I sorta added some flavor to the writer's artwork, cos its so damn hard to find an english word that completely substitutes to illustrate a chinese word - Harry


A Golden Era - Footsteps to Jessica's career
The writer told how he/she first saw Jessica on a magazine article back in 1994, when Jessica was only a newbie then in tvb waiting for opportunities to move up. He also mentioned how the news back then probably featured Jessica/Dicky Cheung relationship which made it a somewhat awkward news at that time, in his opinion. But the Jessica he sees today has actually become a top tvb "ah-jer", so he decided to re-visit the various bits n pieces of what makes Jessica today....

1. Born into a respectable profession
Jessica came into showbiz from the Advertisement industry, unlike others who came from tvb acting, dancing, talent classes etc. Jessica was already made second female lead in her initial series, "Eternity" and "Class of Distinction". New to the industry, Jessica wasn't even nervous co-starring with big stars Faye Wong, Leon Lai. In addition, Jessica also left fans with a lovable performance in her small role in "Flirting Scholar" as being one of the four seasons in the movie. The author also claims that her role in the movie was more interesting than that of Gong Li. Esp the various comedy scenes when Jessica gave audience a good laugh at her stunts, even more energetic, enthusiastic than that performed by Stephen Chow. You could see back then, Jessica has given her best even in a small role. Now each time they play the movie on tv, the writer n his friends would be focusing on Jessica role, as he feels that despite the small role, it was the most eye-catching one....

2. Glamorous Ruo Hui
According to the writer, the success of Jessica character in FOJ IV might have "hit a bulls eye". Prior to the airing of FOJ IV, all attention were focused on the back-then-leading "ah-jer" Amy Chan and Bobby Au-Yeung's love story. During her interview regarding the sreries, the writer revealed that Jessica was "complaining" that the leal scripts were too "jing king" (pro), just like those of ancient costume series (lengthy and serious), and not what she was used to at all, being more familiar with comedy/drama. However, as this character was written to be a very interesting one, plus Jessica's energetic acting, this character became Jessica's most lovely one. This character was also one which embraced the popular dollar-note "hearts", the flipping of glass cup game, and the selena song "dreaming of you", which made these lil details unforgettably linked to her character series in audience heart. Her interesting character was way beyond expectation but within reasons, which brought her the first female lead spot in FOJ V. In that old days without best female award, that promotion was a definite recognition to her superb performance in her character of Ruo Hui....

3. A True Clown - Liang Shuang Shuang
Most of Jessica early day productions were mainly light comedy drama, but when it comes to the greatest comedy, Jessica's acting were probably seen in "Recipe from the Heart". Her role in the series was somewhat prestigous as she carries the chef queen's hat. Even her rival Maggie Cheung at that time had to be the reporter squeezing in the crowds just to witness Jessica pictures in the limelight. But her prestigous image automatically turned to her self-clown character in front of her "see heng" bobby, as she carries two sticks of fishball running towards him, calling him in her funniest voice! Also, another excellent scene mentioned was when Jessica pretended to weep in tears in front of Bobby, telling him that she would withdraw btw him and Esther, but only for us to find out that she then burst into laughter the next second. Watching the present Jessica with her long graceful hair, and then looking back at her character as liang shuang shuang, nevertheless made the writer ask: When will we get to see that side of Jessica again?

4. The unbeatable JL combo
Louis and Jessica altogether has had six productions together, amongst which three of them they play as couples (DIF4, MBF, ASTP). One of the best chemistry was found in DIF4. More comments on DIF4 and on Men Best Friends <>.

5. The Curse of Long Series
Jessica has always been active with the small produtions. And when Jessica actually gets to be part of long grand productions, her roles had never had good endings. Such in Cold Blood Warm Heart, her char never did have good days, first got dumped by a guy, then fall down the cliff, injured and lost her memory, followed by kidnapped, and finally she killed herself. In Secret of Heart, she also got killed terribly by Nick. In Step to Past, Jessica got humiliated, in the end had to share Louis with someone else. In Golden Faith, Jessica got hurt (her heart) by Gallen and Anne multiple times. The irony is all four of these grand series were very successful, and each time, the "other" female actress in each series stole her limelight, ie. Cold Blood Warm Heart's Nadia Chan, Secret of the Heart's Ada Choi, Step to the Past's Joyce Tang and Golden Faith's Myolie Wu. It's like on each occasion, the role given to her is one with so much sorrow and hatrad. Perhaps, none of the other female actress would have done as good as she did, that tvb picked Jessica for these difficult roles. Nevertheless, Jessica gave these so called "boring" roles with all her best.

5. Push her Man to the Very Top
"Pushing" her partner fot the best actor award year after year. First year was Gallen in Old Time Buddy, second year was Gallen in Secret, third year was Louis in DIF4, Fourth year was Bobby in Witness, Fifth was Louis in Step to the Past, followed by Gallen in Golden Faith, followed by Roger in Square Pegs. More on why the streak was broken when Joe Ma lost to Bowie <>.

