Rebecca Zhu Sees Carina Lau and Fala Chen as Role Models
Since winning the crown for the 2011 Miss Hong Kong pageant, Rebecca Zhu’s (朱晨麗) resemblance to Fala Chen (陳法拉) allowed her to steadily increase her popularity. Within one year, Rebecca has taken part in three major productions, Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles <名媛望族>, Triumph in the Skies 2 <衝上雲霄II>, and Always and Ever <情逆三世缘>. Although the audience members initially called her out on her weak acting abilities, the 25-year-old actress continues to improve and make a footprint in the industry.
Passion for Ballet
Prior to competing in the pageant, Rebecca was a talented ballet dancer. She left her home in Suzhou and came to Hong Kong to study the arts as a teenager. While many may think that it is a shame for Rebecca to give up a career as a ballet dancer to become an actress, TVB actually gave the opportunity for Rebecca to shine in front of the screen by using her dancing abilities.
In Triumph in the Skies 2, Rebecca is seen dancing on a beach – leaving a great impression on audience members who had previously lashed out on her acting. “I’m so happy that both my characters in Triumph in the Skies 2 and Always and Ever allowed me to demonstrate my strength in [dancing]. The dance choreography in the beach scene in Triumph in the Skies 2 was designed by myself. I want to thank TVB for believing in me and God for allowing the weather conditions to be perfect during the shooting.”
Shedding Pageant Image
As a beauty queen, it is necessary to keep up with the image even after the competition. Rebecca voiced the difficulties in trying to do so and had to shed her pageant image in order to get into character when filming. “It took time to get used to the filming schedules in the entertainment industry. When I was a dancer, I had regular work hours. But I’m still young, so I can persevere. Although I have only filmed three dramas, I’ve learned a lot on the way thanks to the seniors I met.”
Rebecca is close friends with Elena Kong (江美儀), whom she had previously worked with in Silver Spoon, Sterling Shackles. In Triumph in the Skies 2, Rebecca plays Elena’s daughter, the strong-headed and spoiled, Pink Wu. In Always and Ever, Rebecca plays Bobby Au Yeung’s (歐陽震華) mother in the 1950s. In both cases, Rebecca praised Elena and Bobby for being friendly and comedic. Since Cantonese is not Rebecca’s mother tongue, she is currently working on her pronunciation with the help of others.
Romance Takes a Backseat
As an actress, Rebecca understands that rumors will be inevitable. She tries her best to overlook the speculations despite being previously linked to Mr. Hong Kong winner, Clayton Li (李晉強), and TVB’s residential bachelor, Kenneth Ma (馬國明). Rebecca said, “Currently, I’m focused on work. I will learn from Carina Lau (劉嘉玲), who is also a Suzhou native, to become an outstanding artist. Everyone said I look like Fala Chen (陳法拉), whom I regard as a target and hope to establish similar achievements.”
Source: ihktv.com
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
Though I still don’t like Rebecca Zhu much, I must admit that she acts better than Christine Kuo in just 3 or 4 drama series; she also speaks better Cantonese than Christine (as per her role in TITS 2). Her accents are less, but she does not speak her dialogues very naturally. She needs to work on it.
I think she has more acting talents than Christine Kuo.
Rebecca is a good talent.
She easily beats out all those wannabe like Oceane, Christine kuo, Eliza Sam.
I find TVB is damn biased to the core, keep on promoting all those beauty queens from Canada and USA even though most cannot even utter Cantonese words well, let alone speak.
How does she look like Fala? Like how? Where?
At some angles, but she does not look like Fala most of the time.
In fact, she is lucky that people think she looks like Fala. Otherwise, she would not have cast as Siu Yau in SSSS …….. a brand new actress to assume a 2nd lead role replacing Fala Chen.
I think she sort of does at some angles but other angles, she does not look like Fala at all. She looks totally different for the most part.
Girl is looking up to Fala Chen? She needs more idol figures in her life. Geez. Raise the bar a little.
Totally agree!!! LOL 🙂
Rebecca is the more talented one (with a ballet background). She won the crown. At least, she’s not taking/demanding lead roles (without the talent to back it up).
