Tai Chi Cast Interviews - Raymond Lam | Monday, June 12, 2006
Credits to Jayne Stars for the interview translation and http://www.ray-lamfung.com for the magazine scans. If you wish to repost, please credit these two websites.
The translations of Vincent's, Myolie's and Melissa's intervies and the plot summary of Tai Chi avaliable at Jayne Stars.
Interview with Raymond Lam
R= Reporter RAY= Raymond
R= Can you tell us more about your character in "Tai Chi?"
RAY= At the beginning of the series, my family has a martial arts school in the capital, so we are considered one of the powerful families in the city. But I was not involved in the management of the martial arts school. Rather, I was taking music lessons in Shanghai, leading to my father's constant worry that I would abandon martial arts and that he wouldn't have a successor in running the martial arts school.
My character has very good martial arts skills since I have been practicing the form at a young age. I never lost interest in martial arts; I just felt that my father was able to manage the martial arts school on his own, so I pursued other interests such as playing the violin.
When I finally returned to the capital, my father had passed away and the entire family [as well as the martial arts school] became my responsibility. My character had to mature under a very short time.
R= Which martial arts style does your character practice; is it also taichi?
RAY= No, Vincent Zhao's style is taichi. My martial arts form is based on "Southern Fist." Before filming, I took 10 martial arts classes in Hong Kong to learn some basics.
R= Then your martial arts skills now should be quite impressive.
RAY= Not really, the lessons were focused on teaching me enough skills to look convincing when executing the moves onscreen. Vincent has been practicing martial arts for over 10 years and I just took 10 lessons (laughs), so TVB's action choreographer put a lot of hard efforts [to make our combat scenes look realistic].
R= After filming so many ancient dramas, you must have improved your kung fu skills?
RAY= My past series were martial arts series, but this time it is the kung fu genre, which is very different. In martial arts series, you engage primarily in swordplay and you wear long-robed costumes; so there are a lot of effects that can be produced to make the results look convincing. In 'Tai Chi,' I also use various weapons, but you still have to convey the impression that your body is full of strength and that you have a kungfu background.
When you engage in hand-to-hand combat, it is easier to reveal mistakes than in martial arts swordplay. In "Tai Chi," we wear short-robed costumes for our fight sequences, so you have to put real effort in the leg movements as well, otherwise the results would not look convincing.
R= In that respect, isn't it very easy to get hurt on set?
RAY= Yes, once you engage in combat, there will be contact and it is very easy to get hurt. Earlier I filmed a scene and I hurt my back, so I can no longer do the wire scenes myself.
Also, I had to film a horseriding scene earlier. Once I got on the horse, I realized it was a wild horse, so I immediately got off, otherwise I may have been thrown off by the horse. I don't know why they allowed me to ride on a wild horse. (laughs)
Another time, I hurt my leg during filming. I could only bandage it up and continue filming. When it was time to get stitches for the wound, I realized I had lost a lot of blood. They stitched me up without use of anesthesia (Raymond imitates the stitching motion); it was extremely painful! (laughs)
R= Do you have a lot of combat sequences with Vincent Zhao?
RAY= I have 4 combat scenes with him. It is much more comfortable "fighting" Vincent than a stunt person because he is able to match your movements. Even other people who know real kung fu may not be able to match and coordinate with your movements, but he's very good at it, so it makes for a very comfortable fight.
R= Can you tell us about your love relationship in "Tai Chi?"
RAY= My character is in love with Myolie Wu's character. However she had amnesia at the time, so I did not know anything about her complex background nor family history.
Myolie was deeply in love with Vincent before she lost her memory, but I still loved her as well. We are in a love rectangle since Vincent likes Melissa Ng Mei Hang.
R= What are some new things you experienced during filming?
RAY= Aside from improving my fighting skills, I also had a lot of crying scenes. Since I have a painful love relationship with Myolie, I often had a lot of emotional crying scenes. Although Myolie loved Vincent, I was still madly in love with her, so I refused to let go.
R= Acting in crying scenes, is it a lot of hard work?
RAY= Acting by nature is hard work, especially having acted for so many years....
R= In that case, have you thought about giving up acting?
RAY= Why is it necessary to give up? (Serious tone) What job does not require hard work? If you want to be successful, you have to put in hard work.
We have been filming in China, but the paparazzi from Hong Kong still came here to take photos of us. They are like private detectives, but the only difference is that their published stories are not based on real facts. My personal sentiment is that the paparazzi are not doing the job of a reporter, but rather they are acting like scriptwriters. (At this time, the director's son came by, Raymond stopped to coo the baby.)
R= Do you like children a lot?
RAY= Yes, children are a lot of fun, especially when they are in a playful mood. However when they get upset, then they become very difficult. (laughs) There is a child [actor] on set and his name is Little Tiger; he is very playful.
R= Actually when you become playful, you're like a kid!
RAY= Yes that's right, I'm like a child. (Pretends to be serious)
R= You appeared in several Huang Yi adaptations; is it because you like acting in martial arts series?
RAY= It's not because of personal preference, but due to the right timing. If a producer asks me to film, I will take the offer despite the fact that I personally prefer working on modern series.
It is very hard work filming in ancient dramas especially if you have to wear thick costumes in high temperatures. For some reason, when the weather is cold, we have to film water scenes. (laughs)
R= What are some recent modern series you appeared in?
RAY= "La Femme Desperado" was one of my recent series. In order to lose weight for the fitness trainer role, I did not eat rice for half a month. I stayed away from greasy, overly salty and sweet foods.
R= Are you planning on releasing a music album?
RAY= My music plans have to wait until I finish filming. I have not started recording for an album yet because I still have some work to wrap up in Shanghai first.
R= What project will you film next?
RAY= I will be filming a China series, which is based on a young romantic novel. I will start filming in May and the project will likely take 2 months to complete.
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Created at 11:47 AM
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