Notes
Ever since Golden Faith, all Jessica productions have been very stable and successful with high ratings, despite her older smaller productions were also much re-lived by all thru repeats and vds. Her roles however have not been with much new breakthough, but perhaps due to the facvt that tvb production standards seem to be going down in recent years. But he believes that if there is a good script and role, Jessica would definitely be able to give us a new surprise. These days, the hot topics are mainly focused on young stars such as leila, bernice etc. Even the fan-crowded charmaine has become another ada choi (notice how they both came from ms hk by winning 3rd place)??? Its amazing how rapidly Popularity within TVB changes though its years and generations. And as for our beloved Jessica, now she carries a more aire and popularity of that of Lisa Wang. The fight for "fa-dan" is no longer a factor for her, as she remains faithful in tvb over the decade. In 2005, jessica with her charm, has brought back the triumph of Ah-Wang 2, and in the same year "lor por dai yan" series has also aired within the same year. Perhaps when one (such as Jessica) carries such a great protion of the weight (responsibility) for the success of a television series, then she's made it to the next stage, a new beginning of a new world.

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Always loved his translations...

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流金的岁月——宣萱的演艺之路
记得在1994年的一本周刊上第一次看到宣萱，那时她还是作为一名无线正在等待上位的新人以及张卫健女友这样尴尬的身份出现的。而到了今天再来看这位早已在无线地位超然的阿姐，其中经历的许多风风雨雨居然让我有了一丝怀旧的冲动。很多人都说，宣萱的演艺生涯算是比较顺利的，她不曾经历过大起大落。一路在无线的庇护下稳稳地走来。然而，要在竞争激烈变幻莫测的演艺圈稳稳当当地行走十几年，也并不是一件简单的事情。

一． 龙套生涯
宣萱是由拍广告入行，所以不用像一般的TVB训练班学员那样经历一大段扮演路人甲已丙的日子，她在初期的几部作品如千岁情人和老师早上好中，已经是戏份颇重的二线女主角。甚至与王菲、黎明这样的大牌同场竞技也未见青涩。不过宣萱还是留下了一个日后被FANS津津乐道的咖哩菲角色，就是在电影唐伯虎点秋香里面扮演的春夏秋东四香之一。她在片中的丫环扮相，比巩俐更有味道，而她在片中也有几幕难得的不计形像的搞笑演出，比如在听了周星驰的古代Rap后脖子如鹅一样前后移动，后来更High到飞起来，在中了夺命书生的面目全非脚后摆出斗鸡眼加歪嘴的表情，演出简直比星爷还要搏命。现在每次看电视里播唐伯虎点秋香，我和好友都把注意力放在宣萱的身上，因为总觉得宣萱这个小角色很抢镜，虽然不如石榴姐来的劲爆，但看当今无线一姐昔日的“星女郎”生涯，还是颇多感慨的。

二． 灿烂若晖
程若晖这个角色的成功应该是一个“意外”。在一号法庭4还未播出之前，大家关注的焦点都是当时的无线一姐陈秀雯所扮演的丁柔以及她与欧阳震华的感情戏，宣萱作为新的成员加入这部已经拍了3部的系列剧自然不可能马上被全盘接受。连宣萱自己在接受采访时都只是抱怨法庭戏的台词太正经了，好似在拍古装，让拍惯生活剧的她很不习惯。好在这个角色本身写得非常棒，在加上宣萱充满灵气的演绎，若晖这个角色成为宣萱最可爱的角色之一，心形的纸钞，翻玻璃杯的游戏，和那首俏皮的Dreaming of you都成了让人难忘的小细节。若晖的精彩，在意料之外，但又在情理之中。然后我们就看到了在一号法庭5中升格为第一女主角的若晖，在那个还没有“我最喜爱的女主角奖”的年代，这也算是对宣萱的一种肯定吧。

三． 贱精小姐梁爽爽
宣萱早年的大部分角色都带有搞笑色彩，但顶多就是那种让人觉得可爱的轻微搞笑，而搞笑搞到最彻底的还要属美味天王里的梁爽爽了。虽然梁爽爽顶着“厨后”的头衔，她的出场也算得上拉风、高贵、典雅，连当年的死对头张可颐都要扮作小记者屁颠屁颠地挤在人群中瞻仰她的风采。可是一到师兄面前马上原形毕露，看着宣萱手拿两串鱼丸向欧阳震华夸张地跑来，配上那一声让人浑身酥麻的“师兄~~~~”，真的让人笑到满地找牙。还有她眼含泪光地骗欧阳震华自己要退出他和关咏荷之间，结果一回房就露出夸张得意的狂笑表情，如此贱精小姐的形像真的是前所未有。这也是宣萱最放得开的一次表演。看到如今长发飘飘走知性路线的老婆大人，再对比那个骑在欧阳震华身上大唱迷魂阵的“女色狼”，不禁想问，宣萱何时才能再彻彻底底地贱精一回，放纵一回？

