First Look at Navy-themed “The Line Watchers”
(Note: Plot spoilers ahead!)
Working onscreen for the first time, Benjamin Yuen (袁偉豪) and Carlos Chan (陳家樂) became friendly pals after working on the Navy customs-themed The Line Watchers <把關者們>. Carlos, who is known for his warm guy image, was deliberately arranged to play an arrogant, unlikeable character, while Benjamin will portray a warm and endearing Mr. Popular well-liked by his subordinates.
Romantic Sweethearts: Ben and Mandy
Conscious of the criticism directed at his looks, Ben said “This time I’ll turn myself into an oppa… I was really tanned after The Murder Diaries <刑偵日記> and PakBen Outdoor Show <兩個小生去camping>, plus did not go outdoors for exercise due to the pandemic… so this time I intentionally gave myself a makeover, and only brought purple sweet potato to eat on set, [I] hope to refresh viewers’ impression and get some of my looks back,”
Playing a high-ranking naval customs officer, Ben’s character is popular among his female subordinates while being savvy with cooking and housework, too! After offering help to Venus Wong (王敏奕) once, she develops good feelings for him, but makes it known that she will not want to come between Ben and his long-time partner Mandy Wong (黃智雯).
While Benjamin once jokingly said he would not want to work with Mandy again – reason being he had a spate of poor career luck after the two of them picked up Favorite Acting Awards together back in 2018, he enthused, “This time I’ll finally become husband and wife with Mandy, fans [were] all delighted to hear about this!”
Mandy shared that Ben and herself will have to deal with challenging customs scenarios together. “We will face painful encounters together; I had an emotional breakdown in one scene and was screaming even after the director yelled “cut”, to let out all my emotions…I want to thank Ben, he is an [onscreen] partner I’m really familiar with, with his company I feel very secure…I don’t have to describe the chemistry between us!”
Growing through Love: Carlos and Moon
Known for his endearing “nuannan” (sweet guy) image, Carlos will be challenged to play a haughty, self-centered character who earns the ire of his peers. “My [character] feels that he can accomplish tasks single-handedly, and even finds his work partner Moon Lau (劉佩玥) childish, later he comes to realize that she has numerous strengths which he lacks, and they start to hit it off,”About his character which needs to be at the Hong Kong Customs College every weekend, Carlos said, “It feels that we’re undergoing training, everyone’s really united, [my character] really emphasizes foot drills, so even when we’re totally tired out from filming, I’d get everyone to keep training, the end result turned out pretty well,” As it was his first time working with Ben, the two actors were a little unfamiliar at the beginning, but later started chatting avidly about a variety of topics from music to random small talk.
Produced by Kwan Shu Ming (關樹明), The Linewatchers, which premieres 12 September on TVB Jade, also stars Mark Ma (馬貫東), Yoyo Chen (陳自瑤), Joey Law (罗天宇) and Karl Ting (丁子朗).
Source: Yahoo! HK, TVB Jade Facebook
This article is written by JoyceK for JayneStars.com.
Another series on Ben, Mandy and Venus together again.. I’m not sure I wanna watch this… @.@
Although I am intrigued to watch The Spectator(can’t remember the exact title) where Venus will pair with Pakho. Interesting that TVB is putting Venus in the forefront one series after another..
It’s extremely boring so far and confusing to follow, so many different departments but they all seem the same so idk what’s going on. Mandy and Ben are SO boring and their acting as a couple is over exaggerated. My god, they are so boring lol.
I’m going to watch it as background noise, I find some of the supporting cast storylines more interesting so maybe it will help but so far yawn.
@tt23 I am so so so sick of these career themed dramas with romance lines weaved in. Same plot reused over and over again. Carlos can’t make me watch it when there is Mandy + Ben. Ben is really unlikeable now (for me) as an actor and as a celebrity :/
So far this year only Ali’s dramas and The Forgotten Day were actually watchable for me.
Agree with you that only AI and forgotten day were watchable. Did you like seven princesses? I thought it needed a few more episodes to wrap up properly and the ending was rushed but it was consistent at least? Definitely not the worst series this year lol.
@tt23 Seven Princess was okay but definitely could be better. I feel like there were scenes that could be cut and use that time for the finale wrap up. The first half of the drama was too slow. The acting overall is definitely better than average, editting is meh, storyline is fresh at least. I can’t see any of the three leads winning BA in their role though.
So that leaves us with four dramas over nine months that were watchable. I was hoping for some summer “blockbusters”….
Rumours had it the role was meant for Ali and storyline had to change with casting of Pris, guess that challenge the overall experience altogether
I have been thinking of watching cos I always enjoy such genre BUT thought of watching Mandy just make me hesitate tons
Duncan Kwok played by Joe Ma’s makeup artist should be shot! Why apply lipstick on him and make him look like a gay? Terrible!