Mandy Wong on Her Rising Career and Relationship
Known for her diverse acting portfolio, Mandy Wong (黃智雯) is well on her way to cementing her status as TVB’s go-to actress and anchoring the station’s big-budget dramas.
In the TVB anniversary drama, Line Walker 3 <使徒行者3>, Mandy once again expands her acting range by portraying Madam G, a policewoman diagnosed with Savant syndrome and Asperger syndrome. Sharing that Madam G is perhaps her favorite character so far in her career, Mandy expressed, “I enjoy portraying abnormal or anti-hero characters that pose a challenge. Prior to filming, I discussed with the producer and director many times on how we can build on the image and personality of Madam G. I wanted to preserve her special characteristics, but also make it convincing. It’s a fine balance to grasp.”
Coming Out of Her Quiet Shell
In real life, Mandy is much different from her character. While Madam G is a brilliant detective that fails at recognizing and considering other people’s feelings, Mandy considers herself as someone that is emotionally aware, but not very intelligent. “My emotional quotient is rather high. When I say things, I make sure not to hurt other people’s feelings or make them feel bad. My intelligence, on the other hand, is not quite as good. I’m not very good at analyzing things, but I can tell how a person is feeling based on their expressions and body movements.”
Despite her high emotional intelligence, Mandy initially was a quiet and reserved person, preferring to speak less to avoid making mistakes. “I became more careful after entering the entertainment industry. Because I am afraid of offending people, I don’t express myself as often. I am slow to warm to others and often wait until I get home to vent or talk about my problems with family. A good thing about this is that when people attack or offend me, I am quick to forget.”
Her reserved attitude changed when she met her good friends Nancy Wu (胡定欣), Myolie Wu (胡杏兒) and other members of “The Nonsense Club”. “After I met them, I slowly opened up and started to feel that the real me isn’t necessarily negative. I began to express myself a bit more.”
Since her debut in 2007, Mandy has had very little rumors, leading to less media coverage in comparison to those who debuted around the same time. On whether this contributed to her slow career rise, Mandy expressed, “Everyone’s path is different. I did not deliberately avoid having negative news or rumors. This is just who I am. I am on time when filming, I do my homework and read the scripts ahead of time, and I am very self-disciplined. This is my way of protecting and maintaining my healthy image. I don’t deliberately do things to make more ‘noise’ in the media. I am comfortable with just focusing on my work.”
Stability in Work and Love
Craving stability in her life, Mandy has been dating her boyfriend, jewelry company executive Anthony Chim (詹天文), for eight years. It is said that Mandy recently moved in with Anthony and that the two are preparing to tie the knot soon.
Her reserved attitude with work and her career also translates to her love life. Already busy with her career, she has no room for drama and takes a pragmatic approach. “I prefer my personal life to be more grounded and down-to-earth. For example, it is enough that we enjoy a nice meal together or go on vacation. I don’t think he loves me because of my gifts or the surprises I give him, but rather my positivity and open-mindedness. I don’t like arguing, because I will definitely lose. I’d much rather turn big problems into small ones, and small ones into no problems at all.”
On how she keeps her eight-year relationship running strong, Mandy expressed, “When you probe too much or see one another too often, it gets boring fast. [My boyfriend and I] give each other our own space and have trust and feel secure with one another. This really helps our relationship in the long-term.”
Source: Hket
This article is written by Huynh for JayneStars.com.
one of the last standing girls still with TVB from the nonsense group, she changed a lot and improved a lot the last few years, I like her more than Natalie Tong!
Good actress! 🙂
The last decade TVB promoted what I call the “forgettable”, mediocre uncharismatic average looking just blah, very forgettable. They consist of Nancy Wu, Priscilla Wong, Sisely Choi, Mandy Wong, Grace Chan, and soo many others. Mandy Wong is amongst these duds. Average acting plain looking, she has one expression for a range of emotions. Time to fade out not rise up on this one.
@seriously I so agree with you on Mandy. You forgot Natalie!
I am on episode 9 of LW3. Still haven’t gotten into Mandy’s character. Not quite savant or awkward enough. The teaching Sisley to dance scene seemed gratuitous and not quite fitting.
LW3 uses the same musical style to tie it to the previous series, but it has too many characters. I want to see Priscilla and Ben, but they are like cameos. Michael and Elena are awesome, but that story ended too soon and I was indirectly spoiled by an article on this site so it wasn’t surprising. Raymond without Charmaine isn’t really working. Only interesting new characters in the whole bunch so far are Sisley and Owen.
