[Magazine Scans -- Translation] Shui Yuet Fung Wan (TV Series Issue 147) -- 22/12/2006 [Raymond Lam + Myolie Wu]

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p.s. The english title for [Drive] in Mainland China is [The Legendary Era].

Seeing Raymond Lam again, the only thing in my mind was his and Ron’s White and Black Double Ghost -- dance routine at the TVB Anniversary Awards Presentation. When I told him the truth, saying that it wasn’t bad, Raymond laughed embarrassedly and said that he only had three days to rehearse it, that if he wanted to learn dance properly, he would have to find a teacher to teach him. Thinking back to the kind joke that Liza Wang made just before announcing the winner of the Best actor award, Raymond had laughed out loud onstage. Now, he is still laughing silly, like a shy student who had just been praised by a teacher. When he speaks about his new character, he is still rational, and I admire his understanding of his character, no wonder he can play the character so comfortably. Raymond is talented; this year’s Anniversary Awards Presentation was just a show of his talent.

Dominating in The Legendary Era

In the sixty episode long collaboration between TVB and CCTV, The Legendary Era, Raymond has parts from the beginning to the end, it being a series about the story of a capable youth.

TV Series: Working with your buddy Ron Ng again, do you two have many scenes together?

Raymond: Everyone knows that we two buddies are on good terms (laughs). But this time we won’t have many scenes together, in the series we’re not really in the same group. From what I know, he will be appearing from episode twenty and onwards, we don’t see each other often. There are too many actors in this series; just the number actors playing members of my family are huge, and there are a lot of scenes taking place in the car factory. There are also scenes to be filmed in Canada and also Beijing. So speaking of relevance, his line hasn’t really got much to do with me.

TV Series: So then, in simple terms, what are the relationships of the people in your family like?

Raymond: The entire series is basically talking about the two generations of my family and how they go about creating a car kingdom. Damien Lau plays my father; his relationship with his two younger brothers isn’t that good. Michael Miu plays one of his brothers, he is my third uncle, and Liu King Sang plays my second uncle. The story tells of how the three brothers each went their separate ways and so the family is a bit separated, and then it was a dream that they all shared, a dream of cars that mended the relationships of all the family members. In between, a lot of things happened and every member of the family has his or her own story.

TV Series: When you were filming in Beijing, your hair was premed, now it is changed to this style, is it the difference between the earlier and later periods?

Raymond: Right, there are changes. In the earlier period my hair is curly. At that time I am more of a rich kid, more like a young master, so, ha ha (a silly laugh), that is why my hair was curled. Firstly, it will make me seem younger; secondly it is more… how do I say it? (Not as shaped?) What does not as shaped -- mean (Mimicking the accent)? (It means not caring about responsibilities and such). Oh, well he isn’t considered as not being shaped. (Still saying it? Sigh ~) The story starts off talking about how he really wants to do something, and plus he has the ability to. It’s only that if he does not want to do it, he won’t do it no matter what you say, but if he is interested in something, then he will work really hard to do it well.

TV Series: There’s a difference in your hairstyle between the earlier and later periods, it probably is the influence of his attitude?

Raymond: Right, there are a lot of changes to his personality. In the beginning he is not under any pressure and he also isn’t willing to face things that will trouble him. He has a lot of thoughts, but he doesn’t have enough experience in society and isn’t considerate enough in the things he does and therefore he will make mistakes. For example, he may start off doing one thing well, his ideas are all very impressive, but he is still missing a few things, and in the end, failed. He is very smart, that plus his effort and he actually does work hard, as long as he has an interest in it, he will work hard for it, but because of his lack of experience and other factors, and also one of his father’s enemies who schemed against him, he gives off the impression at the start that he can’t do things right.

TV Series: What made him change? Or when was a turning point for him?

