Fa Dan of the 90’s – Maggie Cheung Ho Yee

Maggie’s Profile

English Name : Maggie Cheung Ho Yee 中文姓名：張可頤 Place of Birth : Hong Kong Date of Birth : 20th March 1970 Nationalities : Chinese/British (dual) Origin : Taisan, Guangdong Province, Mainland China Horoscope : The Thoughtful Piscean Chinese Zodiac : Dog Languages Spoken : English, French, Cantonese, Mandarin Blood type : O+ Religious Affiliation : Roman Catholic Primary Education : St. Mary's Canossian College [Graduated Valedictorian] Secondary Education : Plymouth College (UK) Tertiary Education : Oxford College (UK) - Nutritional Science, Anatomical Biology Former Companions : - Frederick Tung Bo, Shanghainese businessman - Samm Chan Yung Sum, Singaporean producer Current Companion : None at the moment Marital Status : Single/Never married Favorite colors : Black, white, purple Favorite artistes : Too many Favorite movies : Harry Potter, Gone With The Wind Favorite food : Sushi Favorite places : Resorts, Maldives, France Hobbies : Traveling, water sports, ball sports Fears most : Rats and dirty places, mosquitoes Her career goal : To become an actress who is recognized for her work. Favorite serials she has acted in : Plain Love, Old Time Buddy... (too many to mention!) Most unforgettable days : Winning My Favorite Actress award in 2003 TVB Anniversary and The Next Media Top Ten Artistes ¡V1st. (it felt like I was dreaming!)

(this profile is taken from her official fansite & AsianFanatic)

Maggie’s Awards

Year	Event	Award
1994	Miss Hong Kong Pageant 1994	Miss Talented & Prominent Star Award
1997	RTHK TV Awards	Best Newcomer Award
		Ranked 5th, Top 10 TV Stars
1998	TVB Weekly Magazine	Ranked 3rd, Top 10 TVB Artists
	Clarins Paris	Best Complexion Award
	Pantene Pro-V	Pearly Lustrousness Best Hair Award
	Oriental Sunday Magazine	Best Cover Girl (for issue 36) Award
1999	TVB 32nd Anniversary	The Millennium Most Memorable Actress in a Leading Role (as Cheng Po Chu in Old Time Buddy)
2000	Express Weekly	The Most Intimate TV Couple Award (with Gordon Lam Ka Tung for Plain Love II)
	TVB Children Music Festival	Best Song Award (Happily Welcome a New Year)
2001	TVB 34th Anniversary	My Character Award (as Rose Suen Hing Ka in The Awakening Story)
2003	Next TV Awards	Ranked 7th, Top 10 Artists
	Three Weekly	Most Mega-Artist Award
		Most Beautiful Complexion Award
	Complete La Femme	Honored Steward of LF Award
	TVB 36th Anniversary	My Character Award (as Lui Sei Leung in The King of Yesterday & Tomorrow)
		My Favourite Actress Award (as Lui Sei Leung in The King of Yesterday & Tomorrow)
2004	Next TV Awards	Ranked 1st, Top 10 Artists
2005	Next TV Awards	Ranked 5th, Top 10 Artists
	Astro Wah Lai Toi Drama Awards	Favourite Character Award (as Onn Sin in War and Beauty)

(this award list is taken from her official fansite & AsianFanatic)

Maggie’s Path to Showbiz

In the early 90s, Maggie started with a girl’s band called PP Gals. She plays the guitar in the band. Nonetheless, girl bands are not very popular in Hong Kong back then, and the PP Gals resolved after a short while.

She entered the Miss Hong Kong Beauty Pageant in the year of 1994. She managed to qualify for the top 5 finalist but did not get any placing. She lost out to Halina Tam (champion), Annamarie Wood (1^st runner-up) and Theresa Lee (2^nd runner-up). Halina is now only the 2^nd or 3^rd tier actress

in TVB doing mostly supporting roles. I haven’t heard of Annamarie for long, maybe she’s still modeling or has left the circle. Theresa is married and has a child, not sure if she has accepted any jobs in near future.

Though Maggie only got the “Potential Artist Award”, TVB signed her as their artiste straight after the competition. And she became one of the top Fa Dans in TVB.

