Kevin Cheng and Charmaine Sheh Support Raymond Lam’s TVB Departure
Raymond Lam (林峯), who was under TVB’s management for the last 16 years, has officially left the company. Thanking TVB for cultivating his career through the years, the actor amicably split with TVB and said there will be opportunities to work together again in the future.
Kevin Cheng Gives Blessings
Many of Raymond’s former TVB colleagues gave their blessings and expressed that they are looking forward to Raymond’s new developments. Kevin Cheng (鄭嘉穎), who collaborated with Raymond in the 2005 TVB drama Yummy Yummy, said he supports Raymond’s decision to leave. “Maybe Raymond feels that it’s time for him to go out and do something different. After all, being in the same environment all the time limits developments and the audience will get bored. Working with new directors and actors actually gives more opportunities for new sparks.”
A star in mainland China, Kevin said earlier that he has plans on establishing his own production studio. Does Kevin also planning to leave TVB soon? “My contract [with TVB] is not short. There are still more dramas I can film. As for my production studio, I’m going to wait for the right time before I do anything. When there is more freedom, I’ll consider it again.”
With TVB losing another a major star, the station is said to be suffering a drain in talents. Kevin disagreed. “There are still many talents in TVB who are waiting to be promoted. I think it’s my time to hand over my position.” Kevin said it is natural for artistes under a company to come and go, but agreed that TVB is slow at promoting new stars. He said he looks forward to see the likes of Ruco Chan (陳展鵬), Kenneth Ma (馬國明), and Raymond Cho (曹永廉) rising in the ranks.
Charmaine Sheh Supports Raymond’s Decision
Raymond’s Line Walker <使徒行者> costars, Charmaine Sheh (佘詩曼) and Sammy Sum (沈震軒), also said they did not think TVB is losing talents. After filming Line Walker’s promotional clip in Central, Charmaine said, “There is still Moses Chan (陳豪), Wayne Lai (黎耀祥), Kenneth Ma (馬國明), and Roger Kwok (郭晉安).”
Sammy said he supports Raymond’s decision to leave because now he has more room to try new things and achieve new milestones. He doesn’t feel like TVB is losing actors, saying, “The new drama I’m filming, Cross the Finish Line <衝線>, has many new actors. As a viewer myself, I like to watch different artistes.”
Sources: Oriental Daily; Ming Pao
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
What Kevin said is the best
I don’t think so, Raymond Cho is too old to be considered for promotion to siu sang.
Look at Wayne Lai. He didn’t get his first line until recently. He was already in his well 40s at least! So I have hope fo Raymond Cho! He’s a very versatile actor. I like his account ing and see him on screen.
i said “siu sang” which is a term reserved for younger actors not hitting 50 anytime soon. Raymond Cho is 49. He’d be embarrassed to be called siu sang. Sure, he can go Wayne’s route if he has the acting chops.
I agree. Definitely Raymond Cho can follow the steps of Wayne Lai. I actually prefer him over some youngsters who can’t act.
“I actually prefer him over some youngsters who can’t act.”
Yep, like LF.
@ lol, nowhere in the articme said siu sang so not sure why RC would consider or get promote as one. It just said a rising star, that’s not necessarily a siu sang, just an acto getting more limelight and lead. Again, ie Wayne Lai. I really believe RC can be the next WL if given the opportunity. He definitely has the “acting chop” 😉
@jj, well RL is a siu sang, so since KC was talking abt his replacement, it’s assumed KC was referring to a siu sang; hence my assumption is very logical. Anyway TBH, RC’s acting is just meh to me. Of cos to you he can go Wayne’s route. It’s just that we hv different standards and expectations
Agree to disagree 🙂
@jj, sure pal 🙂
Raymond Cho can be siu sang. Well, in TVB 40++ siu sang is nothing special. They are having 30++ “newcomer”.
wow, just read that Raymond Cho is 49! he sure doesn’t look it at all! i’m enjoying how he portrays this childish, impulsive character now on Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain and knowing his actual age, i’m appreciating even more how he managed to bring the character across.
