Lawrence Ng Agrees with Alex Man’s Improvised Fight Scene in “The Feud of Two Brothers”
TVB has been rebroadcasting many of its classic dramas. The most recent one aired is 1986’s The Feud of Two Brothers <流氓大亨>, which stars Alex Man (萬梓良), Carol Cheng (鄭裕玲), Carina Lau (劉嘉玲), Kathy Chow (周海媚), and Lawrence Ng (吳啟華). Alex and Lawrence portray two brothers who eventually have a falling out.
In a recent episode, Lawrence was tried for the murder of his father. In the end, he was found not guilty. Walking smugly out of the courthouse, Alex could not hold in his anger and physically confronted Lawrence, tossing a trash can at him and hitting him in the head. The scene was extremely realistic and intense, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.
Known as a method actor, Alex really did throw the trash can at Lawrence, causing his head to swell up immediately. Frightened and angry, Lawrence wanted to quit filming the drama. Alex later gifted Lawrence with an antique watch as an act of apology.
In an interview two years ago, Lawrence recalled filming the classic scene, “An action choreographer was present. [Alex] said there was no need for choreography. Instead, he will just hit me naturally and do whatever comes to mind, so that it’ll be more realistic. Who knew that he would actually throw a trash can at me! He also choked me, and I could barely breathe. At the time, I was very unhappy.”
The rebroadcast revived the drama’s popularity. Lawrence was contacted and asked to comment about the incident again. In hindsight, Lawrence recognizes Alex’s acting approach. “At this point in my life, if we were to re-film the scene, I would agree with Alex’s aggressive method. You can’t die from it! The results are worth it!”
However, Lawrence did suffer an injury as a result of it. Lawrence responded, “Filming is like that. Actors always hurt themselves. I agree that in this way, the scene is more entertaining. I quite admire Alex’s serious attitude when it comes to work. I should learn from it. It’s really good! At the time, I was still young and had a bad temper. I definitely would not act like that now. I would only do my best to coordinate with Alex.”
Carol Cheng Recalls Fight Scene
Since Carol Cheng (鄭裕玲) was also present during the infamous fight scene, she recalled that everyone on set was astounded by the intensity of Alex’s blows. “Carina Lau (劉嘉玲), Kathy Chow (周海媚), Nam Hung (南紅), and I were in the scene. Lawrence Ng portrayed a villain in the drama. Alex picked up the trash can and threw it at Lawrence. If you saw the scene, congratulations. We all gave our [unrehearsed] reactions. We were all frightened, especially Nam Hung. We tried to hold back Alex, but we couldn’t. Lawrence ended up with a bump on his head.”
After that scene, everyone was frightened if they would be the next person to be caught unaware by Alex’s intense acting. Carol and the cast teased Kathy Chow, as she would be slapped by Alex in a scene.
As Alex’s frequent co-star, Carol also suffered under Alex’s hand. “I was shaking when I saw [the slapping scene] in the script. The director told me not to be scared, as he will use [camera angles] to film it. I told this to Alex, but he said that it’s not possible. He insisted that his hand had to slap my face or I wouldn’t have a realistic reaction. I had nothing to say. So for the sake of the drama, I couldn’t retort back. In the end, it felt like my gums fell out. My face was all red after the slap.”
Watch Alex Man and Lawrence Ng’s Improvised Fight Scene
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULMg8jxg_PU
This article is written by Huynh and Jayne for JayneStars.com.
Gee, I did not know some scenes were real..is that why they have real rape scenes?
This scene seems very brutal, especially the choking part. Although it may produce more realistic reactions by launching a surprise attack on Lawrence, I think there were no safety controls if Alex got carried away further. Lawrence’s head was just on the concrete; he could have gotten a head injury.
That was probably unheard of back in the day that scenes are done for real especially for a series. I’m sure in movies today, more and more sacrifices are made for the quality of the movie. It was unlucky for Lawrence that the plastic bin actually hit his head. The scene and reactions are very important because of the brutality of the murder of their father by Lawrence. The problems with a lot of the fighting scenes in the past are that they look so fake e.g.watch Deric attacking Law Lok Lam in ‘Blood of Good and Evil’. It was certainly not fun for Lawrence but do admire Alex’s approach and how serious he took acting. It’s a shame that after all this dedication, he turned to business….
@jimmyszeto Alex has always been a very serious actor though so it’s not surprising. Dodo said that for the ending scene (the famous “So What!” scene, lol), Alex was actually the one who spent all night writing that scene after they had both gotten off work at 2am….she said that Alex called her up that morning letting her know he finished the scene and wanted to read it to her – she asked if he could do it over the phone (so she could continue to sleep afterwards, since it was like only 6am, lol) but he said no, he had to read it to her in person so they could go over it and work out any kinks if need be before they actually film it…so she had to go all the way back to the studio to go over the scene with him. But she said she’s glad they went over the scene beforehand because she said that she might have responded differently if the first time she experienced the scene was when they filmed it. That type of seriousness also wasn’t just limited to The Feud Between Two Brothers. The slapping scene that Dodo described was actually in the series The Price of Growing Up from 1987 (which reunited Alex, Dodo, and Kathy Chow, though the villain role this time was taken over by Francis Ng). She also said there were a few scenes where Alex had to get drunk and throw up – those were real as well and she was amazed at his ability to just throw up like that without any warning when the scene called for it. Stephen Chow had also said something similar back when he filmed The Justice of Life with Alex.
I remember Alex saying in an interview recently that he is turning to business and filming less due to health issues. Everyone knows that he has diabetes (which is why his body always looks so bloated) but in general, he said that his health isn’t what it once was and filming too much tires him out. It IS a shame given his talent, but definitely understandable since his taking care of his health should be priority.
@jimmyszeto
seriously, he was lucky alex didn’t push his head on the concrete. that was the most dangerous part of all. my, those kicks and the part of the floor, can’t even see the face, couldn’t they use a double or have done something else. those kicks look like they hurt alot.
@m0m0
I think although Alex took Lawrence by surprise, there was a certain element of control. Alex did not go all out to beat up Lawrence otherwise that punch would have knocked him out. Look at the weight difference. Alex would have crushed Lawrence and the rest of the cast would not have been able to hold him back. The choking part though, I think Alex did go a bit too far and underestimated his own strength….
Filming esp. dramas is hard work. We see the glamour and not the blood and sweat. Slowing down for health reasons is practical. What is the use of millions if you cannot spend it. He could have been a producer like many successful actors… Lois, Andy??
i respect alex as a very good actor but fighting for real to create a decent scene is a way to far. espesially without telling the one that will be hit for real. imagine if every actor doing the same like him how many injuries that can cause just for the sake of a decent scenes.