Raymond: How do I say it? It was an effort of his father’s, or I should say, when his family practically went bankrupt. We only had a little bit of our business left, just some shares. Basically I had lost all our assets. Even though, I still didn’t completely understand, but I had just experienced a very serious shock, a large setback. It was the same in terms of romance. My relationship with Charmaine was troubled as well. But my father, after this big incident happened, still very patiently spoke to me about some things, and at that moment, I really felt that I had never cherished anything before and our entire family, even though we were not really bankrupt, was ruined, all because of me. My character is actually a little bit arrogant. Later, my father let me work for my second uncle. My father and my second uncle were both a bit contradicting, but now, compared to before, I have matured. When I started at the car factory, I always had ideas and also, my ideas and my tastes were correct. It’s only that I am rather quick with handling things and I was rather radical, and so they wouldn’t accept me. Especially since that factory was an old factory, and they wouldn’t accept any new changes, and what I wanted to do was to bring in new ideas in every aspect. But my second uncle is very laid-back and he knows what my thoughts are and agrees with them, it’s just that I haven’t been considerate about the feelings of others beside me. And so, I had basically changed. I know what I want now and in the later period, I had become someone much like Damien. In the past if someone made me mad, I would immediately retaliate, but after the incident, if someone angers me I would still retaliate, but I wouldn’t necessarily do certain things, I would still remember how things should be done. But in the later period, I slowly become more mature, if someone says something, I won’t give too big a reaction, I’d be more tolerant. Because this series covers a larger time period, and so there must be some growth and change, and it is for people to see how I slowly become better. In between, something does happen, making the character Wah Chun Bong slowly grow up, and in the end to support the entire family. This character is really difficult to play, because thee are so many scenes. I have different attitudes when facing different people. This character is actually very rich and my personality is colourful. There are many changes, they way he handles things will also be different depending on the time period, and so I will try hard to grasp the character because the times jump too much.

TV Series: What’s it like in terms of romance?

Raymond: In terms of romance, it’s with Charmaine Sheh and Myolie Wu. Myolie has always secretly liked me and she is my assistant. Charmaine is a smart girl and I think that she matches me well. Our characters are a bit like those archenemies that always fight. She is an agent, at that time I was doing business in real estate and we met each other. Also, this girl is very cool, and so, I pursued her and we both took turns playing each other (laughs). But her mother and my father have some connections too. It turns out that she had purposefully gotten close to me, but our feelings for each other are true. It’s just that there’s too much hatred between our families, but later, something happened that made us come together again. The scripts for the later half of the series aren’t out yet, but it should be that kind of, parting and coming together thing. Myolie had always been behind me, supporting me. I actually know that she likes me, but when a guy knows that a girl likes him, he can only pretend that he doesn’t care. (Then, do you have feelings for her?) No, there is none, but there’s this time that I used her as some sort of substitute, a little bit (a kind of a guilty expression). But it’s actually an ordinary thing, when a guy is hurt and there is someone beside you that really cares for you, you’ll start liking that person because of that. Because she is really pitiful, and she’s very nice, and so, and plus if you are always together with someone, you’ll start having some feelings for her, but then Charmaine re-appeared and it became a love triangle.

TV Series: You have parts from the first episode until the end, right?

Raymond: Right, it should be.

TV Series: Your character in Heart of Greed, the series you just finished filming, should be very different to your other characters in the past?

Raymond: Yeah (laughs), in Heart of Greed, I am stepping on two boats at once, really stepping on two boats at once, it’s true (laughs). (So you’re a playboy?) Ah (laughs), he originally had a really nice girlfriend, but then he and his girl friend’s good friend that is Yoyo Mung, are in a relationship. Actually when we were acting it, we both found it very difficult to bear, Yoyo and I would always be saying, God, it’s so hard to act, because we both disapproving of this character’s way of seeing love, and everyone always thinks, God, such a nasty pair, (laughs). But this kind of issue is very realistic; I believe that there are cases like these in modern society and it won’t be a small number, either. People nowadays don’t seem to see love as such an important thing, it’s like playing a game in life, it’s a type of society disease amongst young people. So when we were acting it, we would continually hypnotize ourselves, because even though it’s hard for you to get into something that you don’t agree with, you still have to act. After filming, we watched it ourselves and we would think, wah, I really want to hit myself. Wah, so obnoxious.

TV Series: What is the ending?

