Fa Dan of the 90’s – Maggie Cheung Ho Yee
Maggie’s Profile
| English Name : Maggie Cheung Ho Yee |
(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
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 (1st runner-up) and Theresa Lee (2nd runner-up). Halina is now only the 2nd or 3rd 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 | |
| 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 | 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 | 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 
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 (
Maggie’s Turn
| 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 1st 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
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 (
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
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/
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