Yoyo Chen Promoted to Leading Lady
In the industry for 20 years, 39-year-old Yoyo Chen‘s (陳自瑤) career achievements pale especially in comparison to her husband Vincent Wong’s (王浩信) acting accolades. With their daughter now 9 years old, Yoyo is finding more time again to dedicate to her career and has more opportunities in recent years. The timing now seems just right, and Yoyo’s breakthrough moment may be happening soon.
Receiving praise for her acting in Life After Death <那些我愛過的人>, Yoyo was the winner of voice talent show Dub of War <好聲好戲>. After her success, Yoyo participated in new variety show Top Sales <識貨>. Later this month, she will be filming two dramas with one leading role. Foreseeing that she will be very busy working this year, Yoyo has already asked for her family’s help in taking care of her daughter.
One of the dramas will be a collaboration with China, and is an important project led by Eric Tsang (曾志偉). Previously the drama was being handled by executive Felix To (杜之克), but his recent resignation has caused many changes including a loss in funding. Originally, the female lead was to be given to a non-TVB actress, but now it has been changed to Yoyo. She will play the role of a female police officer who goes undercover to investigate a beauty pageant. The drama will also star Crystal Fung (馮盈盈) and Jessica Kan (簡淑兒).
Yoyo will also be joining the cast of police drama Invisible Team <隱形戰隊>, which stars Kenneth Ma (馬國明), Ben Wong (黃智賢), and Jonathan Cheung (張頴康). Natalie Tong (唐詩詠) and Katy Kung (龔嘉欣) are also confirmed for the drama.
Source: HK01
This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.
Yoyo Chen Wins Top Prize in “Dub of War”; Crystal Fung’s Emotions Spiral Out of Control
Carol Cheng Comforts Yoyo Chen for Faring Poorly on “Top Sales”
10 years ago lead tvb actresses were in their late early/30s. now, late 30s/early 40s how innovative.
@m0m0 they are really awful at promoting the ones with potential, especially after Charmaine, Tavia and others left, they have no plan, so now the only ones that can act are just getting old
Sorry, don’t care for her and never did. I don’t find her acting spectacular nor do I find her really attractive (yes… I’ve seen her role as Sabrina in the Life After Death series with Priscilla). Whilst I do believe she works hard, but maybe it’s that seriousness and intensity that is holding her back. Kind of like Nancy Wu. To be a good actor, you have to be versatile and fluid. I think Yoyo is very much a type A person that needs to be in control all the time and that is a disadvantageous personality trait for a career as an artist. Her performance is the dubbing show was good but not spectacular. She did her homework. That’s all I can say. But her performance in that online selling show and her inability to take criticism just shows how unflexible she is and that will prohibit her from performing well as a lead actress. It’s nice to see her given the chance and I believe she was already a lead in her early debut days during 四葉草。。。 but it’s how you perform when given the chance to be lead that will dictate your future opportunities in leading roles. She just doesn’t shine to me nor have that appeal to do well.
@gnomageddon I beg to differ. I think Yoyo has the charisma to lead a series, unlike Nancy or Mandy who just try too hard to act out a role. Rather it was tvb’s poor management that typecasted Yoyo into certain supporting roles for her entire career until LAD and the dubbing show. Her going on the selling show is also poor artiste management. I think she will continue to do well in dramas when she’s given well developed characters. We shall see….
@gnomageddon I don‘t think a terrible selling show is a fair way to examine one person’s capabilities especially when it has nothing to do with her profession. I haven’t watched the show but in the dub war show she proved that she was able to take critiques and showed that she wanted to do better everytime. Just because she was upset doesn‘t mean she isn’t able to take criticism. From watching her in the past, she doesn‘t seem like that person. If anything, she was upset because she didn’t perform well and expected better from herself. Crying doesn‘t mean not being able to be unflexible.
Agree with @bubbles23 that unlike Nancy and Mandy, her acting feels genuine rather than overacting which is what they do.
