TVB’s “Gilded Chopsticks” Will Be More Drama than Comedy

TVB’s historical fiction series about Emperor Yongzheng and his chef, Gilded Chopsticks <食為奴>, was initially intended to be for laughs. When a pre-production trailer starring Raymond Lam (林峯) and Ron Ng (吳卓羲) was released at TVB’s Sales Presentation event last year, TVB producers presented the palace drama as a comedy about a lazy but fortunate chef who befriends the Emperor of Qing. A production trailer that was released earlier this year at the Hong Kong FILMART  also presented the drama as a comedy, with producer Wong Wai Sing (黃偉聲) calling it his own version of The Duke of Mount Deer <鹿鼎記>.

However, lead actor Wong Cho Lam (王祖藍), who portrays chef Ko Tin Po, countered previous assumptions that Gilded Chopsticks was a comedy, stating that the period series is more drama than comedy. “Older promotional clips made it seem like it’s a comedy, which isn’t entirely correct. It’s more like the male version of War and Beauty <金枝慾孽>.”

TVB’s cult fantasy drama Bullet Brain <神探高倫布>, which ended its lackluster run earlier last month, was presented in promotional teasers as a detective comedy, while the actual plot of the story was more dramatic fantasy than crime-solving. The misguided trailers caused much confusion for the audience, which contributed to Bullet Brain’s poor critical reputation.

Cho Lam hopes that Gilded Chopsticks will not meet the same fate, admitting, “I hope [TVB] will change its [future] teaser trailers. I don’t want the ratings to be affected.”

As the star and scriptwriter of this year’s highest-rated Hong Kong drama Inbound Troubles <老表，你好嘢！>, Cho Lam expressed that he does not feel too much pressure to do better in Gilded Chopsticks, a drama that also shares a similar cast to Inbound Troubles. “Like what Wayne Lai (黎耀祥) said, ratings are not mutually exclusive. As an actor, ratings are not under my control. I will do my best on what I can command.”

Cho Lam stated once again that he did not participate in the creative writing behind Gilded Chopsticks. “It’s a really exciting drama. I don’t have the freedom to add in my own work. I am only limited to adding my own comedic elements to my character and the situation.”

Gilded Chopsticks is currently shooting on location at Hengdian World Studios. Ben Wong (黃智賢), Joey Meng (萬綺雯), Nancy Wu (胡定欣), Louis Cheung (張繼聰), Power Chan (陳國邦), Bob Lam (林盛斌), and May Chan (陳嘉佳) also star.

Source: ihktv.com

This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.