Joe Ma Offered Sammy Leung’s Role in “The Apostle”
Sammy Leung (森美) has decided to withdraw from the cast of TVB’s action crime drama The Apostle <使徒行者>, citing health reasons. The 40-year-old actor, radio host, and television personality, who was one of the first actors to join the cast and started filming last month before choosing to leave the drama. Joe Ma (馬德鐘) has been cast to replace Sammy’s role, and will be reshooting some of Sammy’s earlier scenes.
Sammy fell ill while attempting to juggle his hectic work schedules of filming dramas, doing radio shows, and hosting television variety shows at the same time. Currently resting at home, Sammy confirmed in a phone interview yesterday, “I was already sick before and had a high fever. I was overworked and my body couldn’t take it anymore. It is really time for me to stop. I’ve never gotten so sick before.”
He initially did not plan on leaving the cast. Not wanting to impede the drama’s filming schedule, Sammy suggested the director and producer to reduce his screentime in the drama. “But even with the reduced screentime, I couldn’t go on anymore,” Sammy said. Not wanting to put more pressure on the cast and crew, he had no choice but to quit.
Sammy clarified that TVB has been very accommodating to his situation, stressing that TVB would always work around filming times to fit into Sammy’s own work schedules. TVB also never prevented him from accepting outside job offers while shooting for The Apostle. He apologized to TVB and the crew of the series, “I understand that they’ve been working hard. They’re always trying to come up with a new schedule to work around my own. I am sorry to TVB. The fault lies with me!”
He said he is not worried about that gossip that would come with his departure, saying that he would accept the negative reports with an open mind. “It’s my own problem, and I’ll accept the consequences that come with it because I have affected the production and filming.”
Sammy is astonished to hear that TVB has already replaced him with Joe Ma, expressing that he has not received the notice from TVB yet.
Sammy’s co-star, Sharon Chan (陳敏之), is aware that Sammy is feeling unwell and supports his decision to leave the team. “I’ve fallen sick before and I know that health is the most important. I support him, and I hope he’ll recover quickly. There is nothing more important than your health.” She also said that Sammy’s leave did not greatly affect the production for The Apostle.
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
What a pity! To film nearly halfway and then dropping out and having your previous scenes deleted. But I do support Joe replacing him!
Joe ma would be awesome
Why? I want him! Joe Ma is boring!!!
Oh so boring! He carries this “I’m constipated!” expression with him all the time!
I”m referring to Joe Ma, of course.
With the molestation of Rose Chan and his face still pops up in TVB. He certainly know which butt to kiss ,where and when to kiss. What a jerk!
Even Kenneth Ma will be better than Joe Ma. Its a pity that Sammy Leung dropped the show. He’s a better actor.
The other Sammy replaced him.
Sammy is SOO HOT to watch. Joe Ma is an old man.
I like both actors but Sammy is such a breath of fresh air.. too bad
So Raymond Lam, Charmaine Sheh, Oscar Leung, Sharon Chan & now Joe Ma is in this :O these are all that I know… who else is in here besides the mentioned?
waoh, star studded!
Who is the first lead, Raymond Lam or Joe Ma?
I think the main leads are: Michael Miu (if he is still in it), Raymond Lam, Charmaine Sheh, Sharon Chan, Joe Ma.
And that Joe Ma and Sharon Chan has a romantic story as well ._.
Michael mui and Raymond joe r co leads all but the media focus on raymond
sorry but u how old? to ask such a stupid question. OMG @@
Joe Ma is NOT taking on this series.
Should get Ron.. Ron and Raymond together always been good
Yep it should be Ron and Raymond. But Joe Ma not bad trade for Sammy.
Joe is a good choice. Can’t wait to watch it next year.
To be honest I would say Sammy would be a fit for the series, when does Joe go for 3rd actor he’s usually first and it sucks that Sammy did 10 and has to restart all over again. I do feel Joe ill be old for the series and for Sharon.
