Raymond Wong Defends Grace Chan and Tony Hung’s Acting
TVB’s currently airing dramas, Under the Veil <無雙譜> and Captain of Destiny <張保仔>, have been met with mediocre viewership ratings. As Grace Chan (陳凱琳) and Tony Hung‘s (洪永城) raw acting are being criticized, Raymond Wong (黃浩然) urges viewers to give both artistes more time to hone their craft.
Under the Veil tells three different folktales and employs a fantasy backdrop. Despite the use of high-end technology, the series was criticized for having poor computer effects. Surprised at the comments, Raymond rebutted, “It’s definitely better than what we had in the old days. I’ve watched it myself and even though some viewers commented on how the underwater effects could have been better – I personally think they were fine. I also like Eliza Sam’s (岑麗香) fish spirit character.”
With TVB’s Anniversary awards ceremony approaching in December, Raymond denied that he has a chance to win TV King this year. Raymond expressed support for three-time Best Actor winner, Wayne Lai (黎耀祥) and his villainous role in the upcoming period thriller, Lord of Shanghai <梟雄>.
Raymond Applauds Grace Chan’s Professionalism
In a recent interview, veteran actor Anthony Wong (黃秋生) complimented Grace on her beauty, but criticized her for her annoying habits on screen in Captain of Destiny. Instead, Raymond praised Grace’s professionalism after witnessing her work ethics on the set of Overachievers <名門暗戰>. Raymond also supported Tony Hung (洪永城), who was cast as Cheung Po Tsai after Raymond fell ill.
Urging the viewers to give the two lead artistes a little more time, Raymond hopes that everyone will extend encouraging thoughts rather than harsh criticisms. “I fell ill last year and know that Tony was supposed to go on vacation when he received the script [for Captain of Destiny]. He started filming one to two days later. He wasn’t prepared in many things yet. It’s fair to say that he needed more time. Grace is a very strong girl, so [the criticism] will only make her grow more.”
Source: On.cc
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
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@freedalas athough i dont like tony as cpt but i dont think his acting is that bad. he isnt that ott like grace, he is just not a charismatic leader.tony dont have that fire in his eyes or the killer face which ruco have. tony is maybe good as a gentlemen but not as a warrior.
@kolo that’s becos Ruco has a very expressive pair of eyes which Tony doesn’t. He hasn’t reached that level to be able to act with his eyes yet.
@isay we will see if he can or not but untill now im not convinced he can,also tvb make cpt character more like a wretch than a fearsome pirate leader who can command thousands soldiers.
@kolo agreed!
I think it’s hard to justify for anyone winning the big prize for this series as each has only about 7 episodes’ worth of appearance. There’s an underwater scene in this drama too? Oh my lord. It was so badly done in COD that i feel embarrassed for tvb.
Hrm, suddenly there’s a heap of people jumping on the blame producer/director band wagon. Yes, they should’ve known better and not let the rookies pass so they won’t end up with garbage. HOWEVER, they’re too only employees. They can’t halt production and make the actors/actresses redo takes and takes and takes. They can only calibrate the acting so much on the spot. If they don’t get finish filming, they’ll get blame and scream at too.
The people who need to take the biggest blame is the management who allowed and promoted these rookies when they’renot ready. This is nothing new. They’ve thrown rookies into the fire before they’re ready. When viewers blast them for the sucky performances then they pull them back to supporting; that’s when they get to learn and become better. By that time though, tvb refuses to promote them and once again bring up bad, unprepared newbies. Take Elaine, Natalie, even Nancy for examples. They were horrid and sooo inexperienced when they debut as leads. I hated them. Now I like them because they’ve grown and got better; ready for lead but unfortunately they’ve been forgotten and casted to the back by tvb.
Anyways, to me, it’s the big guy (tvb upper folks) doing. If their managing style doesn’t change, we’ll forever get this rookie-can’t-act-but-leading episodes.
@jjwong This actually reminded me of that Kwok Fung interview and his more in-depth explanation of TVB treatment towards their employees. I think in an overall context, it has probably gotten to the point where these guys are just working for their paycheck rather than having any passion for their work so they’re just wanting to wrap it up and go home ASAP. I still remember that tidbit where Kwok Fung was describing how the leads would be sleeping but people who were in at 6am would be all dressed up and have to sit around doing nothing and if they tried to complain it would be a universal silence on them nor could they leave. It was as if they were treated like they had no lives on their own.
Obviously, when you throw rookies like that into the fray you’re also going to get people who feel like their careers are just gonna stall alongside the terrible working conditions. As he put it, who would give their life for the company anymore under such cold treatment and unfair circumstances. Negativity would breed more negativity and pretty soon everyone will more or less be affected by apathy while on the job, something you can’t really have in this line of work.
I want to add that majority of the producers, directors and scriptwriters who were ex-TVB and went to HKTV cranked out much, much higher quality series. From their interviews, they praised how much more space they have with HKTV hence they could come up with more daring, interesting and new materials. Stop blaming the employees. It’s all in the management.
