Jessica Hsuan, Tavia Yeung, and Wayne Lai Respond to Felix Wong’s Fierce Criticism of TVB
Felix Wong Yat Wah lashed out fiercely against TVB for inadequate promotion of Gun Metal Grey <刑警>. The cast were not included at the TVB Anniversary festivities. This has resulted in a war-of-words between Felix and TVB management in the last few days.
Co-star, Jessica Hsuan, said, “I have warned Felix about this earlier. Things have changed in the last few years. Some things you already know inside. Artists will do their own part well. If the audience accepts them, then that’s enough. Since Felix was gone from TVB for so long, maybe he didn’t know! Felix is a good actor. If he does not act anymore, then it’s a loss. He tried very hard. It doesn’t feel good to be ignored! TVB should be more fair. Gun Metal Grey has many supporters. When I was doing my facial, many young women said they enjoyed watching Felix Wong and Michael Miu Kiu Wai. It proves that they are popular among young females!”
Regarding as to why the cast of Gun Metal Grey were excluded from the Anniversary celebrations, Tavia Yeung Yi said, “You have to ask TVB. Was it due to the fact that the cast of Gun Metal Grey was not in Hong Kong ? If TVB did not invite Felix, then I will personally ask him to attend the awards ceremony on December 5th. I hope Felix will not be angry. Since he has not filmed a series in such a long time, I have been watching the series too. It’s a great series!”
Wayne Lai Yiu Cheung commented, “I am not sure why TVB made these arrangements for the Anniversary. Felix Wong is a good veteran actor. I understand his feelings. It has been a long time since he filmed for TVB. I hope he is happy and does not mind!”
Moses Chan Ho said, “I am uncertain about the company’s arrangement. However if Gun Metal Grey were included, it would make the Anniversary more colorful. I hope Felix is not as angry!”
Compiled from the Sun
Jayne: Jessica Hsuan has mellowed and is no longer as outspoken as she was in the past. I think she works well with producers and still enjoys acting enough to continue to work for TVB. However, she does not care about awards anymore and seems jaded by the increasing politics at TVB.
Tavia Yeung gave the polite answer that she will ask Felix Wong to the TVB Anniversary Awards Ceremony. But given Felix’s fierce response thus far, I doubt he will want to attend even if Tavia does invite him.
I love Felix’s fierce criticism. I’m sick of people fearful of TVB and not speaking up. I notice people are slowly coming out of their comfort zone to speak up.
I’m currently watching Gun Metal Grey and loving the series thus far. It’s your old school crazy crime solving series with hot veterans. TVB needs more of this type of mixtures. I’m tired of Miu Siu Ching’s over dramatic interpretation on life/history and everything else she can lay her hands on.
Go Felix!!!!!!!!!!!
I also understand why he would be angry. Even as the viewer, I was asking myself why the anniversary show keeps focusing on CBML and NR? GMG is a great series with a stellar cast! It has good ratings and good feedback. Why is it so underpromoted? Just cause the main leads are not contracted with TVB? It’s really annoying the politics that TVB plays. I’m glad Felix is speaking up, and I agree with Jayne. I doubt that Felix will attend the ceremony. Because of TVB’s set arrangement on a battle between either CBML and NR, it seems like anyone outside of those series that would win best actor or best actress or even best series would be farfetched. Why would the other actors even want to attend?
I also think Jessica responded quite well. Like what Jayne said, I think she has mellowed down from the past. I think if she was in this situation 10 years ago would have escalated the issue on top of Felix’s complaints. But I think she has been in TVB long enough that she knows how their politics work.
Good on you Felix!!!!!
Bravo to Felix for speaking up.
Jessica nowadays knows what is happening inisde TVB. Nothing can be changed in 1 day. In 2006, she left TVB because at first, her former manager, Cari Ma, left TVB because Carri Ma couldn’t stand TVB policies and Jessica afterwards followed her manager. I think Jessica filmes because she is the actress and that’s all. She doesn’t care about TVB any more.
Go Felix!
Love him even more for speaking his mind! I was so furious that GMG was hardly even mentioned in the anniversary show considering how good it is. It’s not even like it has abysmal rating or poor feedback, not that the latter seems to be a problem considering the overwhelming attention for CBML!
The show itself was so boring and bland, so it wasn’t even like the show was too good for Felix or something.
