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Good acting

| Tuesday, December 14, 2010 | |

People call Mainland Chinese Zhou Xun a pro in acting. Actually, there are many people in Hong Kong who are pro in acting too. Sheren Tang is no doubt one of them. "Cheng Gau Mui" is the role that made her win the Best Actress award 2 times in a row, which is unprecedented. In 2003 and 2004, she won the Best Supporting Actress award 2 times in a role, and even Liu Xiaoqing, the famous Mainland Chinese movie queen has praised her for her good acting skills. Does she still need the Best Actress award to prove that she has outstanding acting skills? Of course not. The award is just an icing on the cake for her. While appreciating Sheren's good acting on-screen, how did she manage to be such a good actress, and what did she go through?

Everybody is congratulating Sheren for her win. While Sheren has said that the award is not important to her, she is still overwhelmed by emotions when she went on stage to receive her award. In 2003, Sheren won the Best Supporting Actress award, and her acting skills have long been recognised. The feeling of winning the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards are about the same. Why is she still worried about whether she can get her Best Actress award? She laughed it off and said, "Actually, it is not important whether I win it or not. I'm more practical. So long as the audience and back-stage crew are happy with my performance, I will be happy with my performance as well. However, this time round, I realised that accolades do affect the drama to a certain extent. It will help to motivate the actors to work harder, and increase the audience's attention and awareness of the drama." Although No Regrets is unable to win the Best Drama award, but Sheren winning 2 Best Actress awards in a row is already a record itself.

Does Cheng Gau Mui have shadows of Sheren Tang? "My character is not like Cheng Gau Mui. La Femme Desperado's Hilda is more like me. However, Gau Mui is a sentimental person who values righteousness, so in that aspect, she's like me."

When she first entered the acting scene, she was already the female lead. Her supporting roles have also become lead roles because her acting is just that outstanding. How did Sheren managed to do that? "One must accumulate experience. My acting skills are as such because I've been in this sector for so many years. To add on, I have this silly and obsessive streak in me. However, when I went to New York to study, this was also when my acting career took a drastic turn."

"Every time I take on a role, I'm learning; For example, Cheng Gau Mui is one who has big ambitions. She has to lie to Lau Sing, lie to her family members and lie to the audience. However, she is not all that bad, for her has a righteous streak in her. Her character is really very complicated. After filming so many episodes, I was still not sure whether I handled this character correctly, so I asked the creators of this drama. They advised me on what to do, and I was suddenly enlightened. I practised how I was going to express each of facial expressions, and practised till I got it right."

"Another example would be the scenes where Gau Mui's opium addiction kicked in. I never had any experience in filming such a scene, so I had to rely on my imagination to portray out the emptiness and loneliness that a drug addict would experience. My church friends were in-charge of introducing a woman who was once addicted to opium to me. She came to TVB and talked to me, the director and the script-writers on how the surroundings should be like, how her feelings were like, how she fought the addiction, what pains she went through and how scary she looked like when she was addicted. As an "obsessed" artiste, given the opportunity to act out such a role, I gave my best. I believe in Jesus. However, once I'm "into" the drama, I'll proudly say, "We believe in Guan Yu (Guan Er Ge). I have so many difficult dialogues, and those expressions that are required of me are not easy to portray out since they are less common. This is not an easy role. If I'm able to pass, I'm already happy."

Won't Sheren feel tired easily if she's giving her best in every scene? What are her ways of keeping herself in tip-top condition? "It's tiring when I give my best for every scene. Filming a few scenes in a movie is all right. But when you have to act well for 300 over scenes, and still maintain the composure and atmosphere, it'll really drive one crazy! Sometimes, I just have to rely on my willpower to pull me through."

If her acting partner is good in acting, will this motivate her to act better? Has she secretly pitted her acting skills against Wayne Lai? "I have very high expectations of myself. Don't talk about whether having a good on-screen partner will motivate me to work harder. I won't even let myself slack off for a few moments." Sheren is really a very confident person.

"I'm lucky, because every time I start work, my mother will be taking care of my food. I have clear soup to drink everyday, and this boosts my health. In the past, when I was younger, I could still hold on no matter how tired I was, so I didn't know anything about conserving one's energy. Now that I'm older, I have to learn how to keep myself in prime condition, and am taking more herbs to maintain myself. Adam Cheng and Damian Lau have also taught me a lot, saying that even when I have a half-hour break, I must use that time to rest so that I have the energy to continue later on. Last time, I was afraid that if I slept, I won't be able to make a good connection between the filming of scenes. So long as I don't fall into a deep slumber, it won't really affect my scenes much. They have been male leads for twenty over years, so listening to their advices on how to stay energised is really important. I also allow some room for mistakes so that I do not become too stressed. Seeking perfection will definitely add on to stress."

- Credits to 人民网-港澳频道

Comments: I really appreciate all the hard work that Sheren put in for her character. Cheng Gau Mui is doubt, one of the most well-written and complex characters that I've ever seen. To me, one of the best scenes in No Regrets was the part where Gau Mui was suffering from opium addiction. Those scenes were done with so much conviction that I truly felt Gau Mui's pain and agony. I felt like crying with her when she was struggling to wean herself off opium. ='(

*PLEASE CREDIT DREAMLUCKY IF REPOSTED! THANKS! ^^

Anyway, for No Regrets fans, a Facebook page for our dear Sing Gau is set up! Go to http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_113110422092860 to join and show our support to Sherayne! <333333 Thanks to Jamie for setting up this page! =D

DO REMEMBER TO LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS FOR NO REGRETS HERE!!

2 comments:

  1. Great article!!!

    Personally, the scene where Gau Mui fought to resist the urge to smoke opium was by far the most memorable scene. I could actually feel Gau Mui's pain and frustration, and that she was utterly disappointed with herself to fall into the opium blackhole. Sheren carried the role very well, so well that it led me to feel as if I have met Gau Mui in real life.

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