Wong Cho Lam Said Working in China Isn’t Easy
Wong Cho Lam (王祖藍) had a successful career at TVB, but left the station to pursue more opportunities in China in 2015. With his humorous antics, it did not take long before he became a big variety show star in China. Despite his newfound fame, Cho Lam revealed that it was not easy to adjust working in China and shared his experiences in developing his career in a new market.
Entering the Chinese Market
Working alongside Louis Yuen (阮兆祥) and Johnson Lee (李思捷) in the comedy trio show Fuk Luk Sau (福祿壽), Cho Lam kick-started his career in China, where his antics were well-received by fans because his imitations had no boundaries and they were different from China’s more conservative variety shows.
Recalling his experience when he appeared as a guest for Chinese producer Hong Tao‘s (洪濤) show, Cho Lam was surprised to find a group of high-level executives secretly evaluating his acting skills. Surprised by the careful scrutiny, thankfully Cho Lam impressed the executives but he always thought of a backup plan. If his career in China fails, he could return to TVB.
Difficult to Adjust to a New Market
Although Cho Lam has worked in China for some time, he is not used to the different environment. Every time he is stuck working in China for three or four months, he misses not eating his favorite Hong Kong dishes and cried, “It’s horrible! I would be homesick. It’s not easy to film there.”
Used to Hong Kong’s work culture and doing most of the work himself, Cho Lam felt awkward having a team of assistants serving him. In comparison, his Mainland China’s colleagues are less independent and were shocked that they could walk in public unaccompanied.
Negative Experiences as an Artiste
Though Cho Lam kept many negative emotions to himself throughout his career, he cited a few instances which upset him while working in China. One time, a variety show host mistook Cho Lam for being arrogant because the actor did not get on stage after a long wait, while Cho Lam was merely waiting for instructions. The host rudely asked if Cho Lam wanted to work, but quickly changed his tune with compliments after seeing the audience’s positive response to Cho Lam.
In another instance, Cho Lam was handing out posters to a crowd of fans. One fan enthusiastically called out his admiration for him, but Cho Lam noticed he was grabbing a poster from a young girl and asked him to stop. The fan’s attitude changed and immediately started spurring out profanities. In disbelief by the abrupt change in attitude, Cho Lam said, “A second earlier, the fan was professing his love for me. A second later, he now loves my mom!”
Attracting Female Fans
Earlier, Kenneth Ma (馬國明) and Lawrence Ng (吳啟華) revealed that Mainland actresses tried to seduce them into their hotel rooms when they were working in China. When asked if he had such invitations, Cho Lam said that he is not as handsome as Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒) or William Chan (陳偉霆). He joked that while young women would not show him any interest, the fans’ moms would tell him they love him. With the exception of his wife Leanne Li (李亞男), few women would fall for him based on his talent alone.
Source: Sky Post
This article is written by Sammi for JayneStars.com.
Feel sorry for people who have to work in China or work with mainlanders in general. It’s a large market with lots of opportunities to make money but it’s gonna come with a price.
@chena right on. discrimination and sexual harassment in Hollywood only recently got some scrutiny. Cough cough Weinstein etc.
Now imagine a market that’s even more competitive than Hollywood and you have China. I doubt anyone wanting to breakthrough will be speaking up about unfair treatment or unwanted advances.
@chena
Working in China is not so bad and not all mainlanders are bad people. It is sad that some are so anti mainland China. There is good and bad everywhere.
@hetieshou
I cant agree more. Such anti-china comments are baseless and shows ignorance.
@anon
Exactly! I have learned not to listen to the media too much and baseless comments with no proof. But if anyone is bias then they will be no matter what.
@chena
Isn’t it the same everywhere??? There is no easy way to earns money, all come with a price.
I work in a gruelling job too but don’t get paid even 1% of his money. Wong Cho Lam should shut up and stop the looking for sympathy crap…
@jimmyszeto
I agree and these celebrities may work hard but they get big bucks while the rest of us have to work even harder for a lot less. However, they are still whining and complaining. How sad is that??
@hetieshou
Park Hae Jin who has few dramas in Mainland China said that working in Mainland China was way relaxing and easier than in South Korea.
@niangniang
Yes and heard that working in China is less stressful than Korea and HK.
@niangniang Yea, its the same everywhere, even in Australia.
@chena Agree with that, considering their way of thinking is totally different then HK itself. Read an article how Big6 censors a lot of entertainment, that’s why we haven’t been getting decent HK movies lately. Such as triad movies and so forth. Ironic how Cho Lam said he’ll go back to TVB if he can’t make it in Big6 sheesh. No respect for him especially since he’s announces he’s a Christian.
@exodus LMAO big6 hahahaha. I thought you meant a company name at first, or an organization. Just got what you meant. Clever.
Wong Cho Lam always came across as a big a** kisser, he’ll do fine in mainland.
don’t see what the problem is here. every culture and place is different. you get used to one place and you venture out, it would take time to get used to the new place.
I think his sentiments are echoed across alot of HK actors. They want to stay in HK because its home – they love the food, peoples attitudes are better, more freedom, but China is where the progress and money is now.