What a shame. I like Sammy and usually he plays a more light hearted, comedic role. I’m not sure Joe is the right pick if the character was written to suit Sammy’s usual style.
Joe just confirmed he’s not filming this series, since Michael and Raymond are already leading they’re going to ask a supporting actor to join this.
Wise decisions by those who decline participation in “The Apostle”. haha 🙂
LOL…ok, so who was the one that said Joe Ma would replace Sammy Leung in the first place? Tabloids probably? Honestly, without even reading the details of the article, that info already didn’t make any sense — Sammy doesn’t film series much and has always been supporting actor status, so why would they replace his role with an established lead actor (Joe Ma)….especially since the role is already half-filmed and not likely to be re-written? Besides, both their acting styles are completely different….I don’t see any correlation between the 2 whatsoever, so I don’t see any reason why TVB would choose to replace Sammy with Joe.
I hope this was a rumor made up entirely by the Media and not something that TVB seriously took into consideration…
otherwise, I would question what those producers and managers at TVB are taking in their coffee to come up with such a stupid idea.
I wonder why the rumored replacement is Joe, lol
Anyway, Sammy Sum will be replacing Sammy Leung. Another actor will replace Sammy Sum’s old role. TBA
Joe is offered the role, he read the script.
The final decision (Sammy Shum to replace Sammy Leung) makes more sense to me. Joe has been a 1st lead actor for quite some time already and I don’t think he should take a 2nd or 3rd lead role with a last minute’s notice.
Well, the fact that Joe was given the script to read means that TVB actually did intend on offering the role to him at one point and it wasn’t just a rumor made up by the Media….though the interesting part is that the producer of the series Man Wai Hung said that he had never contacted Joe and never intended on having Joe replace Sammy, since Joe is a lead actor and can carry a series himself (which is the same thing most of us have been saying). If that’s the case, then who gave Joe the script to look over? That person must’ve had too much to drink or something (or maybe that person just doesn’t like Joe and decided to offend him by offering him a supporting role…).
Is Joe Ma still that popular? I’m not saying that this article is true or that he’s a has-been but once-popular actors do eventually get relegated to supporting roles as their star dims.
No matter Joe Ma is still that popular in Hong Kong or not, he has been acting 1st lead roles for a long time, even in the latest drama series “Tiger Cubs II”. Why should he take up a 2nd or even 3rd lead role after Michael Miu, Raymond Lam, with a last minute’s notice?
@choco-bunny: True, but I would expect that type of treatment for someone who may have been away from the industry for a long time and just recently came back. Joe has been filming for TVB actively for the past few years and as far as I can tell, he’s still the lead in Tiger Cubs 2, which was only filmed last year and hasn’t even aired yet — so it doesn’t make sense that in the course of less than a year he would go from being lead actor status to supporting actor status….plus he didn’t even have any scandals recently (meaning since Tiger Cubs 2 wrapped filming) that would have brought his popularity down to the point of having to be ‘relegated’ to lesser status. Definitely doesn’t make sense why Joe’s name was even brought up in the first place as a possible replacement.
Getting tired of same old faces Raymond Lam and Joe Ma all the time. Good to hear that TVB will promote a new face instead although I’m no fan of Sammy shum.
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Oh, replaced by the other Sammy? I like the other Sammy too hahaha.
oh not Joe. Get well sammy! Healthy indeed very important. I cant believe he is 40. Still looks young n great!
Don’t like Sammy Leung. He is always making degrading remarks at Siu Yi, his often paired up co-host, and shows he has the hots for pretty girls. So high school juvenile … …
That’s just his stage persona that he does with Siu Yi. Sharon said that he’s actually very shy in real life and she had to initiate conversation with him since he didn’t want any type of misunderstandings since he is married. Also, he seems to treat Siu Yi really well. I just remember a weibo post a few months ago where he posted a picture of her and was praising what a beautiful girl she is.