^ agree! it was darn boring. the gala doesn’t deserve someone like felix to be there. i’m glad felix didn’t waste his time going there.
and bravo to felix for speaking up! but i think GMG may well be this last BVT drama. T____T but then again, felix is way beyond BVT now. BVT doesn’t deserve someone as great as felix. anyway, it’s BVT’s loss, not felix’s.
go felix! 🙂
It makes me wonder sometimes is Tavia really so nice or is she like a dull bland robot? Her comments are always so….. politically corrected for some reason. Its like she’s got it all figured out to not offend anyone at all. Hence a fence sitter. Or she could be very very sensitive and can see all sides of the dynamics. Funny there’s like no tabloid news on Tavia too. She must have very very powerful media background 🙂
SDS, rumor has it that Tavia is not under the wing of Stephen Chan, Virginia Lok, Tommy Leung, or Catherine Tsang. In a way that explains why it took Tavia so long to be truly promoted and rise up the ladder (after playing supporting roles for a VERY long time). In recent years, it is very rare for an artist to be unaffiliated with either of the four managers to be promoted.
You can say Tavia’s lack of affiliation may be good, as she is cast in many producers’ series and her career will not be impacted by the change in political power at TVB. But the lack of connection can also be an obstacle to greater fame and opportunities. Even Myolie Wu is filming in China to make real money. But in 2011, most of Tavia’s time will be spent at TVB and perhaps make less real money. Also Tavia’s lack of a strong management ally, what does that mean for her future chances of winning the Best Actress Award?
As we can see, nothing happens by chance at TVB. Rumor has it that Stephen Chan gave the push in influencing the 2009 awards panel to recognize Sheren Tang and Wayne Lai. You may say in the end, hard work and good acting skills won. But if there is no management support, you can always a good actor but lack the push to elevate you higher.
I compiled the above artists’ responses from several Sun articles to make the organization better. I also came across a blurb on Nancy Wu’s response towards Felix’s incident, which I forgot to include in the translation:
而《刑警》女主角之一的胡定欣，得知黃日華開火轟TVB，有意打圓場說：「華哥真係好鬼馬，佢咁講其實別有用心，想用呢啲激進方法為個劇宣傳。（會唔會約佢出嚟食飯安撫下？）其實我哋劇中演員私底下感情好好，每次外界對個劇有好反應就約出嚟食飯！」胡定欣表示將出席台慶頒獎禮。
Translation below:
In response to Felix Wong’s criticism of TVB, Nancy Wu, one of the actresses in “Gun Metal Grey” intentionally spun in circles, “Felix Wong is really devious. He has another intention in speaking out. Using this extreme method, he is creating promotion for the series.” (Will you invite him out for a meal to discuss this?) “The cast gets along really well with each other. Each time the public views the series favorably, we will all gather together for a meal!” Nancy indicated that she will be attending the TVB Anniversary Awards.
I was quite disappointed in Nancy’s response. Felix Wong is a not a devious personality and he did not intend to use this incident to promote himself. It takes a LOT of guts to tackle TVB in such a manner. It may mean TVB will not invite him to film any future series and may even create a “troublesome” image for Felix, decreasing any future company’s interest in working with him. In that sense, that’s the only reason why I think Felix went too far because there might be future ramifications down the road. Not many companies want to work with such principled individuals.
I wouldn’t want to see Felix dancing like an idiot in the gala. Every year, the gala makes me cringe. (But I still can’t help watching it just to catch my favourite actors and actresses…)
With all due respect to Jayne on the benefits of party affliations. The trick is being on the winning team. Steven Ma has been long reported to be in Tsang party and later when he renewed mgmt contract with TVB, was reported to be in Chan parties, but much good his so-called affiliation with either party do to his career. Nevermind about filming series or movies in China, or in high profile public functions or advertisements, all these years since 2005 when he signed his first tvb mgmt contract, he was never even in any of Tsang’s grand productions.
@ Jayne
“(after playing supporting roles for a VERY long time)”
Tavia was not promoted as aggressively as Linda, Myolie, and Kate. But, she was given her first lead role 2 years after her breakthrough in ‘The Awakening Story’. She graduated in 1998, her first lead role is in 2003. It’s not really that long, let alone VERY long. She was also one of the leads in ‘Twin of Brothers’. Then, there were ‘The Academy’ and ‘Face to Fate’, ‘Sweetness of Salt’.
@ Jayne, I think Nancy was trying to joke about it, or maybe avoid answering what she really felt about it. The GMG cast seems pretty close. But she is after all under TVB management.
On the other hand, I thought Tavia’s comment was tactless and so patronising.
Jessica’s comment made me respect her more. She has obviously resigned herself to the way TVB is run nowadays.
Bravo to Felix for being so brave to speak out against TVB!! There are not many artists that have that courage. Felix is a veteran actor so I think he has more power and strength to do so. He was with TVB for a long time and has seen what TVB has become. I feel sad and really miss TVB in the old days. I wonder if TVB will ever be as good as it was in the past???