Maggie’s Filmography

Year	Film	Character	Production Company
2005	Song of Everlasting Sorrow	Wong Kei Yiu	China
2004	The Conqueror's Story	Lui Chi	TVB
	War & Beauty	Onn Sin	TVB
2003	Better Halves	Lin Pak Hap	TVB
	The King of Yesterday & Tomorrow	Lui Sei Leung	TVB
	Ups & Downs in the Sea of Love	Yama Fong Nga Man	TVB
2002	Let's Face It	Cally Ko Ka Lei	TVB
	Burning Flame II	Chung Yan Yee	TVB
	Police Station No.7	Tsang Po Yin	TVB
2001	The Awakening Story	Rose Suen Hing Ka	TVB
2000	The Sky is the Limit	Kam Lan	TVB
1999	A Smiling Ghost Story	Lam Ka Yee / Lee Wing Yan	TVB
	Plain Love II	Phun Mui Nga	TVB
1998	To Catch a Thief	Cheng Po Chu	TVB
1997	A Recipe for the Heart	Ha Chun Chun	TVB
	Mystery Files	Carrie Man Ka Lai	TVB
	Old Time Buddy	Cheng Po Chu	TVB
	A Road & A Will	Ching Ho Fung	TVB
1996	One Good Turn Deserves Another	Queenie Au Hok Yee / Chow Lok Yue	TVB
	Once Upon a Time in Shanghai	Gu Ching Wah	TVB
	Ancient Heroes	Chiu Yuen San	TVB
	Cold Blood Warm Heart	Chris Yip Hiu Bing	TVB
1995	A Kindred Spirit	Fanny Yuen	TVB
	The Unexpected	Cindy Au Yeung Sau Lan	TVB
	The Return of Condor Heroes 1995	Cheng Ying	TVB

(this filmography is taken from Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Cheung_Ho_Yee)

As usual, she started of with some minor roles. She starred as Cheng Ying in ROCH95. Though she did not get much screen time here, I feel that’s she’s quite natural in acting for a newcomer. Later, she took on the character of Gu Ching Wah in Once Upon a Time in Shanghai, the ex-lover of Adam Cheng’s character. Maggie managed to portray this complex character well by showing her love and hatred towards Adam’s character at the same time. Just a personal thought, I don’t think Nadia Chan is suitable as Fung Cheng Cheng with that (ugly) hairstyle! I think Maggie will fare much better as Cheng Cheng, which is fought over by Hui Man Keong and Ting Lik.

Her breakthrough moment came when she acted as Cheng Po Chu in Old Time Buddy. The way she speaks and acts was hilarious. The character was so cute and memorable. She also shared great chemistry with her co-star, Gallen Lo as Lei Kei. This series was very popular back then and caused Maggie’s popularity to soar. This signaled the beginning of the road for Maggie as a Fa Dan.

Plain Love II was TVB’s anniversary series in 1999, where Maggie starred opposite Gordon Lam. The series circled around tea plantation and was shot in HeZhou, GuangXi. Maggie’s character, Ah Phun, was a strong-willed native girl who rebelled against her father due to his mistreatment. She’s a tough nut to crack as she’ll stand up for her rights in order to protect herself and her mother. Ah Phun and Wai (Gordon’s character) have gone through many ups-and-downs and finally got together in the end. This is one of the best TVB series as the storyline is good and both Maggie and Gordon performed excellently!

The role of Lui Sei Leung in The King of Yesterday & Tomorrow finally earned Maggie the most coveted prize of My Favorite Actress award in 2003 TVB Anniversary. This is the milestone in Maggie’s career after working hard for years in TVB and getting the recognition she deserved. Undeniable, Maggie was outstanding when portraying Sei Leong, who was an ancient character accidentally transported to the present. Her successful partnership with Kong Wah (as Emperor Yong Zheng) made the series such pleasant to watch.

Next came the highly rated series of War and Beauty. This series is about the struggles among concubines of the Emperor Ka Hing in the Ching Dynasty. Maggie’s character, Onn Sin, was a royal maid. She ended being one of the concubines in order to seek revenge against the empress for killing her beloved granny. This role is very complex as there are many faces to show to different people in the palace. Maggie and her co-stars brought the series to life as WAB became the talk of the country (Hong Kong) after its airing. It was rumoured that Maggie could have won the My Favorite Actress award again in 2004 for this role. Yet, failing to attend the TVB Anniversary due to the filming of Song of Everlasting Sorrow cost her dear when the award was presented to Gigi Lai (co-star in WAB) instead.