Really? I don’t have a weibo account. Every time I watch him with Siu Yi, he is always insulting her. I don’t see why he has to do that on stage? What entertainment value is there in making fun of someone just because she is short and not pretty?
Well, I think they both play up their image because a lot of the audience do like it and like their chemistry together. Their on-stage personas bring them a lot of money through advertisements and commercials. To me, Siu Yi and Sammy probably have an understanding that they can make fun of each other, but behind the scenes, they are very friendly to each other.
Gosh, I wish Raymond Lam was replaced. All he cares about is going out with his girl. Very sick of seeing him.
buck you…please get lost
Paul…you can replace yourself!
Hmmm, lots of people dislike him and I won’t get lost because I’ve been here for 2 years already. It’s just that I rarely comment. And, Sammy’s departure is such a pity because he can really act.
High five Paul!
LOL 🙂
Amen!
Raymond fans get lost.
Guysss, Joe rejected it.
man, I wanted Sammy Leung. He is super funny and a great actor.
Sammy Shum will be replacing instead, not Joe Ma.
Joe Ma said the role is not suitable, but I guess because it’s a 2nd lead role. after Raymond & Michael.
But yay for Sammy Shum, because this role have heavy screentime.
Sammy Shum is already a part of the cast. Wonder if there is a replacement or simply change in the role order.
So out one Sammy in one Joe who then exits and in another Sammy except the handsomer Sammy Shum?
Sammy Shum is decent looking.. I think that guy (forgot his name) who won Mr. Hong Kong 2010 looks more handsome and acts better as a newcomer.
I think Sammy Sum is overrated after watching him in several series and that YND movie. I don’t find anything special about him except constant news of exchanging girlfriends from time to time.
Yes they will be replacing Sammy Shum original role with someone else.
Originally, Sammy Shum is supposed to have a love triangle with Sammy Leung & Sharon Chan. So they upgraded his role to 2nd lead.
According to Sammy Shum he will be replacing Sammy Leung’s lead role.
Should’ve replaced Raymond Lam. He always acts as Raymond Lam in any drama he’s on, and the constant news of him priorotizing Karena over work put him way down in my book. Karena’s own dose of constant negative news about squeezing Raymond’s money and estranging his relationship with his family and dad doesn’t help either.
I doubt that you’ve read the news. Sammy Leung is replaced due to his health problem. So whoever say who should be replaced than Sammy Leung has problem with reading or simply don’t read, just talk.
constant news of him priorotizing Karena over work
Oh well, since dated Karena, he filmed 4 series, 3 movies, do 1 concert, 6 places of concert tour and 2 albums. In just nearly 2 years with that much and you say he prioritized his gf over work? In Valentine time, he worked through out the night instead of dining with his gf.
It’s correct that he spent time with her to go oversea, but it’s when he has day-offs. It’s wrong for an artist or even a normal worker to have some day-offs over a year? Are you telling me that you work 24/7 without weekends, day-offs and vacations in your whole life? If tat how your life is running, I think you shouldn’t spend time on internet like so and get back to work.
Thankyou Fox…Support Raymond! LF Rock!
You must be in fantasy land because he didn’t film that much movies or series. And FYI, he only released one album and that album had ONLY THREE NEW SONGS. The only thing you got right was the 1 concert.
Apparently that old man didn’t date the gold digger until October or November (unless you admit they were lying in July about not dating, which makes them even more sick and hypocrites). And btw, you can’t prove that Oriental Magazine (whichever magazine that reported their news in late July was accurate). THOSE PAIR OF SICKOS COULD’VE DATED LATER IN THE YEAR. Just thinking about them makes me want to puke. He would’ve only filmed:
2 series (The Purple Hairpin began in Sept. of 2012 so that didn’t count)
ZERO movies (he filmed in those 1 min scenes in some non-namer movies, what a big joke!! The only movie he filmed which he was a male lead was Baby Blues which btw also finished filming in September. I have no idea how you counted 3)
CONCERT TOURS (this has to be the biggest joke out of them all. How in the hell did he do 6 tours lmao!? He only went to Guangzhou and New York, and THAT’S ALL).
