In the Chinese New Year gala film [72 Tenants of Prosperity], Joyce Cheng plays the character ‘Shanghai Lady’, a role made famous by her late mother Lydia Shum in the 70s classic film [72 Tenants] and a role that director Eric Tsang especially arranged for her. Joyce says: “My mom is a beautiful woman; in my heart, she will always have a status similar to a ‘goddess’. I know that I am not cute enough and cannot compare to my mom. Luckily, the costume fitting crew has been a big help. Also, I’ve been practicing my Shanghai dialect a lot – Eric says that my portrayal of the character is very close to my mom’s original portrayal…in fact, after filming, he praised me and said my performance was very good, which made me very happy.”Joyce says that she treasures all of the personal belongings that her mother left behind, especially the pair of black-rimmed glasses that were her trademark, so she prefers not to use her mother’s belongings for filming. Also, she says that she rarely re-watches her mother’s shows for fear of the memories being too painful, however in order to prepare for her role in [72 Tenants of Prosperity], she did re-watch the original [72 Tenants] film. While watching, she discovered that her father, actor Adam Cheng, also participated in the movie back in the day, however she did not request for him to give her any pointers for her role.
Asked if she hopes to collaborate with her dad on a movie or series? Joyce said: “Depends on the content [of the movie or series] – Dad’s ancient series costume is so classic and he looks so good in it that I’m afraid I may become a 'fan' and get distracted." She admits that she hopes to accumulate more on-screen acting experience, so she is not picky about the characters she plays – personally though, her most desired role is to play a ‘gossip girl’. Laughing, she states: “I feel that I am up to the challenge; plus when watching tv series or movies, it seems to me that a lot of times, the supporting characters or ones that have very little screen time are the ones who leave the deepest impression on the audience.”
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