I don’t think Rebeccca acted well in Siu Yau’s character though. What talents did she get …. ballet dancing, but not acting?
If her character is a ballet dancer, perhaps she will do well, but just in performing ballet dancing, not in anything else.
Having a ballet background helps “indirectly” in all sorts of “graceful” movement/posture, which is very much a part of acting. She will be less likely to make awkward movements (flailing arms, bounce around, etc.) like Fala often does.
Oh great… I was looking forward to tits 2 and always and ever…going to ruin both of the dramas for me like how she did in ssss.
Fala won the crown
FYI, Fala “lost” the crown (for 2005 Miss Chinese International Pageant) to Leanne Li.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fala_Chen
hahahh yeah, she should look up to good girl images like Linda or Tavia……please not Kate Tsui or Fala and other actresses who like to “test the waters” by revealing their clothes
Emm how does fala show her body?
I know. haha.
Fala chens a great actress !
Not sure if looking up to Fala is the best idea since her acting hasn’t reached that level yet. I’m still bothered by Rebecca’s Cantonese, but yes definitely better than Christine. Her acting is still very low, but hopefully she can improve.
eliza sam is so much better. Even tough it’s a bit too exaggerated, it’s pretty good
She is a terrible actress, partly due to inexperience, some part due to the roles she got but mostly because she is just terrible. I hate it how articles write about talent for ballet, like as if they were destined for a career for ballet until something bad or different happened. Let’s put it this way; learning ballet doesn’t mean she is a ballet dancer. Learning how to play piano does not mean you’re concert pianist.
Anyway at least she didn’t say the standard answer Maggie Cheung (Man Yuk) so for that I give her props. But Fala?
Agree. A ballet dancer is hardly a promising career. Talented ballet dancer sometimes can only be backup dancer who will hardly know you. Unless she is like Anna Pavlova, then that is a sacrifice.
She is better off now. At least people know her. Known for her bad acting..;P
Ballet dancers will never make that kind of money as a popular TVB actress, and their performance-life span is rather short. Moreover, they need to practise every day to keep up their techniques.
Rebecca is an accomplished ballet dancer who received a scholarship for her postgraduate studies on ballet. She was also with the Hong Kong Ballet, a internationally renown classical ballet company. They don’t take in “just any dancer” but someone whose dancing is of a certain standard. So Funn, Rebecca truly is a professionally ballerina who has performed on the international stage. Just thought I point it out cos you seem to belittle her achievements.
Well said Primose. I totally agree with what everything you have said in the post above and the bottom one. And learning any form of dance, especially ballet isn’t easy. It takes a lot of time and a lot of effort to become a full-time ballet dancer.
I am not belittling her but I question whether it is as huge as pointed out. I can never believe if she is so gifted and doing so well she will quit it all, join a pageant and become an actress.
Good point …… if ballet is her passion and she is a 1st class ballerina.
@Funn: I don’t have the article link but I believe Rebecca’s feet/ankle was injured due to dancing and she had to take extended leave. That was when she really questioned a career in dancing and decided to try other path. Hence she entered the pageant.
@ita and sandcherry
I don’t see why ballet dancing cannot be a promising career. When you are in the performing arts, you do it because of passion, not for money. True, not everyone can make it to the top, but for those who perserver, it’s because of the passion and love. Even in acting, there are many second and third line ones who don’t make it until after decades.
Typo error – persevere
Passion and love does not put food on the dinner table.
Passion and love do not put food on the dinner table.
————————————
Agree absolutely. Originally it might be Rebecca’s passion to be a ballerina, but it is her ambition to be an actress so that she can be more popular and make more money.
Whatever Rebecca’s ambition is is not my point. I want to point out that by saying ballet is not a promising career and doesn’t pay well is doing injustice to all the professional ballerinas who put in effort and hard work to perfect their skills. It pains me when in this day and age people still think that a performing arts career cannot feed a family. I thought that was something only the older generation advocated.
ballet is not a promising career and doesn’t pay well is doing injustice to all the professional ballerinas who put in effort and hard work to perfect their skills. It pains me when in this day and age people still think that a performing arts career cannot feed a family.