Patrick tse, michael miu ,Wayne lai are tvb aged siusang
Yeah, as Kevin said, its good to give way and let the young blood bloom.
why he came back then? he should stay in mainland if he want to give the young a chance lol.
Kevin still owes TVB some drama series in his current contract.
When they left hoping for a bigger future out there. It’s big alright but they are competing with sharks and whales. They came back to TVB for other opportunities while they still have some use to tvb. As for Raymond boy he still wants to play because he can afford it. Mom and dad will welcome him back with open arms when he’s done playing. Over a decade with tvb and he thinks he’s ready to venture out. His look, acting and singing skills are so so but what he’s really good at is babysitting Karena. That’s one job he definitely mastered. 😀 🙁 LOL!
Don’t agree. It’s smart business. Tvb gave ray more opportunities during his 16 years there and in return they got lots of revenue from him. Would u leave for better opportunities or stay there with the company cause of loyalty? Tvb sees ray as value, if he wasn’t, they will let him go without blinking twice. Sad reality in this world. Ray smart to go explore and grow into a better actor.
Kevin still owes TVB some drama series in his current contract.
Agree with Noel.
I agree. It is business. Like what they have done in the situation of Coffee Lam and Sire Ma.
We’ll said Noel! It is business and it does not apply only to TVB.
okay…well i think TVB are really losing a lot of actors since back then TVB has a lot of smart TV actors such as:bowie lam,Fala chen,Michael Tse,and many other people…<3
and now Raymond lam is leaving TVB and many other people would prefer to go to the mainland to film TV films!!!!! i’m just saying that is “true”!!!! 🙂
It’s fine Raymond wants to get on with his work elsewhere. Perhaps he feels he’s in a rut at the moment and that it’s time to move on. I do wish him all the best!
Disagree with what he said. It should be “There are still many NO talents in TVB who are waiting to be promoted.”
This is one actor who can do whatever he wishes especially with his daddy’s billions indirectly supporting him.
LOL
So very true!!! 🙂
Concentrate movie LF
it’s just a cycle, back then actors like andy lau, tony leung, etc left and who were the new up and rising stars? raymond, bosco, ron, kevin, sammul, etc.
now that they are leaving, there will be a new generation. yes, it will be hard to accept the new young actors, but it’s just the same as when raymond and bosco were promoted back in mid 2000s
The question though is who are those actors?? I can’t find any good youngsters in tvb now, Ruco is good but he’s 36….
Well, this time I agree with you. TVB doesnt have youngster. The new generation of Sandy Yu cant come anywhere, especially Tony Hung.
agree,tvb really lacks good youngsters i dont think him law or jason chan or tony hung can replace raymond or bosco.but on the other hand bosco and raymond are also not the class of tony leung or andy lau.from the new generation i think vincent wong is the one that can come far.
For men, late 30s to mid 40s is still considered prime. Look at Kenneth Ma, Joe Ma, Raymond Wong, Moses Chan and Kevin Cheng, or even Roger Kwok who’s 50 this year.
Ruco can become the next Kevin for sure … Ruco can act and sing
Thats if TVB has a good script and good actress that can pair him.
TVB actually has little talent to work with. They’ll take anyone as long as they have a pretty face, with zero acting talent and potential to become good/great actors. They will shun away those whom can act but isn’t as good looking. I am 30, and If you remember the early 90’s to late 80’s, comparing the rookies of that generation to the newbies in recent years (you guys know who I am talking about). The differences in level of acting is night and day when you’re comparing two different generation of actors that are starting on day 1. The rookies of the past can act way better than the TVB rookies now. If you compare the two paths of developments, most of the newbies today will never be in the same level of acting like Jessica Hsuen, Ada Choi, Roger Kwok, etc. Once TVB loses most of their star actors in their 30’s/40’s for whatever reasons. There’s practically no one in the rookie classes that can fill the vacancies.
If you look at the last 10 years of actors that TVB has developed, aside from Nancy Wu, there aren’t many that is really deserving and good enough to be a first line actor.
