB where she constantly held a tight schedule with no breaks, Fala always felt insecure. “I had a lot of uncertainty in signing TVB’s renewal contract. I wasn’t really sure because I didn’t have a long-term plan. During March and April, I especially felt panicky and confused because I didn’t know what the future had in store for me. Before accepting the movie offer, I lived in the days where I had to listen to what others tell me. When the company gives you a job for a costume drama production in three months, the only information you have is that it’s a costume drama, and nothing else.”
Deciding to take a break from TVB, Fala flew to New York to brush up on her acting. Fala spoke of her experience in New York as being life-changing, “For almost two months, I lived every day as a student. The biggest gain is to understand and accept my own shortcomings. This holiday is life changing! The acting and learning methods are very explicit, but the most critical is to change yourself, how you see the world, how you look at the people around you, and your work attitude. This is the biggest change! I hope to be more open; I don’t mind others seeing my positive traits and shortcomings.”
Coincidentally, during that time, Fala was offered a role in the horror movie, Tales From The Dark 2 <奇幻夜>. Seeing as her movie role would be the only project alongside her studies, Fala felt more secure accepting the job.
Follow Your Heart
Another speculation that Fala headed to New York was due to her breakup with Neway heir, Daniel Sit. Fala said, “There were many things that we didn’t know how to handle in the relationship, bringing many problems. However, without him and our multi-year relationship, I wouldn’t have turned into the person today. We affected each other in many ways. Overall, it was a positive experience, adding meaning and enriching my life. I can’t tell others about the details of our relationship, as it can’t be expressed in words.”
Fala stated, “I tend to be rather subjective in a relationship. I think the most important aspect is trusting your own instincts and believing in yourself. I know when someone treats me well and when they actually like me – I use my intuition and I don’t care about the surroundings. Earlier, my mom told me that I’m very loyal to the people I love and once I trust someone, I would give them everything. This became complicated since both us didn’t care about what our family or friends had to say. We didn’t care about how an actress is dating an heir. Even so, I don’t think I was wrong; I think trusting your own gut feeling is beautiful and it makes our lives more true. I didn’t like it when two people refuse to communicate and aren’t honest with each other, so we didn’t keep secrets from each other.”
Confidence Stems From Fala’s Abs
A former beauty queen, it is hard to imagine that Fala not only has insecurities with her acting, but with her physical features as well. Contrary to popular belief, Fala was highly self-conscious about her own body when she was young. It was only when she entered university did she begin to regain her self-confidence. “I was late in realizing this; at that time, I only thought I was okay – I never thought I was even considered pretty. I only began thinking I was beautiful in the eyes of Chinese citizens after I won the pageant.”
In terms of her body, Fala stated that she never had to diet to keep in shape. She maintains her body from her passion for dancing. When asked about her most satisfied body part, Fala joyfully admitted that she is most proud of her belly in which she used to have visible abs.
Source: ihktv.com
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
Fala, all the best. It is good to learn from shortcomings and failures. I am sure you will do better in future.
Fala is the best hope u come back to tvb
Fala Chen is so beautiful; she will be successful to be a movies star.
Fala is always beautiful. That is her asset no matter what she does in future.
agree…I think she did good job atTriumph in the Skies 2 . I don’t know why people complaint…i wish her the best 🙂
I don’t find her that great looking since her face wrinkles up when she smiles hard. But looks and acting are subjective.
It’s very natural at her age to have wrinkles.
Yes she is beautiful. I got a girl cursh on her.
But in terms of movies, I do think Kate Tsui has more of the movie feel… if this makes any sense at all.
I haven’t really seen Fala in movies aside from her smaller part in the Laughing movie, nor have I seen Kate’s work. But Kate did get a newcomer’s award so you might be right.
I admire her actually. She has gone through so much and it seems that she has gotten stronger and more comfortable with herself as well.
She seems more radiant and happier after her return. Perhaps she thought it thru?
As a person and her beauty, I would clap for her. However, in terms of her acting and her future success in the film industry are very questionable.
We will find that out in future …….
Guess I’m the only one who finds fala cuter instead of pretty, she belongs to the girl next door kind of pretty.
Out of the 5 fadans, I think linda has the most unique look and she has the height.
But now Charmine is back, IMO she looks the nicest even though she doesn’t have the height ..
Linda? Unique? Height, yes. But Fala is taller than Linda…..or I believe the same height.
Charmaine. Nice. Back then. Now, she needs to be compared to people closer to her age. Lol.
It’s kinda obvious Linda is taller. To me linda has a more angular structured face and Fala’s has a nore rounded face in comparison. Beauty is all about our own perspective, really dont think age matters.To each of their own.
Linda look is too musculine , she look like transvestite
Linda Chung is taller than Fala Chen. She and Myolie are the tallest fadans among the top 5.
Linda Chung should be the one belonged to next-door-girl quality. She is not ugly but not pretty. She is simple and down-to-earth.
Fala Chen is the prettiest one among the top 5.
Of course, prettiness is also very subjective. Everyone’s taste is different.
My mistake on the height. Lol. Linda never seem that tall to me.. but myolie was always a giant to me.
Myolie Wu can be a tiny bit (1″ or less) taller than Linda Chung.
I heard that Kate Tsui wants to wear high-heeled shoes even when she acts as an police officer because she knows she is not tall, and she does not like to look like a shortie among the other male police officers. It doesn’t make sense to me as an audience, but it seems to make sense to her.
Her performance in TITS2 is quite disappointing but I am sure if she tries even harder, she’ll be able to find success in the film industry.
I think her best performances in TVB so far are Moonlight Resonance and Can’t Buy Me Love.
I go back and forward with her in terms of acting. Sometimes she gives me a scene where I think that’s quite good and other times she makes me cringe hard. But acting ability aside, I respect her the most for her candid attitude and ambition. It’s an intriguing combination and I want to see how far it can take her.
It should read that she’s garnered “BACKLASH” – not “backslash” 🙂
Backslash = “\”
Backlash = negative response
I am one of the few who like Fala on this site… really loved her in her earlier works (eye of the beholder, ghost writer, Can’t buy me love). I feel her strength lies in these period comedy dramas… and that she suffers in modern pure dramas.
I think she’s an attractive woman who has the potential to be a much brighter star than just a “TVB Fadan” if she works to improve.
Ditto. She is beautiful and I like most of her work.
I think so too. She has the potentials and quality (face and height) to become a good movie star, but she needs to work harder in her acting skills. Of course, luck and connections will really help her a lot.
Fala started off well as an actress in Heart of Greed, Moonlight Resonance, Can’t buy me love. But her later series – Links to Temptation, Queens of Diamond and Hearts, and TITS2 – somehow she didnt quite excel in her roles at the 1st line actress.
love her more aftercreading thus article and boy is she getting prettier and prettier. Definitely has movie star quality
I like her works fine, including Triumph2.
If she gets backlash for this one / considers this is a fail production for her, then she’s one lucky person to fail at #1 rated drama of the year.
She’s the only one out of e other current leading actresses at doesn’t seem fake, she’s honest about everything and not afraid to say whats on her mind. A very admirable trait, she don’t suck up to others too…acting is not too bad. At least she recognized what she did wrong in Triumph and in her career unlike ores who are too embarrassed or stubborn to admit their flaws, Fala is the most real out of any of them..it’s TVB’s lost they lost her. Funny how ppl still criticize her for her performance of Holiday and it just be surprising to me that Fala agrees, it’s rare these days artistes especially in HK are admitting to their shortcomings in acting. Hopefully she can find her comfort zone in movies if not TV, she doesn’t seem likes done who likes to be told what to do, films gives her more freedom.