^ Agree fully with you. 🙂
It is a fact that ballerinas don’t have a long performing life. If you are not a first class ballerina, you will not be paid well. Only 1st class ballerinas will get famous and recruited internationally, and there are so few 1st class ballerinas in each city. Moreover, it is very easy for them to get injuries. Once they get injured, they may not be able to perform any more.
Most ballerina retire at an early age, mid to late 30s, and start their teaching careers.
“Moreover, it is very easy for them to get injuries. Once they get injured, they may not be able to perform any more.”
Valid points but every sport/job has the potential of having injuries. But I tend to think that figure skating injuries are more serious/prone to happen than ballet injuries.
I don’t know which one is more prone to injuries … ballet dancing or figure skating. However, both have to be performed best at a young age. After a person reaches mid 35, he/she will not be that competitive.
An actress can act easily after age 50 or even 60 these days, such as Liza Wang, Louise Lee, Susanna Kwan, Angie Chiu, etc.
Female figure skating skaters’ careers tend to be shorter than ballerinas. Min. age to retire: 30.
And figure skating is more prone because you’re basically jumping and twisting on the ice.
I know. Most figure skating champions have to retire around age 30 or so.
I guess ballerinas can retire late 30 or even early 40.
You are right. Figure skating may be more dangerous because it is performed on the ice.
Mhm, well, it might be me taking skating lessons and jumping that high and knowing when to turn/spin is hard and scary :3
@Sandcherry. But isn’t ballet teaching a career? How is it less of a career than say a professor in a university or teacher in a school? I don’t know how much 2nd tiers ballerinas are paid. But a good ballet teacher is definitely well paid! I am paying an arm and a leg for my daughter’s private ballet lessons. And the teacher wasn’t even a prima donna during her performing days. BUT she is definitely a good teacher and inspires her students. And she is definitely well paid – judging by her charges, number of students and the long waiting list for her class.
Most ballerinas like to shine (perform) as a star. I agree that most ballet teachers are well paid. It is quite different to perform as a ballerina vs. to teach as a ballet instructor. It is like a concert pianist vs. a piano teacher. Any decent piano student with a Grade 10 level + a teacher’s certificate can teach piano, but you need to be very good in performance before you can be a concert pianist.
It is much easier to be a ballet teacher than a top-notch ballerina. Usually when top-notch ballerinas become teachers, they can charge a lot more in tuition fees.
Yes Sandcherry, which is why I don’t agree with your statement that “Ballet dancers will never make that kind of money as a popular TVB actress” because it really depends on how their career unfolds. And not many actresses act till old age. A lot of them retire in their 30s too (usually after marriage). But I guess I disagree more with ita’s comment that ballet is not a promising career.
It is a promising career, but it is a lot harder to be successful as a star, and to make good money vs. actresses. Actresses don’t just sell their acting, they also do endorsements, promotions, shows, ads, and other side jobs.
Some other readers mentioned above that Rebecca Zhu injured her angle and had to take extended leave of absence, and that was why she switched her path. Don’t know if it is true.
There is nothing wrong with doing something you love. However, if it is not a career that is not financialy secure, then you should just leave it as a hobby. Even Michelle Kwan who was a well-known figure skater, went back to college after her skating career ended. Honestly, how many well-known financially stable ballerinas do you know? I do not know any. I’m not saying that you have to be rich, but chances are very slim to make money from that area unless you are indeed superior. Even if you are, you can’t dance forever because once you get old, you have to stop. As for being a teacher, well not a lot of families can afford for lessions. There is also probably a lot of teachers to compete against too. Rebecca is not stupid, so therefore she chose to be actress because when she won the pageant she knew she would have more chances of being promoted than others.
Promising careers are defined by ‘money money money’ and just money. There isn’t anything self-rewarding about it i.e. happiness and joy. It is just money.
