Raymond Lam Does Not Miss TVB
Raymond Lam (林峯) did not take the decision to leave TVB lightly. The actor and singer thought long and hard for three years before he finally made the decision in 2014.
“I’ve been doing television for many years. It’s to the point where I’m starting to see a repeat in subject matter of my dramas,” said Raymond, who has filmed about 40 television dramas in the last 15 years. “I’ve tried all the roles that I could control, and that fire [passion] inside me is slowly extinguishing.”
Raymond graduated from TVB’s 13th artist training class in 1999. For the first two years of his career, he took part in small non-speaking roles in television dramas and participated in various travelogue programs, also hosting Mandarin-language shows for TVB8. He landed his first major supporting role in the 2001 drama A Taste of Love <美味情緣>, and shot to fame after starring alongside Louis Koo (古天樂) in the 2001 time traveling drama, A Step Into the Past <尋秦記>.
“I decided to leave [TVB] because I hope to find new breakthroughs in my career,” explained Raymond. “I also want to be able to improve my acting by assimilating more experiences that the television industry was unable to give me.”
Now that Raymond is taking temporary hiatus from the Hong Kong television industry, will Raymond focus more on his singing career? “Singing has always been a dream of mine since young. It’s really hard to maintain a career in film, music, and TV when filming dramas take up most of your time. Besides music, I also want to try more movies!”
The decision to end his 15-year management relationship with TVB was not an easy one, but when asked if he missed his “mother station”, Raymond said, “No, because this wasn’t a decision made at the spur of the moment. I actually think I should work even harder after leaving. To be able to come across such a supportive and understanding new agency is really hard to come by.”
Coming from a wealthy family, it was said that Raymond’s success in both the television and music industries was largely due to his powerful family background. These allegations made Raymond really uncomfortable at first. “I once requested the organizers to not give me an award. Many assumed I had behind-the-scenes supporters anyways, so winning would just make me uncomfortable.”
But after going through that first year of weak financial income as with most TVB acting graduates, Raymond was already earning money to pay back to his family by his second year of debut. “The only time when my father had to support me economically was in my first year of debut. In the second year, I was already earning enough money to give my father!”
Raymond also said that both of his parents are very understanding, and his father never once asked him to return home to take care of his family’s business. “They never gave me that pressure. I’m very fortunate to have such open-minded parents.”
Source: On.cc
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Go form a movie production with louis koo
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@freedalas Actually TVB missed him as much as they invited him several times to star in the movie version and sequel for Line Walker. He declined but TVB did invite him.
Meanwhile, rumour that for sequel of Line Walker, when TVB cant have the agreement with both of LF and Ah Sheh, they replaced them with YY and Ma Ming. Lolz, not the guy that some fans spammed too much on the weibo of the producer (QQ Penguin). Those fans have been banned by the producer for that action. Perhaps the delusion fans thought that the producer would put an eye on their idol but in the end, they only got bitter fruit in reply.
And people (except the crazy fans) know that TVB is running out of siu sangs as they have to invite veterans to come back to save the rating.
LF has 100 mil HKD when leaving. Anyone from TVB who can earn as much as him when leaving can try to talk about ‘better’.
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@freedalas should remind you of Laughing gor movies which two male leads in series were’t invited to movies.
As for Ma Ming, if he was really invited to act in the sequel, it means in TvB’s eyes, he is more suitable than the names in your mind. Btw, Bosco is half left TVB so he wont be given big roles. He doesnt mind as well because he enjoys his fame in China, not TVB.
And yes, even if TVB doesnt miss LF acting, they will missthe amount of money he can bring each year.
@freedalas I’m sure TVB misses the amount of money LF could bring in compared to the new Siu Sangs. The only Siu Sang left in TVB with comparable star power as LF is Bosco.
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@freedalas I know, all his roles have been pretty bland or the script wasn’t well written. Ex. The Ultimate Addiction had potential, but then the script was just horrendous. But I also feel that his heart isn’t at TVB anymore since he’s been filming a lot of mainland dramas or movies. Plus, he has his businesses as well.
@freedalas
No Tvb misses him since they have a shortage of talent right now. You are truly lost if you think tvb a lot of other Siu Sangs which they obviously don’t.
@hetieshou TVB is not shortage of talent. There are plenty of outstanding and talented artists such as Mak Ka Lun , Dickson Lee, Eric Li, David Do , Jimmy Au. It’s just that TVB refuse to promote them to leading status despite their potential. They are still stuck with playing minor roles after all these years.
@unknown The artists that you’ve listed may be talented, but they don’t have the starpower to have been promoted as a Siu Sang back then or now.
@bamitskitty It is obvious TVB show favoritism toward certain artists and promote whoever they want regardless that person is good/bad actor. Take a look at all those siu sungs fandans Tony hung, Him law Benjamin Yuen, Vincent Wong, Eliza sam, Priscilla Wong, Grace chan. They have already been given many opportunities that other supporting actors don’t have. Even though they have joined the entertainment industry for only a short amount of time compared to the veteran artists,TVB had already started heavily promoting them, giving them lead roles in every series.
@unknown tony hung has neither the looks or talents to be getting lead roles in every drama… it’s mind boggling to say the least.
@daebak That’s exactly my point. TVB only focus on promoting their popular young artists rather than the veterans. Despite their poor acting skills, TVB would continue to promote them and give them leads roles. There are plenty of great and talented supporting artists such as Mak Ka Lun , Dickson Lee, Eric Li, David Do, Jimmy Au who have been working in TVB for decades, but they never get promoted and received the recognition they deserved. These supporting actors had never been given the same opportunities as others had. They are still stuck with playing minor roles after all these years.
@unknown Of course TVB shows favoritism, they promote the people who knows how to sweet talk or the people they know can build a fanbase for, to bring in cash.
If I remember correctly, Dickson Lee was promoted for a little while back in the day, but then I don’t know what happened. He didn’t get lead roles, but he got some pretty memorable ones.
@daebak I have no idea why TVB is promoting Tony Hung so much, other then his connection with Sandy. I cringe every time I see him onscreen.