DJ : Tonight my guest I am interviewing is someone I called big brother ("gor gor" and I call him gor gor because he is someone who has the experience in life. I was reading his biodata and it says he is from a modest middle income family, studying, working, he has made a lot of choices in life and I am not sure how he views himself, whether he feels happy at the path he has taken and whether he would like to go back to the track he wants. Let me welcome Ruco Chan.
Hello everyone, how are you? Thank you very much for introducing me this way, very meaningful.
DJ : Do you mind if I did not introduce you as from some affluent family?
No no I like (being introduced as from a) modest middle income family.
Actually my parents were very simple and humble in their expectations of me. They never had any high expectations for me or even for themselves. I just feel, for myself, in this society where I was born in 1977 until around 90s where I mature at a time where there were big changes in Hong Kong which really took off around 80s. It was a time where you can't survive comfortably in Hong Kong if you were soft spoken or naive and you needed to have the experience to survive in the difficult times because there was a difference in terms of materialism and money. And at that time I began to think about my future. If I were to continue as I was, I would end up as some simplistic person who may not be able to contribute much to my future family. For example, I could be like how my parents raised and taught me to be; be someone honest and do something step by step and depend on myself in any situation. But these factors were not enough in Hong Kong, I needed at the very least to know that Hong Kong is also about shares and share markets which I still dabble in it. The thing is even if you live a worry free life, you will probably still be under immense pressure.
At that time I loved sports. I chose table tennis which wasn't a big sport in Hong Kong back then. At that time there were some foreign players coming in and frankly we couldn't possibly compete with them. At that time also the coach who trained me in Hong Kong also wanted to leave. At that time I never really thought of sports as my job where I can earn money or put food on my table. I never thought about it that way. I just know during that time I was very very happy. Sports gave me confidence and made me feel very good about myself. But the coach was the one who trained me from the beginning, and he wanted to leave and so.. young men like myself is all about loyalty so I told myself since coach is leaving.. so I left too.
Young men tend to be vain, fame hungry and loves exciting stuff and at that time the entertainment world is such a world so that sort of world could satisfy those aspects and there is a difference between working and studying. At that time I enrolled in TVB acting class together with my school friends. I was wondering which direction in my life I should be taking and I thought to myself better be in a line that will give me an exciting life. My father objected to my choice, he felt I was too young. Because he was required to sign on the contract since I just reached 18 and he did say no to me.
[Recording cut off]
At that time I never thought of myself as suffering in my career, not even now. I saw all of that as a learning process. It was a process and I always believed if one day I felt whatever I have done is enough, then perhaps I have chosen the wrong aim in life. If you want excitement, then naturally you will need to choose a line where you will be constantly faced with competitive exciting challenges and try a myriad of things. Naturally a lot of us will choose to be happy but reality is a lot of exciting challenges may not yield happiness. So at (the starting) point of my life, I was constantly learning. Except when it came to singing which I didn't quite take it as seriously (??). I lost that feeling (competitive drive) and so I failed. Failure can be attributed to many factors; own feelings, the people who surrounds you and chances given by others. That time was also my unhappiest time.
DJ : Have you always dreamed of being a lead actor?
When I first entered acting school, I already dreamed of being the lead actor. I mean you always watch leading actors in TV and not 2 or 3 days into it you will realise being a lead actor is very very hard!
At every stage in your life, you can't have this too high an expectation, everybody has their good and bad points. However at some point in life, somehow you will exhibit all these bad points and you will need to better yourself and strike a balance. I thought to myself if I hadn't walked down the difficult path step by step, I would never have had such opportunities. If you want to enjoy such good feelings, well stop for awhile. But if you want to continue on with this path, you must cut down on... I am not sure if this thing is called contentment but whatever this thing is you will eventually let it grow and mislead you where you will lose your ambition and your passion for learning.With contentment you may not take the chances with more difficult roles simply because you want to maintain that status quo. For myself I hope to try more varied and different roles.
DJ : In this business you will need to learn to be able to let go and not take things too seriously. I can't believe you, Ruco Chan were never ever angry before. Were you ever angry at all in this business?
Yes I have. But I feel every person has different aspects to them. Maybe it is due to Chinese traditional perspectives about life; be respectful, etc which I feel is a virtue. Like how we were chatting about K-drama and K-dramas are now showcasing this aspect. Everyone has put up a lot of effort, everyone has done something with sincerity. Like our seniors, they too have given their everything. Maybe they're at this moment not at the top of their position, but they have once contributed a lot in this entertainment world and I feel ...
(RECORDING CUT OFF!! DAMN IT! WHAT DID HE MEAN?!)