People who don’t have a passion. I refuse to say lack of a passion since everyone has a passion for something just they seem to be blind or are lazy to go out and search for it. So anyways, yes people who don’t have a passion look for the money because that is what society teaches us now …’promising careers’ $$$$
And before anyone jumps the gun, promising careers can come with happiness. There are a selective few out there who gets the $$$ and the joy because they landed on something they really love.
Haha. I only hope my daughter, who aspires to be a ballerina, does not receive such wet blanket remarks from uncles and aunties like you 🙂
Primrose:
No wonder you were so upset when I said ballerinas do not have a long performance life span. Anyway, good luck to your daughter. She has to work hard and become one of the top ones. No good to be just a ballet teacher.
No I don’t need my daughter to be a principal dancer. I just want her to be happy with whatever she chooses as a career – even if she ends up teaching ballet – as long as she finds meaning in and have passion for her work. And I certainly don’t equate a career with making a lot of money. Put it this way, if I keep telling her that being in a profession like a doctor or lawyer is a money earning career but she has no interest or flair for it, then I would have failed in providing guidance as a mother.
…then I would have failed in providing guidance as a mother.
—
Beautiful words
Primrose:
You must be an excellent mother. Well, as long as your daughter is happy and can take care of herself (financially), she can surely pursue her career as per her passion.
I would like to see my comments more as “helpful suggestions” because I knew someone who went down that path before. She ended up going back to school and majored in business. I didn’t mean to offend anyone at all. By the way, you said aunties and uncles, but I am a 16-year-old girl. Good luck to your child (:
I sorta expected the replies I see here… one thing is for sure… there are certain TVB actresses/actors that are lightning rods for negativity 😛
hahahha funny 😀
I don’t understand. Why she looks up to Fala Chen? What had she done that’s so prominent until she became an idol to upcoming actress? As far as I remember, Fala’s acting in TITS 2 is not well-received.
It is because both Carina Lau and Fala Chen are well-established in the entertainment industry, and both of them are Mandarin-speaking actresses.
As a matter of fact, Carlina Lau still speaks accented Cantonese even after her 30+ years of residence in Hong Kong.
It’s understandable if Carina Lau is her idol. She’s a great actress with loads of experiences.. but not so with Fala Chen. She may be “well-established” in TVB but not really in the whole of entertainment industry. There’s still a long way to go for her to do well.
You think Carina Lau is a good actress. Sorry, I don’t. Of course she should be better than Fala Chen in acting because she is a veteran for some 30 years. But Fala’s Cantonese is better than Carina’s. My husband always complained about her accented Cantonese whenever he watched her in interviews. He said that someone who has lived in Hong Kong for over 30 years still cannot speak proper Cantonese.
Fala does not have to be well established for someone to look upto her. It could be her straightforward personality or aggressive nature. I look upto my gym teacher from elementary school. He’s never won any awards and he’s not well established in his field but I have tremendous respect for him. Who do you look upto? Someone that won the Nobel prize for something you can’t even pronounce?
So Pink Pink was tailored for Rebecca?
It seems like pageant girls look up to Fala because 1. Fala is a former pageant participant. 2. Fala improves on her accent. Guess they all can relate to that.
Correct!
Her voice is weird. Hope to see her less cuz she can’t act or talk normal.
Rebecca speaks very unnaturally. Perhaps she makes an effort to speak proper Cantonese and forces herself to say the words clearly. As a result, she speaks those lines like word by word ….. choppy.
Her accents are less though, but not natural.
She has lived in Hong Kong for almost 10 years? Im sure she could have controlled her Cantonese accent by now… unless you ask Fala for her speaking coach to perfect her speaking ability.
I totally agree…ruin every drama for me with her staring in it.
Fala II sucks. TVb needs to recruit Fala III.
I gave up after watching a few episodes of the Triumph of the skies and Ever always – same old TVB stuff. I now found out Rebecca’s in these series, I might want to try watching it.
Ok, it’s good to have Carina Lau be an inspiration and role model (though I don’t see her surpassing Carina, who was already pretty good in her mid-20’s) but Fala Chen, seriously? Lol. Carina Lau and Fala Chen should not be in the same sentence, it just sounds wrong. They are not comparable in fame nor talent.