Raymond: In the end we both received deserved … (punishment?) Kind of, but it’s more of a mental kind of punishment. We all know who we should cherish the most. Then I realise that I was very wrong and in the end I know who I really like the most. And to be honest, this can be considered as the most hateful character that I’ve played, but I still like it a lot, because later he’ll become very touching, very touching. This character is probably the most touching of all the series, ancient series not included, that I’ve played. (He’s this bad but still touching?) I really don’t want to reveal it, I really don’t want to reveal it (laughs naughtily). And when I received the script, I really wanted to watch the ending, because when I was filming for it I was always thinking, how is this going to end? How is this going to end? And in the end when the scripts came out, the director asked me, Raymond did you see that ending? I said that I had, and then my hands started shaking, because I had only seen separate scenes, and not the whole thing. Some series, I think, how do I say it, sometimes when an actor receives the script, if he can picture it just from reading the script, and if you can say, God, there are actually scenes like this, you’ll be very happy and the director will be very happy. He said that he already has an idea of how to film it, and I said I had my idea too. (Did your ideas match?) No (laughs), we all gave our suggestions; I said this and that, then okay, everyone put in some ideas and we worked out how to say our lines and the director gave some suggestions as to how to actually act it out. And the producer was very pleased with the feeling the came out, and it wasn’t just that scene, it was all of those scenes, even though in the end I didn’t my character didn’t appear up till the last, fortieth episode, instead it was only thirty-six, or was it thirty-seven? But there was one scene where I didn’t appear at all, but my spirit was always there, really (profound laughter). I didn’t appear that episode, but the whole episode was about me. (Was it someone remembering you?) Something like that (Is it reminiscence? Faint ~ I’m so worried~) Ha ha, watch it when it comes out! I really liked those scenes, because you could demonstrate your ability, and that is what an actor wants the most. It’ll also make you cry a lot (laughs).

Next year is Raymond’s big year, and also a big year for his fans. Taking a count, he has, in total, five series to be released. When you guys see Raymond with personalities so different to one another, appearing before your eyes as fast as a space shuttle, please don’t faint!

TV Series: Your fans have dubbed next year as the Raymond Lam Year. Face to Fate, The Master of Tai Chi, The Legendary Era, Heart of Greed and The New Breath of Love all might be airing. Which character from which series do you have the most confidence in?

Raymond: Ah! Ha ha, hopefully they’ll all air! The Legendary Era is definitely going to air, a lot of people have already seen Face to Fate, Heart of Greed should be airing soon, but I don’t know about The Master of Tai Chi. All four series are different, that’s good, at least it won’t give people a mixed-up feeling (laughs).

TV Series: After La Femme Desperado, you’ve been filming a lot of modern series. Are you trying to replace the “Ancient Prince” image in the audiences’ minds?

Raymond: I never was an ancient prince (laughs). It’s probably because I have more ancient series. Ancient series have helped me a lot though; ancient series are more popular outside of Hong Kong. Airing more ancient series can introduce me to the audiences outside of Hong Kong, it’s a kind of practice (silly laughter), and actually modern series are harder to act, in ancient series there are more styles, and a lot of more techniques, modern is more based on reality, your lines, your language, and to have your acting natural but interesting to watch isn’t easy. And because modern series are very realistic, it’d be very hard to grasp, and so I find modern series harder to play. I don’t know why, but after La Femme Desperado, a lot of producers have asked me to film in modern series. This is a good thing, and also practices. I actually would rather film modern series, because wearing wigs in ancient series is very difficult to bear.

TV Series: Just before they announced the winner of the Best Actor award at the TVB Awards Presentation, was Liza joking with you only?

Raymond: Yeah, yeah (laughs). Because, yeah, ha ha, not only Liza, even I couldn’t believe it. This year, I didn’t have that many productions; I was already really happen that La Femme Desperado left a deep impression upon the audiences, and because so many audiences now recognize my character Chai Fun, this can be considered as one of my representative works, so I’m very happy.

TV Series: After this series, do you have any plans to work in Mainland?

Raymond: Not at the moment, because I don’t know when I will finish this series. To be honest I also want to go to film in Shanghai, hopefully next year I’ll get a chance to film with the cast and crew of The New Breath of Love again. We first have to wait for the results after The New Breath of Love is aired. They said that it should be pretty reliable, the production crew is pretty confident. I wonder if The New Breath of Love will air in Hong Kong. (It’ll air in Mainland, right?) It should. (Hong Kong will air it as one of their series bought from outside?) Hopefully I also hope that the Hong Kong audiences can watch this series, because this character is a little different to me (laughs).