I think Nancy doesn’t really mean it in a bad way. She also said the GMG team is close. She might just want to get out of trouble from the management. Nancy is a very good actress and should be promoted more but TVB has been too busy promoting Linda, Kate and Myolie.
Jessica’s not that good of an actress but I like her comments here. She’s really calm and experienced.
Tavia got her lead roles too but she was never as promoted as Linda, Kate or Myolie who are management’s pets and keep getting huge push despite their acting skills being weaker than Tavia.
so sad that people like tavia and Nancy being pulled into such silly stuff. For goodness sake people, how do you expect them to answer? No comment … you are tagged snobbish/ignorant/coward…When you comment, tactless…
Put yourself in their shoes and try to be more understanding rather than critizing.Their answers are very neutral. Both of them just want to earn a decent living.People like Felix and Jessica, they have already had their days, they dont need to depend on any company to support them. Tavia and Nancy still got a long way to go. Give them a break.
I have to agree with SM. If I were in Tavia’s shoes, I would want to be politically correct also by being neutral. Remember what happened to Erica Yuen? Or if you don’t remember her, that is exactly why it is best to be politically correct! 🙂
I agree with SM and Candie too. People like Tavia and Nancy are just trying not to step on anybody’s toes and protect their livelihood.
I disagree on Tavia not promoted enough. She won awards, special awards at that, was given prominent role in a big highly rated series, she is everywhere these days. She is promoted, heavily in fact. Why she is not everywhere as in everywhere is because she doesn’t sing. If she sings, she will be everywhere.
Whilst I agree everyone protects their livelihood and all, I disagree with like I said how Tavia put it. I would rather they say no comment or just remain silent and not comment at all.
Quite hard to say who is and who is a good actor. You would really need to set down some criteria and nut them out. However I do agree of the promoted bunch, there lies an exception- Myolie Wu. Her acting can be dead awful sometimes…
Fact is, TVB has often not promoted actors and actresses whom are naturally more talented for the less talented because the latter usually have other desirable qualities off-screen or in non-acting capacities.
Whilst I think Jessica Hsuan is a competent actress, I don’t recall her in any particularly outstanding roles. However that may not be due to her acting abilities, maybe just the characters she ends up playing. In a sense Tavia is following her path. A lot of roles, but none are particularly outstanding or memorable.
It’s about time for Tavia to get promoted. She’s very popular after MR and her value rose up a lot. Tavia is one of the few talented young actress that TVB has.
“Quite hard to say who is and who is a good actor. You would really need to set down some criteria and nut them out. However I do agree of the promoted bunch, there lies an exception- Myolie Wu. Her acting can be dead awful sometimes”
Myolie Wu tries too much and exaggerated everything. That’s why her acting is dead awful nowadays.
they are so fony, why keep saying HOPE HE IS NOT ANGRY “
Tavia has been and is still getting promoted. She has many leading roles or co-leading roles.
Even though Jessica wasn’t outspoken but those words contains some disatisfaction she has with the management. The management changed alright, or maybe it just stayed the same without any improvements b/c of the Deputy Chairman??? Well . . . it seems Jessica has learn to accept it and live with it.
I’m not sure if it is a smart move by Felix but I definitely support it.
I agree that Tavia is plenty promoted these days. But I still haven’t liked her in any lead role recently. And next year, she has like 5 shows – I hope she’ll be better in those shows!
Tavia’s a good supporting actress, but as lead, she still has far to go.
For me, Tavia was pretty good as the lead in ‘Sweetness of Salt’, but she faltered in MOL and BTROC.
“Myolie Wu tries too much and exaggerated everything.”
Doesn’t it the requirement of her series? Such as Chip, it’s a comedy and her role required exaggerated acting, and Myolie did it well.
“It’s about time for Tavia to get promoted. She’s very popular after MR and her value rose up a lot. Tavia is one of the few talented young actress that TVB has.”
I disagree with your assessment Viv. She was gaining momentum prior to MR but actually lost some because she did not exceed viewers expectations. The show was hyped up and it makes it very difficult for the cast to exceed that w/o ample amount of publicity and promotions.
Tavia is a great supporting cast but when a series is too devoted to her, she tends to perform poorly. She needs someone like Steven Ma, with enough tv personality and on-screen charisma to carry her on. MR was a disappointment for me. It could have been resulted from the predictable cases, the over-hyped anticipation or excessive copying of Jap & American dramas. Regardless – Tavia has not gained any ground since she’s stepped into the “fa dan” podium.
“Myolie Wu tries too much and exaggerated everything.”