Anyway, Rebecca Zhu is not bad for a newcomer but she has lots of room for improvement. In terms of beauty, I find her quite attractive at times, plain at other times. But she doesn’t really look like Fala to me. Rebecca’s features are more refined. Fala’s mouth is much wider.
Don’t agree. Carina Lau could not even speak half decent Cantonese in her mid 20s, not even now. She was one of the weak actresses in TVB. Well, she should be better in acting now since she has been in the film industries for such a long time.
At least she got a Best Actress award once somewhere in Mainland China.
It’s cool with me that you don’t agree. I don’t harp on accents like you do, as long as the actress has good acting skills. I’m less forgiving if the actress is mediocre ie. Christine Kuo. Accents bother some people a lot, but it doesn’t bother others that much, as some have commented here. Carina’s acting has been recognised by many people, she has also won acting awards, even if she can’t win over every one here. That’s fine. No one can be free from critiques, especially on this website where people generally like to be contrarians to popular opinion. Let’s see Jayne Stars post an article about Deanie Yip acting in a new movie…surely there will be a comment by a regular here saying, “Sorry, but I don’t think Deanie is a good actress.” Lol.
Anyway, as far as accents go, Carina speaks cantonese clearly enough and her accent is barely noticeable. It seems rather nitpicky to complain about her accent….but there you go. If you dislike an actress, you can always fine faults with her. It’s like complaining that Cate Blanchett is a bad actress because she speaks English with a faint Australian accent when she acts in movies with an all american cast. She can put on an american accent but it sounds a bit forced. There’s a lot more to acting than mastering accents. Rebecca Zhu’s accent isn’t her main flaw, it’s in her stiff delivery of lines sometimes. She should relax more and not just recite her lines like she has just memorized the words.
Sometimes, Fala’s mouth is small, and sometimes it’s big. IDK lol
I think so too, according to the angles at which the photo is taken.
Wow RZ is acting just like FC mann check out Always n Ever 15! RZs acting is improving I supposed but hey! prefer her having her own syle n sorts!!!!!
Thank you for the episode – I only watching this ep b/c RZ. He looks does look like FC alittle but I think she’s better looking.
No worries – Yea RZs smile is sweeter though u know FC should just smile n not grin. Grinning too much in TITS2, mann!
Which ep does she play in TITS2?
Shes on from episode 17
http://dramafire.com/triumph-in-the-skies-2-episode-17/
Rebecca is a good talent.
She easily beats out all those wannabe like Oceane, Christine kuo, Eliza Sam.
I find TVB is damn biased to the core, keep on promoting all those beauty queens from Canada and USA even though most cannot even utter Cantonese words well, let alone speak.
I thought that was Fala dancing on the shore in the opening of TS until Rebecca’s actual debut in the series
i think she is wayyyy better than christine kuo, but i don’t see what’s the big hype about her. i actually prefer eliza sam and ocean zhu. yes, they have a slight accent, but their accents don’t hinder their cantonese as much as rebecca and christine. when rebecca and christine talk in cantonese, it sounds so painful and forced and not natural at all. whereas eliza and ocean can speak fluently and naturally and know how to communicate but still have an accent.
Ocean is definitely not a lot better. Did you not hear her in Slow Boat Home? However, I do agree with you on Eliza.
Oceane Zhu’s Cantonese is actually the worst among the newcomers. Her acting is not bad though, but with such huge language barrier it will be hard for her to rise to fa dan status.
I don’t think Rebecca’s Cantonese is as bad as people make it out to be. She has a slight accent but I understand everything she says. Her acting is decent for someone new too. Her emotional scenes are good (better than some first line-actresses who can’t even cry).
I also think so ……….. Oceane Zhu’s Cantonese is the worst.
Rebecca Zhu’s Cantonese has improved a lot in TITS 2, but she just does not speak her Cantonese naturally. It is like forced out of her lips. Well, anyway she is improving, which shows a good sign.