TV Series: Do you have confidence in winning an award for next year?

Raymond: Next year (thinks), next year I want to get into Top 5 again (laughs). Hopefully when I get into Top 5 again next year, Liza won’t say that she didn’t think I would (laughs).

[Magazine Scans] Additional plot synopsis and interview with producer Poon Ka Tak:

1. [Drive] is both invested by TVB and CCTV. They have already created storylines for all 60 episodes, and now they're preparing the scripts. Because the scripts were written in Cantonese, therefore they will need to modify it for Mainland cast's version. He also added that there is no difference in the seasons, because they emphasized on July 1st, it shall be in summer.

2. Preparing for this series in very challenging as they're working with CCTV. The story is not just about HK handover back to China, but the changes over 10 years, how HK people reacted to handover, for example the immigrating trend, and also how people are now returning to HK. The script is more realistic view of HK. Also, the story revolves around the love and hate relationship of a huge family. The most difficult part is preparing two versions of scripts, one in Cantonese and the other in Mandarin.

3. At the moment, they have already finished filming the first 20 episodes. The manufacturing plans in Beijing almost appear in every episode. They also filmed in a old car parts plant in HK. Canada's part was to film the immigration trend pre 1997, with Michael and Sheren immigrating there. Tehy also filmed Chan Mei Kei part there, with her involved in a murder case. Her husband died, but no one knew the murderer. Seven years later, he was considered missing person and Chan Mei Kei can finally sell off their house. However, they end up discovering her husband's corpse and she was accused of murdering him. Damien and Liu Ging Sang then tried to rescue her. Later, she died and Charmaine feels her mother's death was caused by them. She was already dating Ray, who is Damien's son and a lot of events happened after this.

4. Ron's character was often manipulated. He has a very simple personality, not impulsive like his previous roles, but instead very understanding and easy person. He's not part of the Wah family, he is an illegitimate child, who share a same father but different mother with Joe Ma. He was born of Joe's father and his mistress, but he did not knew about this. Later, he found out that he was actually a rich man's son. He also knew who his real father is, he cared for him but pretend not to know their true relationship. He is a sensible young man. Ray doesn't have much screen time with Ron. Ray will have a lot of screen time with his first cousin, mainland actor Feng Shao Feng. Poon Ka Tak added that Shao Feng plays a very important character in the series and his father is acted by Liu Ging Sang.

5. During filming, he has warned Ray and Ron not to play around too much during filming. he doesn't mind them going out during resting time because actors need to de-stress too. He also added that it's common that the cast sometimes grouses their complaints to him, but it's alright because they will resume normal the next day. He think that pressure is necessary while filming a series, for example, criticizing "Just now you're not good enough, you should do this, etc. The way you do is not acceptable etc. etc." One example is Ellesmere Choi, who cannot sleep once PKT scolded him. Ellesmere Choi is a lively person but will turn quite in front of PKT because he's afraid of him. PKT joked: "We are like small kids. Acting is crazy. Audience are silly, while actors are insane! (Laughs)"
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Myolie just explained the love pentagon in the clip above. It seems that:

Myolie ---> Ray <---> Charmaine
Zhao Ke ---> Feng Shao Feng <---> Myolie

News translation below credit to Em:


Myolie Bears the Cold in Backless Dress

Myolie Wu took part in a costume fitting for her role in "The Drive of Life" yesterday, wearing a silver dress that reveals most of her back and legs. She says: "The story tells of me taking part in the Miss Exhibition pageant. I have been to the trade exhibition before but have never watched the pageant." She indicates that she will be filming at the exhibition centre next week and wearing such a skimpy dress, she is worried about catching a chill: "I am afraid of the cold! I have to cry in that scene as well because it tells of my character being attracted to Raymond Lam and he agrees to support her in the contest, but he goes missing afterwards and I am very upset. (Do you have any kiss scenes with Raymond?) I don't think so because I have a romance in the show with Mainland actor Feng Shao Feng."