Albums (ONLY ONE and that had only 3 new songs).
And you consider that to be a lot if work!? Really? You must be exaggerating his working capabilities and hiding his laziness. He seems to be slacking off more and more and only cares about his girl nowadays.
What I can name though is the amount of fun time he had with his girl. I can’t believe I remember this, prob. because their ugly acts keep appearing again and again on HK magazines:
3 weeks in Tokyo, Okinawa, Milan
4 days in Los Angeles
9 days in Tokyo and Osaka
4 days in Hokkaido
I’m pretty sure they went to some other places in China or Japan that the press failed to report. Naively thinking he worked from May to December without going on vacations is ridiculous.
On top of that, he was spotted numerous times (I can’t count, at least 20 or more times) shopping with her in Dior, Chanel, IFC, TST, Causeway Bay, Lantau Island, and some other places.
He also partied with her during Christmas, New Year, Mooncake Festivsl, China Independence Day, and a few other holidays.
And, I need to mention, he also was spotted going out with her to the movies and acting inappropriately in public, e.g. exchanging kisses, touching her belly, rubbing her shoulders, touching his butt/stomach, etc. they should know better than act like 16 year olds. Maybe gold digger doesn’t know but The old man should.
LMAO~, he dated since 2012 and it’s when Self-Portrait (released in Aug 2012) with 11 songs released. A Time 4 You has 6 songs, not 3, do your homework.
01. NICE
02. ONCE AGAIN
03. BB
04. Same Forest
05. End of being naive
06. Waiting for you back
(Note: Every song has a MV)
Haven’t count the three new songs released and 3 more recorded he had in recent time.
2 series (The Purple Hairpin began in Sept. of 2012 so that didn’t count)
Purple started in Oct 2012, started on 15 Oct. Do your research again. Even if counting out Purple, 3 as he is filming The Apostle.
Concert tour:
Light up my live tour: Macau, US, Canada
A time 4 you: US, GZ
Special show: Metro concert
I don’t count functions he sang less than 5 songs in.
Is my party China is coming in few days.
Movies: LIP, Baby Blues and Hello Babies.
3 weeks in Tokyo, Oki nawa, Milan
4 days in Los Angeles
9 days in Tokyo and Osaka
4 days in Hokkaido
3 days in Hokkaido. 6 days in Tokyo and Osaka. 3 weeks with gaps and functions between.
But even if counting total, 39 days. 39/365 (counting from Feb 2013), 10% of days. Shrug*, too serious problem. Normal workers have around 15-20 day-offs every year together with holidays. Some country even give 1 month off each year. You are sure that they go more? Oh, do you live with them or under their bed or in their luggage to know?
And how old are you to think that having some sweet actions to the public and go shopping together is criminal? Even my mother who is nearly 70 isn’t that shallow. Living in a city, if they don’t go shopping and watch movies or dinning, what else they can do? He publicized his relationship, so he does nothing wrong to go out with his gf.
I can sense the jealousy and cruel mind in your post. I suggest you to go out and take a deep breath.
@Jayne: Dun know why the post is under moderation. Pls moderate it. Tks.
I agree, raymond lam should be banned from acting. He’s a professional luxury shopper/play boy but not a responsible actor.
In regards to the gold digger, I wouldn’t even know her if she didn’t have sex with RL and then played the sympathy card to get RL to announce their relationship. Mavis Poon certainly missed her chance at this one.
u all right, support LF my idol but sad that sharon is not his lover cos they never act couple yet
In The last breakthrough.
fox- but in the last breakthrough they just act as friend, he act lover with Lelia tong
She loves him, one-side love.