[Sing Pao, Ta Kung Pao, The Sun & Oriental Daily]

TVB's new drama set in the backdrop of the sixties "Same Work Same Bowl" held its official costume fitting yesterday and the cast members used the old Cantonese films as a blueprint for their appearances as well as adopting a slant on some veteran actors for their character names. Roger will be playing "Tang Wai Cheung" (Tang Wing Cheung), Myolie's character is "Cheng Pik Wan" (Tang Pik Wan) and others include Kenneth Ma's "Tang Keng Chan" (Tang Kei Chan), Cherrie Kong's "Ling Fung", Wayne Lai's "Tse Kwan Min", Chun Wong's "Ling Sing Bo", Wong Yeuk Tung's "Dik Lai Na" and Lo Yuen Yan's "Lam Lan Hing".

Roger and Kenneth play an uncle and nephew in the show and for yesterday's event, they both dressed up as maids. Roger laughed that they were the 'Twins of the Sixties' and in order to play his role well, he has been watching many of Brother Cheung's films, fifteen or sixteen of them to be exact, but unfortunately there are very few close ups in those days and he could not catch Brother Cheung's expressions very well and he will have to improvise on these. Roger laughs: "I will give you a fresher look at Brother Cheung."

As Tang's figure was rather slimly built, Roger has had to lose some weight for the role and at the moment he has lost five or six pounds and is aiming to lose another five. Roger laughs: "No matter how slim I get, I will never be as skinny as Brother Cheung, so I can only sacrifice my eyebrows, making them into a downwardly sloping triangular shape." Remembering that Roger had to gain weight to play Ah Wong in "Square Pegs" and now he has to lose weight to play Tang, he is really showing his professionalism. He feels that the hardest thing to do is lose weight because he has to hold back on food, especially his supper habit, which he is trying to kick by going to sleep earlier.

As for playing a well known character, does Roger feel any pressure from this? He says: "No pressure really, because if there is pressure, I will not perform as well, so I treat it as a bit of fun and this summer should be the most fun ever." With so many stars in the sixties, Roger's favourite was Cheung Ying because he was very stylish when he wore his raincoat. As for female stars, he likes Tam Lan Hing because he wished for her to be his mother as she was rather rotund and gave a very motherly feeling. Although she often played the baddie, she always turned good in the end.

Roger's show "To Get Unstuck in Time" that is currently airing has been accused of copying the Hollywood movie "Frequency" and he responds: "It is a great copy! To be able to copy Hollywood is a good thing, copying Bollywood is not so great." He believes that many of the great literary works in the world are copies, but it doesn't matter as long as it is good. He says he has watched "Frequency" and he says it is not a bad film at all.

Myolie has also been watching old movies in preparation for her role and she praises Tang Pik Wan be being the true multi-talented queen of the screen because she can be whatever role she plays. Myolie says: "Sister Pik is deeply set in people's hearts as many viewers will have watched her performance before, so I am quite nervous and hope that I can capture her spirit. (Do you want to be the Queen of TVB?) Of course, but I would hope more that I can learn a lot from filming this show."

Myolie will undertake a lot of roles in the show, including a factory worker, street hawker and a lounge singer, where she will once again show off her singing voice. When asked whether she is confident in her singing, she smiles: "It's okay! I believe that the focus will be on comedy, so it will not depend too heavily on my singing talent."

Kenneth Ma admitted that he looks awful dressed as a woman and as for his character modelled on Tang Kei Chan, he says that he does not look like Tang, but he hopes to make up for it by his expressions. At the moment, Kenneth and Roger are studying their scripts with Lo Koon Lan helping them out on the side.

As for Wong Yeuk Tung who will be taking on the role of veteran Dik Na, she was asked whether she was cast into the role because of her figure. She says: "You will have to ask the producer that question. I have watched Dik Na's films and I am learning how she breathes and also keeping fit. (Will you appear in a bikini scene?) I don't think so, but it doesn't matter if I do as it is acceptable." Earlier, Yeuk Tung was filming a shoot for a magazine and it was commented that she does look like Dik Na.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-6-24/UL-275154.htm
http://www.singpao.com/20040624/gossip/569000.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040624/20040624002828_0003.html
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a14cnt.html



[Oriental Daily & The Sun]

In just her first TV series, Fiona Sit has been a magnet to negative press as she has been accused of the following: being hated by all; being unprofessional; complaining about TVB's make up team; making the director wait half an hour for her; constant NG's (retakes); being arrogant and having seven people at her beck and call.

Yesterday Fiona took part in an interview and defended herself by saying: "I am not universally hated, nor have I complained about the make up artist. I put my own make up on each time and maybe I am too nervous about my first time in a TV show and I don't know the other actors very well. I have made many friends now and am closer to the girls than the guys and sometimes when we don't have to work, we still keep in touch. I am not arrogant before my time, nor am I cheeky, but I know that just explaining myself is no use and I will prove this by my actions." She also says that the company wants her to be independent, so they have not provided her with an entourage, just a translator to help her with her script, but there was one occasion when the script was not available until the day and the translator was not around, so she gave the impression that she was ill-prepared.

http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a03cnt.html
http://the-sun.com.hk/channels/ent/20040624/20040624004710_0003.html



[Ta Kung Pao & Oriental Daily]

Nancy Sit will be working alongside "American Idol" star William Hung in an ancient drama film "My Mother Wants a Son", it was revealed at the Hong Kong Film and Television Expo yesterday as the press pushed for information about this film that will be the newcomer's first foray into acting. Funded by Yeung Pan Pan's film company, the movie will begin filming in Guangzhou and Shaoguan in August for twenty days.

Nancy indicates that William has no special requests for his catering arrangements, but there will be an entourage of six bodyguards to protect him as well as a group of personal camera crew as his aura is like that of a superstar. As well as receiving a monster fee for his role, he has also asked for a cut of the takings throughout the world when the movie is released. Making the most of his opportunity, William will also be singing six of the theme tunes in Cantonese for the movie and insists that these songs appear on the movie soundtrack. Also, to maintain his innocent image, he has requested that there are no detrimental or revealing scenes in the film. Nancy says she has spoken to William on the phone recently and he is full of confidence, saying he will be showing off his Taekwando skills in the film. He is hoping to be back in Hong Kong soon and is currently practicing his Cantonese songs hard at home, preparing for his second record and interstate tour of America.

http://www.takungpao.com/news/2004-6-24/UL-275157.htm
http://orientaldaily.com.hk/ent/ent_a12cnt.html