Maggie’s Turn Downs

Film	Replacement	Reason
Au Revoir Shanghai	Anne Heung	Health reason
Lethal Weapons of Love & Passion	Charmaine Sheh	Schedule conflicts
Healing Hands III	Gigi Lai	Schedule conflicts
Riches & Stitches	Anne Heung	Schedule conflicts, uninterested
Healing Hands II	Yoyo Mung	Uninterested
Country Spirits	Charmaine Sheh	Refused to repeat role
At the Threshold of an Era II	Maggie Siu	Uninterested
At the Threshold of an Era	Maggie Siu	Health reason, Uninterested
Class of Distinction	Angie Cheung	Ideological differences with producer

(this list of turn downs is taken from Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Cheung_Ho_Yee)

I could only be amazed with Maggie after going through this list. As an actress, especially in TVB, turning down offers may prove fatal as you might be “refrigerated” as a consequence. The only reasons acceptable most probably are schedule conflicts and health reasons.

Class of Distinction was filmed before ROCH95, so I assumed that Maggie rejected her FIRST offer?! That was bold of her. Moreover it was because of ideological differences with the producer.

Her second turn down was for At the Threshold of an Era. Seeing the role Maggie Siu was in, I think it was wise for her to reject. I can’t imagine Maggie co-starring Nicky Wu, who looks just like a teenage boy then! Maybe the script changed after Maggie rejected it or was that the original idea, I think that was a fringe role and Maggie’s talent will be wasted in it. Since she didn’t star in the 1^st installment, obviously she won’t appear in ATE2.

Another prudent decision for turning down Country Spirit. I do not enjoy CS as I think the plot is way too similar with Plain Love 2 plus some changes in the theme from tea to wine. Relationships are also very complicated and the series drags at times.

I don’t quite get it why Maggie rejected the role in Healing Hands 2. As far as I’m concerned, she has never acted as a doctor before. This should be a good opportunity for a new challenge.

The others series listed were rejected due to schedule conflicts and health reasons. Anne Heung’s role in Riches & Stitches is kinda like the vase-type. So, Maggie did not lose anything for turning it down. Another bizarre pairing with Raymond Lam in Lethal Weapons of Love & Passion? I think Maggie is way too mature for him.

Maggie’s Personality vs Rumours

After going through all the details, one can clearly see that Maggie is a bold, straightforward and determined person. She has the courage to reject scripts knowing that those roles do not benefit her. She’s also outspoken at times and the press made a big fuss of it contributing to many negative publicity on the way.

As far as I can remember, Maggie seldom have gossips with her male co-stars (correct me if I’m wrong). She has had rumours with Joe Ma & Ricky (a hair-stylist, I suppose). There were gossips that she is a lesbian and is closely related to a tomboy called Alice Tang. She explained that they are good friends but the media twisted the truth into something else! She even went to an interview with Alice to show they have nothing to hide.

Though, there was more news about Maggie not getting along with her female co-stars. She was rumoured to have a spat with Jessica Hester Hsuan while filming Old Time Buddy. Both denied the allegations and Jessica has explained to the public for multiple times that there is no issue between them now.

It is also claimed that Maggie irritated Kenix Kwok when she won the My Favorite Actress award in 2003 TVB Anniversary. She said that Kenix lost because she doesn’t have any representative works. Well, I do not agree with that because I think Kenix is most memorable with the character of Jesse in Detective Investigation Files (I-III).

There were also reports that alleged Maggie to have behaved unprofessionally on the set by being late and arrogant (“ban dai pai” in Cantonese). Lisa Wang cleared this accusation for Maggie when they worked together in The Awakening Story. She even praised Maggie for her good job done.

Maggie attended the Astro Wah Lai Toi Awards (Malaysia) in early 2006. She was sick then but still made the trip. She was so friendly and jovial throughout the event. She responded to questions in interviews and waved happily at the fans. That should squash any rumours of Maggie being arrogant and proud.

Another reliable indication would be her pool of fans. Her fans are so united and made her a very nice fansite. Seriously speaking, the fansite of http://www.hoyee4u.com/ is one of the finest fansite I’ve ever come across. The graphics and flash are done professionally. The organization of contents is also well-structured. I’ve also seen some letters and email written by Maggie to her fans, and they are humbly written. You might argue on the validity of the letters, but I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to Maggie (and her fans perhaps!). If she is one bigheaded chic, I don’t think anyone would have spent that amount of effort on the fansite.

Maggie’s Final Verdict

Maggie is undoubtedly an attractive and capable actress. She may be swarmed by a lot of unconstructive publicity in the past, things should clear up if the reader is wise enough to justify the accuracy in the news.

Haven’t seen Maggie in the limelight for quite awhile since she’s diagnosed with the rare Graves’ Disease while filming Song of Everlasting Sorrow in China. The last time I saw her in public was during the Astro Wah Lai Toi Awards in early 2006. She was bloated but in good mood all the way. Hope that she’ll recover soon and continue filming.