DJ : About awards and recognition
There was a time I was feeling unhappy, like a year or two ago, when your role is getting heavier, your expectations of others also increases and artistes have only that much to give. I began to be very negative. A friend told me if company gives you a good role it means everyone has confidence in you. So you must try more things. Look at it differently; you shouldn't ask for help more but rather go out and try more things. That is a good way of thinking.
DJ : One day this group of people who once liked you stopped liking you. So you have to be grateful for what you have now. So for now as Ruco Chan you know you have a lot of supporters so you have to work doubly hard to satisfy them all. Someone liking you is also fated.
I once had this experience. When I was singing, I had a group of fans who supported me. My singing career was not handled well and so my fanclub had to be disbanded. At that time I did feel very disappointed not because no one likes me but rather when they like me they have put in a lot of effort into me and it was like losing direction. Such as myself, liking Leslie Cheung, Andy Lau, Jackie Cheung and one day they disappeared suddenly, don't you feel like, they didn't disappear because of marriage or starting a family but they just disappear! So as a fan, you will feel very disappointed so I feel I must be very grateful for this luck and I must carry it with a little sense of responsibility.
***My favourite part of the interview and well said. Ruco feels a sense of responsibility for us who have invested our time and effort and feelings into him. Next time if you get up close to him, do thank him and shake his hands at least on behalf of me for not abandoning his fans*
DJ : Is it true to say that Ruco Chan has regrets for not being able to develop his singing career.
I am thriving in entertainment world because a lot of people like me. If for one day, and I may not be in the entertainment world anymore, my attitude in life and my personality will still be the same and that is important to me. Your fans love you not just because of your talent, I do think more than half of them probably love you because of your attitude and your personality and to me that is what is important.
DJ : On 2 series, Outbound Love and Ruse Of Engagement
The role in Outbound Love is one role I have waited for a very long time. Because producers often think that my face is a bit too fierce, a bit evil and a bit good, good for characters that are professionals or highly strung characters. The character in Outbound Love is a complete opposite, someone playful, someone who is very into society and yet wants to avoid this very same society because of past hurt and doesn't know how to settle the problem and so he chooses to avoid the world. And Outbound Love has such a character. So I am thankful to producers for giving me this chance and let me intrepete this character in the way I wanted. I learned a lot. If you want to see a different side to Ruco Chan, do watch this series, Outbound Love.
DJ : We have for the past 4 series seen you in the same role. I mean sometimes when you eat noddles every day, why not feed him some rice please?
True true. Everyone wants some changes, not because to change people's perception of you but for yourself. So when you have acted in too many roles that are professionals, or villains or good guys, you hope to learn more for your future path. Ruse Of Engagement is a 3 year old series. But company maybe by pure coincidence..
DJ : Forgot about the series? 3 years is a long time!
I actually thought the series is frozen indefinitely or sold overseas. But company never freeze it nor was it sold overseas. You gotta hand it to the executives; recently there were terrorist attacks in HK and the world, and just right on time the series is released. Because the series is about terrorism, and most will feel terrorism in Hong Kong? Don't joke around! It is outsiders carrying out those acts, will never ever affect Hong Kong at all. But it could happen to Hong Kong or any where so we must be careful. So the timing is just right! Anyway this is just my thinking.
DJ : Sometimes you have to think positively, with high EQ!
But Ruse Of Engagement really tested my abilities. Everything I have learned over the years, I have put it into Ruse Of Engagement . Whether it was stunts, passionate love ...
DJ : Do you cringe when you watch back this performance, like you want to reshoot the series? After all it was 3 years ago and you have improved since then.
Certain things may improve, but there are things you can't turn back the clock. Like if you do the same thing now, it may be excessive. Ruse of Engagement is one you can see me differently in terms of stunts, passionate love, sibling love ... very different.
DJ : Consumers are spoilt for choices now. Why consumers should choose you? If you do not stand out that will be difficult because they may not spend their time on you.
Hong Kong, with the four heavenly kings, Jackie Chan, Lawrence Cheng (Dan Gor), they're like renaissance men. They've all done too well. They can be hosts, do kung fu, singing, everything they did they did so well. So they were so great and all we can hope to do is to thrive in their shadows. Think about it; viewers now want more feeling of excitement. You will have to be better than them! Very difficult to reach their level or do better than them and the truth is the market has changed too.
DJ : Understood! I hope for the best for you!
I hope to use Mandarin to conduct this interview with you in future so I can improve.
DJ : Maybe by then my Mandarin will deteriorate!
Then let's use Cantonese again!
DJ : Thank you and bless you.
Thank you