@tt23 Agree. Though I didn’t and don’t intend to catch Top Sales, don’t see how the performance there is linked to acting. At most, maybe (stretching my imagination) TVB thinks that whoever does well in Top Sales has the potential to be a good TV host.
Anyway, welcome TVB decision to cast their 2nd/3rd supporting artists to take on leading roles if they do genuinely see their acting ability rather than trying hard to promote FYY or previously Grace Chan. That is how Bobby and Wayne receive their chance. Hopefully, Yoyo will not be another Natalie or even Nancy. Nancy did well as main supporting but somehow her performance as the leading has not.
@gnomageddon nancy is always overacting. Not natural enough lol
@gnomageddon
I agree and she is ok as a supporting actress but not sure if she is strong enough to be a leading actress.
@gnomageddon
i like her, always wonder why she was’t promoted. acting not too good but okay for tvb level. many female leads such as fala and linda are good but achieved more success than her.
@gnomageddon I think my prob with her is actually her voice. It sounds kind of attitude-y and when she says something, it sounds like she has asthma. She needs to take a deep breath to talk sometimes. Acting-wise, I don’t think there’s anything too special that I’ve seen so far…even as Sabrina…I didn’t feel she was amazing. But I hope she proves me wrong in the future
@coralie I also think her voice put her into a disadvantage. For me, it sounded too rough, matronly and deep (not pleasant enough)…which I think is a bad thing especially for acting. Another reason i could think of is because she married and had a baby too early.
@coralie @snoopy I agree with both of you that her voice is not young and appealing. It sounds older and like it’s always about to crack. I watched her interview where she says her next series as lead is paired up with 張穎康。。。 and I personally don’t think that pairing works cuz she seems older and more mature than him. He has a boyish face still. I think she is better paired with older actors like Moses or even Ben Yuen among the younger guys. She just gives off a more mature and serious vibe.
@tt23 Her reaction in that online selling show is only an example of how I think she comes off as too serious. With or without that show, she still gives me the same feeling. I think she can carry a series as lead but I don’t think she has the appeal to draw in viewers with her acting like Ali does, for example. Granted not a lot of actors can have the onscreen charisma and appeal, I know. And for TVB standards, I think she’ll be fine but I think for her to breakthrough as an actor, she needs to be more flexible with her emotions in order for her to improve her craft. Guess time will tell how she does.
@gnomageddon no matter what, I find her wayyyy better than Mandy Wong
@joyce lol I agree. Mandy Wong is the SAME in every role. And that one role where she had to play split personalities… she had no depth to her acting and was so cringe, I couldn’t bring myself to continue watching. Yoyo is a decent actress and definitely hardworking. Just needs to loosen up a bit. She seems very uptight which is why I said it would hinder her skills.
Yoyo was not that great 10 years ago and we have Charmaine, Myolie, Fala, Linda etc to helm the leading roles. I guess now they have all left, opportunities open for up for those who remain or maybe the new batch of leading ladies are too awful that we start to pay attention to what we see as underdogs?
@yuyu Lol…10 years ago, Fala Chan, Linda Chung, Kate Tsui, Eliza Sam, Sharon Chan, Shirley Yeung were not great at all. All of them are quite awful.
@snoopy so happy we think alike re all these leads…i have never been impressed with their acting….
@snoopy The list you have mentioned either an average actress at their best or below that. The era before with Esther Kwan, Maggie Cheung, Ada Cheung, etc. were my favourite. It also helped that the scripts were so much better during their times.
@bearbear Ada Choi. Unable to edit.
@snoopy omg I totally agree. They were all so bad hahahha
@snoopy
I agree and even Charmaine is not so great. Tvb’s quality has declined.
@snoopy that is true =D but also agree with @bearbear – love Maggie Cheung and Esther Kwan. I’m rewatching some of their old series.