No, not your Linda Chung, and not even your Myolie Wu, and Ron Ng. In the real world, they would be supporting actors.
They are literally losing more actors than they can properly “develop”.
Has roger left Cos don’t think his filming any more dramas
The decline in new talents may also be attributable to the shrinking pool from which they are drawn. One must remember that TVB’s market is the canto-speaking market, and one of the requirements (along with looks and charisma) for any new recruits is their command of the dialect. The pool of people who meet such requirements is rapidly declining to the point that TVB even tries to recruit emigrant kids through their “international pageants.”
Why would this pool be shrinking compared to the actors growing up in the 80’s/90’s? Is there a decline of population in HK?
I think the reasons why people don’t consider going into acting/joining TVB is their infamous reputation of being a slave driver. I think that very few people see TVB as a good work environment and that it takes years to reach a recognizable status with terrible pay that people aren’t willing to sacrifice.
I believe the talent pool is there, it’s just that TVB gives a piss poor effort at drawing from, and most simply don’t wish to work for TVB. When was the last time you’ve heard of artists graduating from TVB training class? That was years ago. Most of the best TVB actors/actresses in the past came from the training class, not from a male/female beauty pageant. Correct me if I am wrong.
The HK population for the past 20 years has been held steady and no significant growth. Looking deeper, the canto-speaking population actually has been experiencing a decline. This has much to do with the mass emigration came about with 1997 while the influx of Mainlanders , as well as foreign expats displacing them.
I don’t think the reputation of TVB has anything to do with the shrinking talent pool because there are no alternatives for the aspiring actors.
BTW, you have to be “discovered” though beauty pageants before being put into the training classes. EX: Maggie Cheung, Angie Chu, Anita Yuen and more recently Linda Chung, Myolie Wu….
@Terminator: About the Acting Classes — actually, that’s not true…many of the female artists who were recruited for Acting classes did NOT go through beauty pageants…most were recruited directly from whatever they were doing previously. Though it IS true that some of the beauty pageant winners were put into training classes prior to letting them participate in series, don’t get these classes confused with the ‘official’ acting classes, as they are completely different things.
And yes, recruiting artists to join TVB from beauty pageants is not a new thing, as it’s been happening since the 70s — and to be honest, back in the 70s, 80s and early 90s, this formula actually worked well (look at all the great actresses back then who came directly from beauty pageants — Angie Chu, Barbara Yung, Maggie Cheung, Anita Yuen, etc etc)….the problem is that the caliber of the contestants has declined drastically over the past 25 years or so, to the point that nowadays, when TVB applies the same formula of taking these beauty pageant winners/participants and plopping them into series (even after some of them taking an accelerated acting course), it’s more of a disaster than anything else.
Also, while I don’t feel that TVB’s shrinking talent pool has anything to do with the population, I do agree with Anon’s initial point about the ‘rookies’ from the 80s/early 90s generation (and I would extend that as far back as the 70s as well) doing a much better job as ‘newbies’ compared to the rookies in the current generation. To me, this has alot to do with the caliber of artists more than the work environment — the artists back then (during the 70s/80s/early 90s) were definitely at a higher level due to the combination of natural talent as well as excellent Acting Classes that actually had substance as well as great instructors (I’ve always been of the opinion that one of the worst decisions TVB ever made was to change the format of their Acting classes over the decades…).
Maybe the major difference between then and now is language barrier? Back then, newbies were mostly fluent in Cantonese. Nowadays, that’s not the case. Language barrier is a major hurdle, which is difficult to overcome.
Those days there were not too many tv stations so no matter how bad tvb treats their artistes, the artistes have no choice but stick with them. Or else they go to less attractive ATV (hope I got this station right). But things have changed, mainland markets have opened up, artistes from hk are flocking to china for higher pay and also less stressful working environment.
I must really agree that those days the artistes are more calibre than these days. Acting, singing and dancing or even emcee are not only attending classes, but one also need to have natural talent. Some ppl are born with gift of gab, speak so well without much ponder and dont really have to rely on the script.