I agree with Fox. When acting is not natural to you, you have to try hard. It’s only normal. Without the raw talent, it takes more time to succeed. Myolie’s exaggerated acting is usually derived from the series she’s cast in. 唐白虎點秋香 was an exaggerated series. The whole cast acted the same way, including Moses, Fala and Johnson. My Sassy Mother in Law 1 and 2 was the same way. Chip again. Her exaggeration was what the director wanted her portrayal to be. To me, she’s not entirely at fault for that.
@pandamao
I think you got the abbreviation mix up
MR – Moonlight Resonance
MOL – Mystery of Love
I was confused when I read your comment on Tavia in MR. Tavia did become very popular after MR. Why did you say she gain momentum prior and lost some after? But, when I came to the part about cases and copying Japanese drama, everything becomes clear. 😀
To be fair, because Myolie Wu always exaggerate or “required” to exaggerate in most of her series she becomes boring and pretentious in non exaggerating roles such as in mainland’s Beauty Schemes(although her makeup was worth praising for) and Burning Flame 3.
For me I prefer if Myolie can get back her non-pretentious and fresh acting in Golden Faith and Dream of Colors – yes, I surprisingly found her ok this one.
Because ppl dun get used with her acting when she is not in an exaggerated series. Like when you eat a lot of sour fruits, then suddenly have a not sour one (not sweet) you will think that the not sour one isn’t as special as the sour fruits you have ate.
Kidd – thanks for the catch. Lol. Sorry!
She did get extremely popular after Moonlight Resonance. Haha.
I’m getting delusional from studying. Hehe. I’m LOL at that retarded mistake!
I still can’t understand why Myolie is at her current state. Golden Faith was an excellent portrayal. She seemed naturally down and retarded. Things were going so well for her, especially Survivor Law and My Sassy Mother in Law. I believe her downfall started with that series about world war II and then To Grow with Love and then Tai Chi.
Well – I’m hoping for a Charmaine miracle. Lol. Someone that can’t really act but somehow is making it big.
Sometimes when someone is famous too soon and too fast and is too glamarous, their acting suffers. Great actors are those who are observant and quiet and in a way, a loner and avoids glamour. Myolie’s problem is she’s too glamarous. I don’t see her immersed in her roles like she did when she first started out. She stopped improving, she just stays stagnant and then went downhill from there.
Charmaine to her credit improved a lot from the time she started but when you’re awful and you improved to the point of acceptable, the quality is still terrible in my honest opinion.
Mediocrity; that’s the new TVB standard.
I read somewhere (possibly here) that an actor commented that TVB works their stars so hard that, as actors, they have no time to reflect on their previous projects and grow. Therefore, when an artist gets selected by TVB for promotion, I notice (maybe it’s in my head) that their acting kind of falls into something like a rut. It seems like they start to act the same in all their roles, and I think they lose some of the sparkle that captivated people in the first place. I think perhaps that’s what happened with Myolie (as well as many other heavily promoted artists). I remember in her early days, I thought she was an amazing actress with incredible potential, but recently, she’s been almost unwatchable.
Anyway, it seems to be the same pattern with everyone: Some newbie captures someone’s eye, gets heavily promoted, and their acting just kind of plateaus after a certain point. And then they get worked so hard and they (must be) so tired all the time that their acting becomes kind of lackluster, and we all wonder where it all went wrong.
Quakie, those were words of wisdom from Jayne. It was an article about Sammuel Chan getting the opportunity to reflect in his works after completion.
Let’s see – here’s my list of artist that had a spark but turned lackluster.
1. Ron Ng. Downhill after airplane series
2. Myolie Wu – as mentioned above.
3. Tavia – not as severe, but slowly getting there
4. Raymond – definitely one. He was great in A Step into the Past. His new thin look and multi-focus made him, lose focus.
5. Linda Chung – she’s getting a bit boring especially the way she exerts her lines.
There’s plenty more but I’m tired of listing them …
I also think I read somewhere in here that someone commented how TVB worked the promoted artistes so hard they don’t have time to watch their own series to do assessment on their acting.
Myolie went downhill since TGWL where her acting is exaggerated in the same way in all series after that. She’s not versatile too since she can’t handle non comedy roles.
[…] http://www.jaynestars.com/news/jessica-hsuan-tavia-yeung-and-wayne-lai-respond-to-felix-wong-fierce-… […]
I do agree that Tavia was not as much promoted as the rest of the girls, it’s pretty obvious. Sad!
Myolie often over-act which makes me mad as I do like her. Finally in “ghetto” she’s BACK. Agree she should stick to comedy. She’s good in them. No more crying scenes please!
Linda chung- Can never get over her voice- it’s so high pitched!
Kate Tsui- should attend acting actings. Definitely over promoted.