四． 无敌古宣配
古天乐和宣萱共有六次合作，其中三次扮情侣。还曾因此而传出绯闻。两人合作最有火花的一次就是刑4，虽然现在看来，这部剧有着许多情节上的硬伤，但徐飞和武俏君这两个角色至今看来仍是那么的鲜明。前段时间有人还把郭富城在三岔口中的角色同徐飞作了比较，同样是前女友失踪的失意警察，古天乐的徐飞一角显然要更为饱满。至于武俏君，这个角色可以说是为宣萱量身订做，而宣萱当时的状态也可以说是相当的好，她在这部刑4和同年的骗中传奇中都有令人耳目一新的突破表演，而另一部古宣配的宠物情缘也是我个人非常喜欢的。宣萱在这部剧中的角色敏感、多疑，并不十分讨好，然而宣萱演来却相当可信，她与古仔之间的对手戏也很有火花，比如两人都想以给对方的狗喂食为借口找机会接近对方，然而真正碰面后又不好意思说话，那种恋爱初始阶段的微妙感觉被他们诠释得惟妙惟肖。

五． 长剧魔咒及宣萱的两种死法
宣萱在无线一直以走小成本小制作路线为主，她参演的大制作长剧相对于她的剧集总量来说少之又少，但是她难得的几次在长剧中的露面却总是没什么好结果。在天地男儿中，宣萱饰演的雪凝从头到尾就没过过几天好日子，先是被甩，然后是被推下山崖，然后是失忆，然后是被绑架，然后是杀了男友后自杀。天地豪情中的若妍也没好到哪里去，虽然名字只和若晖差一个字，但命苦就是没办法，连死都死得如同儿戏，就被张家辉找来的杀手捂住嘴捅了一刀然后拖走，非常狼狈，完全不是主角死法。而寻秦记虽然没让她死，却惨遭强暴，而且最后和别人分享一个老公也并不是什么幸福的结局。也许唯一比较好一点的是流金岁月的程天蓝，命好，人也美，不过也没少受罗嘉良跟向海岚的气。巧的是，宣萱参演的这四部年度大戏都相当的成功，然而宣萱本身的发挥却都不如在那些中级制作中的角色，而与她同剧的女演员也常常抢走她的光芒，如天地男儿的陈松龄、天地豪情的蔡少芬、寻秦记的腾丽名、流金岁月的胡杏儿，倒不是说宣萱技不如人，只是不知为何每次大制作分配给她的角色总是苦大仇深、一脸正经。也许，这些角色换成了其他人来演，并不会比宣萱演的好，而宣萱对于这几个呆扳而又苦闷的角色，也已经尽了她最大的努力。

六． 旺夫成龙
宣萱的旺夫传奇从第一届的台庆“我最喜爱的男主角”一直延续到前年，第一届的难兄难弟罗嘉良、第二届的天地豪情罗嘉良、第三届的刑4古天乐、第四届的洗冤录欧阳震华、第五届的寻秦记古天乐、第六届的戆夫成龙郭晋安，每一个都是因为和宣萱演对手戏而得奖，从中也可以看出宣萱演戏很能与对手擦出火花。终结这个神话的是去年金枝欲孽的林宝怡和宣萱的新搭档马德钟。马仔外形出色，演技也不差，不过还欠缺了一点观众缘，人家欧阳震华自一号法庭之后所演的角色几乎是同一个人，却年年大受欢迎，这就是观众缘，也是对电视剧演员来说最种要的一个武器。倒不能说宣萱和马德钟不配，至少两人在宠物情缘里演出的假情侣还是很有趣味的。另外一屋和烽火的剧本也薄弱到了一个夸张的地步，仅凭宣萱一人之力也是无力回天了。

后记：以流金岁月为分水岭，在这之前，宣萱几乎没有任何失手之作，每部戏的反响都相当不错，成绩一直很稳定，就算是在一些不太起眼的小制作里，千禧泼妇、女扮男装、贪吃红娘、离岛特警等都能够让人回味好一阵子。而从流金岁月开始，宣萱本身的戏路越走越窄，再也没有出现特别能够让人眼前一亮的角色，这也与近两年无线剧集整体水准的下降有关。不过相信只要有好的角色和剧本，宣萱还是能够带给我们惊喜的。现在的大部份的无线剧迷们都热衷于谈论杨怡、胡杏儿、唐宁、杨思琦、廖碧儿这些更年轻的名字，连当初被网友狂踩的佘诗曼都转眼间成了苦尽甘来的翻版蔡少芬（注：两人同为港姐季军，出道时都被批评不会演戏，都在某一年突然拿出两部作品让人刮目相看，都从丰满型瘦成迷人瓜子脸），TVB的改朝换代真的很快。至于曾经被我们热爱的宣萱，现在倒是越来越有汪明荃的气势了，TVB的花旦之争她早已置身事外，“事非精”的称号已经多年不曾有人提起，连张可颐也跟她一照泯恩仇，陈慧珊走了，郭可盈婚了，蔡少芬两头跑，十几年都不曾离开无线的宣萱现在仍然是四大花旦里唯一全身心投入TVB的一个。2005年，宣萱的旺夫运，又随着阿旺新传的大热再次实现，而以她为绝对第一主角的第三部作品老婆大人也已上演。也许，一个人挑起一部电视剧的大梁，正是她迈向镇台之宝的开始。