TVB Celebrity News

Born with a naturally good singing voice, Bowie Lam has been in the entertainment industry for over 20 years already. Starting off as a singer, then becoming a movie actor and finally reaching his career high as a television actor, Bowie has ‘toiled silently’ for many years. From the beginning, he has never ‘bowed’ to pressure in order to obtain an award and as a result, in 2004, the Heavens didn’t disappoint him: he finally won the TV King award for his performance in the costume drama <> -- a TV King who doesn’t socialize, doesn’t ‘kiss up’, doesn’t give presents, and doesn’t rely on a contract to exchange for awards.

** The following are Bowie’s words as recorded by the reporter:

From the time I joined TVB in 1990, I had participated in quite a few series that had good word of mouth as well as good ratings, such as <>, <>, <>, etc. -- a lot of people said that I should have gotten TV King a long time ago. Perhaps because I’m not good at building relationships, I’ve never been one to chase after an award – every time I stand next to Lawrence Ng at the awards ceremony, I naturally feel that he will be the one to win. In my mind, as an actor, talent is very important. Instead of looking at the award from a ‘microscopic’ view within TVB and wondering why I’m not included, I choose to look at it from a ‘macroscopic’ view further away; then I come to realize that TVB’s award is actually ‘just like that’ -- a game while at the same time a dream. Since that’s the case, then what’s the point of me chasing after it?

Right before the awards, there are always a lot of rumors, especially about the situation of ‘using one’s contract in exchange for awards’. Very honestly speaking, back in 2004, I never discussed my contract with TVB prior to winning TV King. Though I don’t know if the ‘exchanging contract for award’ thing truly exists or not, I know that it’s something I absolutely would not do! If people want to go back and check the timeline, they’ll see that I didn’t sign a management contract with TVB until a long time after I had won the award. At the time, TVB was very sincere in wanting to work out a management contract with me, so I decided to try it. Someone once asked me which party I belong to, which I unhesitatingly replied: “Sorry, but I don’t belong to any party!”


Doesn’t create rumors to gain attention

I feel that being an actor is all about having talent for the art (實力); it’s not about people following you when you’re going shopping and secretly taking pictures of you, neither is it about creating rumors to gain people’s attention, and it’s absolutely not about giving gifts, kissing up, or attending executives’ birthday parties to build relationships. I’ve insisted on this all these years and rejoice in the fact that I have not changed at all, because I don’t want to change myself in order to cater to someone else. Therefore, during that moment they announced I had won TV King, my feelings were especially intense, as I could finally give myself 4 words: 實至名歸 [translated as ‘truly deserving of the honor’]. Talent actually does get recognized and it also proved that my perseverance all these years was right.

In addition to skill, I also feel that I was very lucky to encounter such a good script in <>. Ever since that series aired, I received many Best Actor awards from various Mainland TV stations and internet sites – however, most important to me is still to do the best job possible. Up until this day, there is one award that I really want to receive: Venice Film Festival Best Actor. Being able to receive such an international type award is the only way to truly prove that one’s own skill can receive worldwide recognition – plus my mentor Deanie Ip, who brought me into the industry and has continued to show her support for me all these years, has just won Best Actress at Venice, so this goal has become even more important for me.


Jump out of Hong Kong, expand territory

A lot of people thought that I decided to leave TVB because of a strained relationship with the company, especially during the time period after I had won Asia TV King – many people felt that TVB’s attitude at the time was very indifferent and so there were many reports that the company had ‘neglected’ me . At that time, I felt in my heart that TVB wouldn’t do such thing and perhaps it was just a matter of timing – thinking this way made me feel better. Actually, deciding to leave a company that I have collaborated with for 20 years, I truly don’t have any complaints. In fact, I am grateful to TVB for giving me what I have today – without the company, all of the current opportunities would not have been existent. The reason for my departure is because I want to refine my skills and see if I can take my acting to another level. Besides the small market in HK, I want to see where else the name ‘Bowie Lam’ can possibly land!


Discovered and brought into the industry by Deanie Ip

The happiest moment for me this year was hearing that my mentor Deanie Ip won Best Actress at the Venice Film Festival. That day when I heard on the news that she had won, I was so happy that I jumped up and, like a fan, took a picture of the TV screen showing the announcement and immediately uploaded it to Weibo. Back in 1987, I was working as a production assistant at a record company and was responsible for helping Deanie set up her microphone. One day, I was waiting for Deanie at the recording studio and just for fun, I started humming her song 離合圓缺 [‘Circle of Separation and Reunion’] – to my surprise, she was standing behind me, listening the entire time. As she was preparing to record the song, she suddenly suggested that I perform the song with her as a duet – the producer agreed and being totally unprepared, the two of us shared one microphone and I recorded my very first song. Just like that, I was brought into the industry by Venice Best Actress Deanie Ip.

After that, Deanie would invite me to participate with cameo roles in all her MVs and I officially entered the industry. I remember when I released my first album back in 1990, others who started around the same time include Faye Wong, Shirley Kwan, Patrick Tam, etc. In fact, I had the chance to collaborate with Faye Wong back in 1993 in her very first TVB series, <>.