Paul Chun Has No Intentions of Retiring
After taking part in the TVB drama Witness Insecurity <護花危情) in 2012, veteran actor Paul Chun (秦沛) is now back in TVB drama, I Bet Your Pardon <荷里活有個大老千>. He stars alongside other seasoned actors, including Kent Cheng (鄭則士) and Kent Tong (湯鎮業).
Currently 73 years old, Paul has already been in the entertainment industry for 70 years. However, he has no intentions of retiring. Paul hails from a family of actors. Both his parents, father Yan Fa (严化) and mother Hung Wei (红薇), were renowned actors, and his children, Benji Chiang (姜文杰) and Lesley Chiang (姜麗文) have also made show business their careers.
Still Passionate About Acting
Paul began his career in entertainment as a child actor at the young age of three. His 70-year career boasts a resume of television series, films, as well as stage plays. His work consists of more than 300 films and more than 4,000 hours of television airtime. With such an array of experiences, are there any types of unique characters that Paul would like to portray? Paul thoughtfully responded, “I don’t know what kinds of characters I have not already portrayed before. If I do come across one, I would definitely accept the challenge! I’m very passionate about this field of work. I like everything and anything related to acting.”
Many artistes in the industry have had difficult moments where they’ve felt like giving up on their careers. Despite having been active in showbiz for 70 years, Paul has never felt discouraged. Even when issues such as incomplete scripts or sporadic script changes occur, Paul deals with the matter with a high EQ. “If another actor spontaneously changes my lines on set of filming, I would say to him, ‘I’m getting old now. My brain does not adjust very quickly. I spent a few days memorizing my lines. How about you just read your lines, and I’ll read my lines?’”
Having been one of Hong Kong showbiz’s staple actors during the flourishing 1980s, Paul is reminiscent of the good old times. “At the time, there wasn’t a Mainland Chinese market. There was only Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and western markets. We were all flourishing and it was a great time! How can I not be disheartened [at the Hong Kong film market] now? But I always say that Hong Kong films will definitely have its chance.”
His passion for the industry is shown through actions. When it comes to selecting filming projects, Paul focuses on the quality of the script, the director, and the cast. He expressed, “In the past, I would not accept the project if there was not enough of a budget. But now, I hope to foster more talented people for Hong Kong entertainment. I’m very willing to help out in any way, shape, or form. I hope to help attract more people who are passionate about this industry to chase their dreams.”
Source: hket
This article is written by Huynh for JayneStars.com.
I hope Paul never retires. He’s one of the few remaining great old school actors that the younger generations cannot touch. Unfortunately, many great actors of his generation has passed, and there are few to take their places. I won’t deny that most are good looking, and it’s only because of their appearance and connections that they keep getting jobs. If there were more competition in HK like it does in the Mainland, the acting would be so much better. Many complain that mainland dramas and movies suck, and that may be the case, but you cannot deny that most of the actors in the mainland that play main (and even supporting) deserve to be there because many can actually act. Most of the HK actors between 20-40ish can’t act if their life depended on it, and that is just sad. This is one of many reasons why HK entertainment is on their last leg…
@anon Which one chinese actors/actresses that can act like hong kong stars? I cannot see any. Everyone can act. Even you also can act. But only Hong kong can produce super stars.
Mainland people do not know what is quality. They will just watch as long as they are mainland artiest on it.
I dont see china can produce any super star like 4 heavenly kings, leslie cheung, anita mui, jackie chan,tony leung, stephen chow, chow yun fatt, kent cheng, paul chan, anthony wong, dayo wong, and many many many more until alot.
The problem is all this superstars already dont want to contribute back to the entertainment industry because they are already loaded now! They only concern their bank accounts. You think they will every year film a drama to keep the drama market alive. They just wont! They forgotten their root without HK , they wont become so successful!
Paul chan acting really superb playing like god of gambler in this drama earlier. haha.
@lam86
I was referring to the current generation of actors between 20-40ish being incomparable to the CURRENT generation of Mainland actors in terms of acting skills. I was not discussing about superstars and fame.
All the HK actors you’ve listed are all in their 50’s and 60’s which is irrelevant to my original discussion because they are already in their prime or has past their prime. When that generation of actors is gone, there will be no other HK actors in the current generation to replace them – at the very least on their level of star power. Meanwhile, in the mainland, they are pumping out tons of actors and actresses that can act and can potentially replace these HK superstars when they are gone.
Call me pessimstic, but I don’t think HK can ever produce superstars like Tony Leung, Anita Mui, Jackie Chan ever again like in the ’70s, 80’s, and 90’s. Hong Kong entertainment is dead!
I agree that HK produced good actors and superstars in the past, but they are all old middle-aged men now, with few up and coming HK actors to replace them when they are gone.
Whether you like it or not, the current generation of good actors that can act mostly come from the mainland – not Hong Kong. The handful that can act from Hong Kong are all up and coming and not established. New actors (that can act) like Justin Cheung is not an established superstar yet but has the potential to be. He’s only one of maybe 3-4 other actors that have that potential to be superstars. 99% of the other HK actors between 20-40’s, either can’t act nor don’t have the charisma to be anything more.
paul is a veteran actor and he is really good. I like his brother david chiang too.