Mandy Wong Reflects on Complex Role in “Brutally Young”
The currently airing Brutally Young <十八年後的終極告白> has been praised for its exciting storyline and well-thought-out character development. Starring as a police officer and the love interest of a morally gray character, Mandy Wong (黃智雯) has been praised for her ability to exhibit both her character’s strong-mindedness as well as her softer, more feminine side.
*Spoiler Alert
Reflecting on her character, Mandy expressed, “My character is strong on the outside, but also possesses a side that is weak and dependent on others. It reflects a very realistic personality. Actually, women do not have to just only have to be stubborn or strong-willed.”
In the drama, her character not only suffers from loss of loved ones, but also suffers multiple betrayals from people closest to her. Mandy added, “When I was younger, I did not think there would be anything that would make me unhappy. I am fortunate to not have experienced any extreme suffering or losses. However, after filming this drama, I feel that there is a thin line between life and death. A lot of things that we believe are certainties can be lost forever in a blink of an eye. I realized that when we grow up and become adults, we will have to face and deal with losses and many other unfortunate things.”
Although Mandy puts in 100 percent effort to portray all of her characters to the best of her ability, she still finds tragic scenes to be the toughest to perform. “I am not someone who will give a lot of priority or hold on to sadness. However, when I was filming, I constantly had to think about unhappy things and make myself unhappy in order to get into character. The negative thoughts and emotions festered. Coupled with restlessness due to work, I eventually became very depressed and didn’t know how to smile.”
In addition to the highly praised Brutally Young, Mandy is also the female lead in the much-anticipated sequel, The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter <降魔的2.0>. With two high-profile dramas airing simultaneously, perhaps this year will be Mandy’s year to pocket Best Actress. On her chances of winning, Many said, “There are some things that I cannot control. What I can control is the quality of my performance. This is an artiste’s responsibility. As long as I take chances and make use of every opportunity, then I will not think it is a waste. The thing that is most regretful would be if I did not make the best out of my chances and portray my characters to the best of my ability. I don’t want the audience to feel that I am repeatedly portraying the same types of characters. What I need to do is portray a variety of characters on screen for my audience.”
Source: Hket
This was unappealing character to take on for Mandy and she was outshone by every actor/actress in the series. This proves to me that Mandy is not anywhere near an elite actress. Tiger’s wife and Vivian in the series we’re far better than Mandy…
@jimmyszeto I so agree with you! Mandy pales in comparison to the other cast members. TBH, anyone could’ve played that character. It was a ‘meh’ character. Nothing to write home about. Vivian was great!
Best Actress? Far from it. Even Candice Chiu was better than her in this series.
@pompidur
Agree. It was a pity that Candice has such a small role but she was natural and at ease unlike Mandy.
The most heart wrenching, tearjerking ending since ending from TVB since ‘On the Edge’. Great job Shaun, Joel, Dominic and majority of the cast….
Lol everyone bashing but honestly I think this is her best role so far. She isn’t as annoying and loud as I’ve seen in some of her other roles. It’s hard to play strong willed characters and demonstrate internal conflicts whereas Candice, Vivien, and whoever played Ah Tai had more one dimensional characters. Anyways everyone did really good in this drama
@bubbles23
Yeh Mandy did far better towards the end especially when showing her weak side after her dad’s betrayal and mothers death. Was expecting her to being faking it to arrest Shaun but she did well…
@jimmyszeto
Hmm I don’t think Madam Yuen was faking anything and she held on to Sam since she lost her mum (and dad kinda). Eventually the evidence added up and she couldn’t ignore it anymore
@bubbles23
Yeh. At first I thought Mandy was still the one dimensional strong inspector who was going undercover to solve the case but she played the increasing weak character after her mother’s demise very well. The storyline still had it flaws but it is the best collective performances and chemistry for a long time from a cast. Shaun easily wins best actor 2020. That was some acting!
@jimmyszeto if this drama came out last year he definitely would give Kenneth Ma a good run for his money. I can’t see Maming doing this type of role
@bubbles23 Kenneth played dark roles in the past – Grace Under Fire & My Dearly Sinful Mind
@luye
I still think ‘My Dearly Sinful Mind’ along with ‘Exorcist Meter’ are Kenneth’s best performances. ‘Big White duel best actor winner ‘was just a consolation prize for getting cheated on. For a boring guy kenneth is great at comedy roles too…
Not a fan of Mandy Wong. Find her acting a little unemotional. She couldn’t act the crying scene that convincing. Couldn’t get tears out of her eyes. Vivian & Griselda Yeung do much better than her. On other hand, guess the only character Shaun Tam can act is straight mean face, he definitely can’t do comedy or any other roles. Guess the script writers have to tailor every role to suit his look haha
@joyce
Tailor made? Are you serious? Shaun’s character in ‘Brutally Young’ was not the typical type role..
@jimmyszeto with his look & wooden face, he can only fits roles like in brutally young, can’t be cast in any other role. He was cast in the same kind of role most of the time. Straight wooden face no emotion whatsoever. Beside those scenes where he scream & cry, the rest of the series he has the same reaction whether it’s happy or normal or sad.
Overall I enjoyed the show, it wasn’t the best but my expectations of TVB dramas have dropped a lot. The story was actually pretty good. Vivian’s role was my favorite. Mandy was ok.
Just finished this drama and it was pretty good. I enjoyed the thriller aspect of it. Mandy is NOT my favorite actress to watch or even remotely close to enjoy watching her. She never seems to have any emotions or dimension. Just ‘meh’. I did enjoy the other cast members’ chemistry and how the story unfolded. Shaun Tam was very good in this series. Showed how he tried to be straight laced (light suits throughout the series) and then he gradually turns crooked (dark suit and different glasses). Vivien Yeo stole the show, Tiger’s wife was really good, and Griselda’s character was so tragic. Overall a very good show. Thankfully it was only 20 episodes. Thank you, TVB!
I think her performance in this series is good (in her record), but character-wise the other cast out-performed her.
I am so sad for the character she plays :(… we dunno how she coped afterwards… both parents dead and emigrated afterwards… poor her.. her cop career ruined her and her family
@jujuxoxo
Her father didn’t die till around 20 years later I think is what I heard. It was refreshing that a strong leader policewoman showed her vulnerabilities. Usually TVB just go with one character trait and that is it for professional occupations.