@yuyu Esther, Marianne Chan, Vivian/Noel/Sabrina Leung were must see for me back then. Fennie Yuen was also so charismatic. Jessica, Nadia, Ada, and Maggie were also reliable. But I think that was 20 years ago. Since then, I haven’t found actresses with such draws. Ali has been the only one.
@potatochip I couldn’t be bothered with TVB till Ali and then guess what, TVB decides not to cast her in any drama ARGH
@conan2209 Lol, at least Ali is still in the industry…Tracy Chu which I think had the potential is not acting anymore. I really wanted she to pair up with Vincent Wong in a drama which have a good ending!! IMO Tracy Chu is Vincent Wong’s best partner…It’s so sad to see Vincent keep pairing up with Natalie Tong.
@snoopy agree. Over Run Over was really enjoyable because of the lead pairing. A rock would be more interesting than Natalie.
@bubbles23 hahaha guess what, THE rock is the #1 leading actress in TVB now, judging from where she was standing in the last TVB award ceremony. How pathetic can TVB be
@potatochip Yea, if it was in the 90s, Tvb had many great actresses. Esther Kwan, Kenix Kwok, Flora Chan, Ada Choi, Jessica Hsuan, Maggie Cheung, Marianne Chan, Amy Chan, Nadia chan, Fennie Yuen, Amy Kwok, Noel Leung, Kathy Chow, Maggie Shiu and many more!!
Then for second female lead, Melissa Ng, Louisa So, Florence Kwok, Joyce Tang, Elvina Kong, Cutie Mui, Astrid Chan and etc.
Supporting actress, Fiona Yuen & Halina Tam,
@snoopy I must also include Cherie Chan & Betsy Cheung. Cant edit
I‘m happy for her. For so many years now, she has been associated with Vincent and those endless divorce rumors. Whether true or not, I am happy that she is making her own mark in the industry and putting herself first. She might be “older” in terms of industry standards but I think she looks fantastic for her age. Super happy for her.
Yoyo is pretty and talented but just doesn’t have that leading lady look imo.
@nleung12345 still good to know we have one more choice IMO, both Mandy and Nancy do not have the looks of leading ladies too but they sure have their fanbase now. At least yoyo is prettier
@conan2209 Yup, I agree at this part “at least yoyo is prettier” than both of them.
About time, Yo-yo been typecast for so long,
Producers kept giving her 3rd party character roles
She was typecast just like Ali Lee was in her early days but has managed to breakout from those roles and lead series.
Yo-yo given the opportunities can do the same,
@mulder99 now that you mentioned Ali’s minor role, I saw a few clips of her in brother’s keepers and some third party roles she did as well. She stood out from these roles but yoyo was not memorable actually.
@yuyu
Maybe, but i always thought she was a decent actress , just that the roles were crap all she was being out shine by the leads who were more well known.
Her role as Sabrina in Life After Death really put the spotlight back to herself and Dub War showed she could handle leads roles..even though is was dubbing, it showed cased she could act.
By but worry about the lead role she has , as an under cover cop investigating a beauty pageant is not a big production..
It takes TVB 20 years to realize she can now be promoted.
Pretty sad management they have really. She’s cute, pretty and a pretty decent actress. They should have promoted her long ago instead of having the same faces over and over and promoted ones that’s not even remotely interesting. Good for her!! If she finally gets a divorce, at least her title won’t be just Vincent Wong’s ex even thou I think they do make a very good looking couple.
I quite like Yoyo. She was fantastic as the suffering and abused wife in “Of Greed and Ants” and as Sabrina in LAD. It took me a while to like her when she was younger as she was typecasted in annoying roles, like Angela Tong. Until Yoyo took on more emotional roles in “Relic of An Emissary” and “Bottled Passion”, I started to notice her more and notice the efforts she put into her acting.
I am happy that TVB is finally giving her more chances. I don’t mind her as a female lead.
Yoyo’s acting is pretty good but she needs to work on her voice. It sounds very stern and bitchy.