Photos and information, credit to:
i) Maggie's Official Fansite @ http://www.hoyee4u.com
ii) Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maggie_Cheung_Ho_Yee
iii) spcnet @ http://www.spcnet.tv
iv) Maggie’s fansite @ http://www.geocities.com/cheunghoyee/facts.html
v) Astro Wah Lai Toi Awards @ http://www.astro.com.my/wlt/gallery/gallery.asp
vi) Sina Entertainment @ http://ent.sina.com.cn/

TVB 38th Anniversary

finally get to watch the TVB 38th Anniversary show last night. i already knew the results of the awards long ago since the show ended @ 19 Nov 2005. nonetheless, i still look forward to watching this programme as it is one of the highlights of tvb for the year 2005. this is one event where all the siu sangs & fa dans dress up elegantly & appear together.

to be honest, i was quite disappointed with this year's show! it has turned into semi-Oscar style where many insignificant & unnecessary (in my POV) awards were given out. Yet the top 10 favourite characters award were abolished! They now have the usual (Oscar-like) awards of the best leading actor/actress, best supporting actor/actress, most improved actor/actress, most popular series & many more... As usual, the winners were announced & this indicates the company's preference as well. Some people agrees with the results while others think they are not justified. this is very subjective & depends on individual preference too.

if you ask me, i'm not quite satisfied with the results. imho, the best leading actress award should be kenix's. lisa wang did have some breakthrough in terms of character, but performance-wise, i think myolie did better in WOIL. kenix kwok had 2 series last year, which are Love Bond & RDOV. she gave solid performances, & based on years & years of hard work in tvb, i reckon she should be given the recognition this time around.

meanwhile, i think moses chan deserves the best leading actor award. he was hillarious & superb as Shui Dong Lou in the Gentle Crackdown. it wasn't the usual handsome & kind character etc... roger kwok got this award for the 2nd time for the SAME role, ah Wong! the 1st one in Square Peg is magnificent, but the 2nd ah Wong in LMS didn't give me any special feelings anymore...

there wasn't much entertainment or performances either on that night. it used to be like, most of the artists divided into groups. these groups will perform & compete to get a trophy. however, only some fa dans like myolie, tavia, bernice, shirley etc performed a dance. Jackie Cheung & Zhou Xun were the guest artists, where they perform a musical, part of their movie "Perhaps Love". Even the anniversary stage show was not as funny. this time, they used Minutes to Fame as the theme, where eric tsang, nat chan, dodo cheng & lydia sum "took part" in the MtF. i still remember the stage show of the previous year where eric tsang & nat chan imitated the characters of War & Beauty. it was really funny & unforgettable!

other than that, i saw some noteworthy moments, which unlikely will happen anymore...

(i) kenix was standing beside hacken lee at the beginning of the show (& i'm sure i didn't see frankie around them!). since rumours of them having a "secret relationship" for 4 years was spread, i don't think they'll ever be so close (as friends) in public anymore to prevent unwanted attention.

(ii) when bosco got the most improved actor award, his buddies like kevin & raymond congratulated him with hugs & handshakes. bosco even gave myolie a peck on the cheek, out of courtesy obviously. however, rumours of them being an item spread like wildfire after the airing of WOIL. there are even gossips about them living together! i wonder if they'll distance from each other after all these buzz...

(iii) this was the final & most bizarre event of the evening. 3 lucky artists were picked to participate in a lucky draw in which prizes consist of a condo, a car & a bank account (with cash!). The lucky ones were nat chan, maria chen & bak yan (a veteran artist). the 1st draw was for the car. maria tried to unlock the car 1st but failed, followed by bak yan. as far as i'm concerned, the car door didn't get unlocked but the hosts were already celebrating & declaring bak yan as the rightful winner of the car! joey leung was the host that tried to open the door to indicate the winner but he couldn't open it either. you can see his facial expression of disbelief as the car door never budged open. since other more prominent hosts like dodo, lydia, eric etc already announced the winner, what can joey do??? i could only think of 2 possible reasons behind this incident. it was either they wanted bak yan to win the car so badly or time was running out that they didn't bother to try on the remaining keys...

there has been news regarding the deterioration of health regarding Sir Run Run Shaw. well, he's the boss of tvb & if anything goes wrong with him, tvb will definitely get affected anyways. you can always see his presence in major tvb shows like the anniversary, cny, miss hk pageant etc... i hope to see him again in 39th Anniversary this year! Kudos to this genius who initiated & gave us plenty of entertainment through TVB!

as a conclusion, i personally think that the 2005 anniversary show is not that entertaining anymore. the lack of performances is one issue while the departure of many prominent siu sangs & fa dans is deeply felt!