@sodi Yes, I remember all the boomed news about TVB mistreating their employees several years ago. It seemed to improved slightly when they felt a little threatened by HKTV. Now that they have monolopy again, I haven’t heard any more news about them enhancing their employees benefits and things. It’s typical. How can gov’t not see that monolopy isn’t good for the economy and people as a whole. Yes, they’ll have that new iHKT (sp) but they’ll be like ATV who doesn’t give TVB a run for its money anyways.
@jjwong what do you mean? HKTV is gone?
@kaykay408 HKTV is pretty much gone from small screen, unfortunately. They stopped filming drama awhile back. They’re talking about or are going into movies now.
@jjwong oh that’s a shame. I like their dramas. Hope they can get the license and continue producing. Thanks for the info.
i think i find grace’s acting much better than sisley’s though
ruco’s eyes speak volumes.
before going to qing dynasty, he was bad guy Bowie and very convincing too. as kind hearted and honest 11th prince he portrayed very well too…I felt so heartache when the emperor threw the proposals at him several times.
@janet72 yeah in that closing scene of ep 13 his eyes really expressed how much he despised himself for his cowardly act (in his words) without him uttering a word. And before that scene, we can see his eyes glisten with unfallen tears as he realised that he wld hv to sacrifice his ships to defend his naval base.
@isay…ruco has the ability to express his feelings without speaking. he should be 张保仔 instead of the prince. tony hung is like a little boy playing the role of a fearless pirate.
@janet72 If they switch roles I will switch off TV. The prince has a heavier role.
@funnlim i would watch if Ruco is CPT and focus on him, leaving the prince as a sideline villian. Isn’t the Chinese title CPT???? It’s very prince-heavy, which I’m not complaining too much about that since it’s Ruco playing. Ruco is more than capable of leading a series by himself. Stop giving co-lead title. Ugh.
@jjwong Ruco is given co-lead not becos he can’t lead on his own but becos the producers make use of his name to promote the lesser known co-leads eg Edwin in BK and now Tony in COD.
@isay I never said Ruco isn’t capable to lead (I said the opposite actually). I fully suspect that they’re using his name to brining up other leads. He also shared lead with Raymond Wong in couple aeries too. All I’m saying they should stop and give him a full blown one. He’s becoming another Ron Ng as far as his luck and path goes. At least he’s a better actor than Ron imo.
@jjwong Ruco has no mountain backing him. It’s sad that TVB chooses to promote the unworthy ones over those who deserve it more. The audience can see the hard work he has put in into all his roles, be they supporting, co-lead or lead. That’s why TVB suxs.
@isay So true!
The irony of Raymond siding with the noobs when his acting isn’t much better than them.
@anon…yup…he is no better.
I must say Raymond Wong does not seem to age well.
@arc78
I know, I was surprised to know that he’s not even fully 40 yet but his wrinkles are much more noticeable than some. Alex Fong is much older but i must say he’s aging very well.
@kiki Raymond is 40. He used to look worse. After his recovery from his illness, he looks much fresher with a less weather beaten face.
Grace and Tony weren’t good but still WAY better than Kelly Fu. My god she was so annoying and horrible to watch, I actually wished the guy shot her with the gun and killed her character off when they accused her of killing the child.
@jane626 Kelly fu’s voice & heavy breathing were unbearable. But her acting is good. Just need to mute when she cries or scream, which is pretty much at least once per episode so far.
@jane626…if Kelly fu is the actress playing the role of 11th prince’s maid, then her role in Triumph of the skies is equally irritating.
@janet72 Kelly is OK when she’s not trying to act cute eg when she first appeared in the drama and in ep 15 when Man Ho had to coax her to drink her medicine and that cutesy face she made when he said he had ordered stewed pork for her. Those were cringeworthy moments to rival Grace.
TVB should have known the new crop of beauty queens need a good brushing up of acting skills. they can win titles but doesn’t mean they can act. although there has been a mass exit of experienced artistes, there are still artistes like nancy wu, natalie tong etc who can take on the role of Wong Tai Mui.
@janet72 This has been the tradition since day 1 of Miss HK and nothing has changed except maybe now they are eager to let the winner act within 1 year as opposed to in the past.
Nancy Wu is too mature looking. Natalie Tong is too zen. She can be the great great great great grandma.
I will say Tracy Chu for Wong Tai Mui.
@funnlim…tracy chu is another Miss Hong Kong. she is not bad acting opposite Lawrence ng in that drama about doctors. another drama was with Kenny wong.
at least she didn’t act cutesy.
@janet72 Tracy Chu was good in “Smooth Talker”. She was pretty convincing as a girl with Asperger’s Syndrome. She did act cute in the series, but, it’s in the context of the story (her boss ask her to act kawaii to attract more customers, as her straight forward talking has driven away some existing ones). Those moments are funny ones.
She’s improving steadily with each role. I hope to see more of her.