Audiences are Turning Their Heads for Matthew Ho in “A General, A Scholar, and A Eunuch”

Time-traveling dramas are nothing groundbreaking anymore, but people never seem to get bored of them. TVB’s latest comedy drama A General, A Scholar, and A Eunuch <超時空男臣> is a fish out of water story about three imperial men from Ming China who ends up in modern-day Hong Kong as they try to search for their lost princess. The plot itself isn’t the smartest thing to ever come out of TVB, but the light-hearted comedy is entertaining enough for viewers to call the drama enjoyable.

The drama, which stars Edwin Siu (蕭正楠), Raymond Cho (曹永廉), and Matthew Ho (何廣沛) as the three title characters, premiered on July 17. There has been criticism that the drama was plagiarizing the Korean drama Rooftop Prince, but this hasn’t stopped General from getting good viewership scores. The first week aired to a solid 24.5 rating points, pulling in a little less than 1.6 million average HK viewers.

Out of our three leads, the character that is getting the most attention is Matthew’s Lee Chun-chung, an imperial eunuch. The young 28-year-old actor has been rounding up applauses throughout the show’s broadcast, with viewers praising his portrayal.

“It’s actually a happy thing,” said Matthew, when interviewed about being positively-received for the role. “When I first got my part I had some worries, because the character is a eunuch, and I was afraid that there wouldn’t be much room for development. But this is a time-travel comedy, and a huge part of the story is about these characters trying to overcome cultural differences after coming to the modern day. That gave my character a lot of interesting things to work with. I’m very happy that this role has that.”

Matthew took a different approach to portraying a eunuch. He explained, “Traditionally, actors portrayed eunuchs with a very high voice. Playing a character who has heavy screen time like that for 30 episodes is tough to do. Not only for me, but also for the viewers. People could find it really irritable. That’s why I’ve decided to use my own normal voice, but speak more softly and gently.”

Since debut the actor has been scouted for playing quieter roles, but his role in TVB’s upcoming historical drama Succession War <天命> would add a spark to his resume. “It’s a pretty manly role. Although I play Heshen’s son, I hold a pretty high position in court and am very loyal to the emperor. It’s probably the manliest role since my debut. I’m really excited for people to compare my two roles when the drama comes out. I think by then people can get a good idea of my acting range.”

Matthew said he’s not surprised that the producer had cast him in the role of Lee Chun-chung, saying, “I have a gentle personality myself, and he could see that. I’m a quiet person, but I can be pretty flexible. As an actor you should be able to play a variety of different roles.”

A General, A Scholar, and A Eunuch will air its final episode on August 27, 2017.

Source: HK01

This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.