Nice to see Mimi Kung here. I haven’t had a chance to see her in the other series, so I liked the nostalgia of her and Michael together again.
@potatochip that dancing scene killed me. Sisley was good in it and funny but you are right so random for Mandy’s character. I think that was more about real life Mandy than the character. She “dances” in real life and I fee like every chance she gets she will dance -_-
Anyways the rest of your comments I agree, they only will introduce more characters lol. It was very underwhelming for me
@potatochip Yeah, they should cut that dance scene. It was so awkward & cringy!!
@potatochip I’m so glad I’m not alone, wondering why on earth the dance scene but to showcase her dancing skills. To be honest, if that was her best, it was so not good.
She and Kenneth Ma ruined LW3 for me, sorry to her fans. They just don’t have that “line walker” feeling to me. Her moral stance as Madame G just isn’t convincing. I still feel that she will win Best actress this year though (an insult to Charmaine tbh). I’m glad we got Ali for the past few years. There was no one able to anchor shows beyond having their own small fanbase.
Between Selena, Mandy, Nancy, and Myolie, imo Selena has the best looks and acting but she’s the least popular. Heck, Selena was first lead was Nancy was still doing supporting roles.
@bubbles23 Agree with you. Selena is my favorite out of the group, heck she’s definitely more diverse to with her acting. Being in a Canadian and Singapore shows.
@bubbles23 I’ve said it a million times but casting Kenneth was the biggest mistake. I finished it week ago but I felt like I didn’t even watch anything lol. Underwhelming.
I like Mandy as a person she seems nice and sweet but her acting is nothing special. Selena DEFINITELY is the best out of all of them. Looks and acting. I never understood the appeal of Natalie or Nancy so boring.
@tt23 same! 30 hours just wasted and I can barely rmbr the plot…. I miss how in LW2 there were different villains and small twists to the plots, but LW3 is just new characters here and there, and then random horrible deaths.
It’s unfortunate Selena didn’t exactly rise up with Kate/Fala/Tavia even though she had a lot of lead roles. I don’t understand how Nancy beat her to higher popularity… Both Nancy and Mandy have that very serious look when acting, and I hate it.
@bubbles23 Can someone please tell me in which episode Mui dies? Cant stand her and would love to see her being finished off.
@tt23 KM acts best as taxi driver and market seller, nothing else!
Wow, a lot of people didn’t like Kenneth in LW3. I actually liked it because I’m sick of him acting a goodie goodie guy. Kenneth needs a new challenge! I remembered him as the villain in Tiger Cubs (2012) and he was quite good! After that, I always hope he can get cast as a villain again. To be frank the script for Kenneth as Ngai Tak Lai in LW3 sucks!! There was no proper character development for him to be Ngai Tak-lai. The story was all over the place and I don’t know why they give more attention on the side characters instead of the main characters. Overall, (China ver) LW3 sucks!
Ps: I liked Kenneth’s white colored hairstyle in LW3! I think it was cool!
As for Mandy in LW3, one word: Bland – doesn’t have the lead power. I was disappointed with her performance in LW3 as there was so many ways to play Madam G and somehow she can made it so bland and boring…It really baffles me! There are 4 female lead in LW3 – Mandy, Sisley, Serene Lim & Priscilla (Although Priscilla was more like a cameo for me), and they didn’t leave me with any deep impression. Instead it was Selena Kong and Mimi Kung that was memorable!
Sisley improved in LW3 but there’s something about her that made she not likeable. And I dislike her wearing hot pants as a police officer. I can forgive it when she was undercover but after that she still wears hot pants to go to work at the police station!! WTH!
On another hand, it was Lam Fung’s big comeback to TVB and I pity him because they didn’t him much screen time and also Serene Lim as his partner in LW3. Serene Lim was almost invisible all the time. Eventhough, I think she was ok, not irritating but there’s just a huge gap to be filled after Charmaine.
Pps: Love Kent Cheng in LW3!! The story was more exciting when it was his arc.
Forgot to mention if Mandy’s character is boring you then she’s acting very well cause I believe that’s how that character is supposed to be. Low eq high iq. So obviously she’s going to be boring and emotionless. I loved that dance scene too
@exodus but Mandy is boring in every drama
@exodus Mandy was boring cos she cannot bring out the personality of the role