Felix Wong (黃日華) became a popular actor during the eary 1980s, with his portrayal of “Guo Jing” in The Legend of the Condor Heroes <射鵰英雄傳>, along with classics such as The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils <天龍八部>, Looking Back in Anger <義不容情>, and Racing Peak <馬場大亨>. But fame and fortune did not come without blood, sweat, and tears. Felix talked about his workload, and how he ended up in the hospital after suffering from Hepatitis.
Felix said, “Director Wong Tin Lam (王天林) appointed me for my role in The Legend of the Condor Heroes. When he saw me, he said I look trustworthy, and the role was perfect for me. Come to think about it, I am just like the character I played–hardworking, but not intelligent.” Felix described how he was like a zombie at the set. Without a personal assistant, Felix had to take care of everything himself. The worst thing he remembered was going without sleep for 7 days and 7 nights. He said, “The entire day, I could only think about the end of the day. My brain could not even think properly back then.”
Rehab Vacation
Aside from Felix, many young lead TVB actors were filming 6 to 7 TV series per year. Felix felt that he was pretty amazing back then. He said, “Now I don’t even understand how I can get through such tough times. Vacations were less than 10 days per year. I did that for three straight years, and finally broke down during a shooting — I started feeling uneasy, then perspiring profusely. I ended up in the hospital suffering from Hepatitis, and had to take 18 days off for rehabilitation.” Felix joked, “Wow, I was so happy to get a chance for a break!”
Jealous of Michael Miu and His Side Jobs
Although Felix was overwhelmed by work assignments, he felt he was not smart enough to complain to TVB management about his workload. He just told himself to keep going because he made money from filming everyday. When he first assumed a leading role, he only made $1,200 HKD per month. Even at the height of his TV career, he was only making $3,000 HKD per month.
In addition, there was no flexibility once he took on leading roles. Felix said, “I was making less than what I had made before. I cannot take on appearances overseas to make extra money. I saw how Carol Cheng (鄭裕玲), Chow Yun Fat (周潤發), and Michael Miu (苗僑偉) made money from overseas, and I really envied them. However, I have no one to blame but myself. I was stupid to not fight for my rights.”
Source: Oriental Daily
This article is written by Lance for JayneStars.com.
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Felix, you’re anything but not sharp! You’re very sharp! And you’re the only one who dare to criticise TVB and still be on good terms with them, because whatever Felix says, is true!
LOL, like TVB can handle the truth.
TVB has a warped sense of self entitlement so I suppose such a hard shell is hard to penetrate. But go Felix, TRY IF YOU MUST!!!
Wait…I thought Felix left TVB in a very bad terms?
Felix is always so humble… The younger artists have soo much to learn from him.
I want to see Felix as a wuxia hero again. Do you hear me Ricky!
Best actor Felix…….at CTI
yeh, i havent seen a good wuxia for long time now. tvb used to made many good wuxia,but nowadays they dont make it anymore.i dont understand it.the most wuxia drama of mainland china use too much special effects and the flow of the story is a bit too slow.i want tvb make a new fourth part of the Legend of the Condor heroes trilogy of jin yong.
Bc wuxia series is far more expensive and timeconsuming relative to modern series. Moreover TVB can’t make a good series anymore let a wuxia one.
Agree, I can’t stand mainland made wuxia too long, draggy and bad CGI.
Nah, JY won’t let TVB them anymore bc TVB sucks too much and we need new wuxia stories.
Why does JY not let TVB do his novels? I honestly feel that the so called “crap JY series” of TVB is still a landslide better than mainland’s versions. I agree that mainland has bad CG and slow draggy OTT emotions. Yeah the mainland girls are pretty heroines and damsels but the Hong Kong guys look more like wuxia heroes. For some reason I never see mainland actors looking like wuxia heroes.
Not because of the quality but more of the money problem and Txb likes to change the contents
always been a favourite actor of mine and even now ….
Great presence on screen. Too bad TVB didn’t know how to keep him…they sure could have needed him in there soon fight w/CTI.
Felix is such a hater, down with him!
Honesty, I still think of Felix as an actor only can take certain type of roles.
True!
I would not say so since Felix has played many and all different kinds of roles already. Therefore, I think he has already proven that he is a versatile actor…
Too bad there is no award that recognized him as a great actor.
Agree with Fox. Actually I do not like him acting those goodie roles. A bit of complexities is more fun to watch.
Felix is great as wuxia heroes and common blue-collar men, but he has also shown his versatility playing villians in “The Grand Canal” and also good men morphing into villians like in “The Silver Tycoon”, “Secret of Heart” and “Gun, Metal, Grey”.
I think Felix has a very manly “ho hei” quality in him that is very hard to find in actors nowadays.That’s why the new wuxia series are failing because the leads look like immature pretty boys.
I find Felix quite sincere in his interviews. I enjoy seeing on screen and hearing about him in interviews. The younger generation have lots to learn from him.
Yes! More wuxia series!!!
Felix is the kind who seems to carry himself with a lot of dignity and righteousness. No wonder people are fond of him.
Will he come back to acting?! My family loves him soooo much and he’s old drama has consider one of the drama that my family watched all together back then!
He has a CTI tv modern series, but the release date is unknown when if the Hong Kong government giving out tv licenses and start broadcast operations.
You can still watch him in flims though.
HeTieShou says:
October 9, 2012 at 12:06 am
“Felix is always so humble… The younger artists have soo much to learn from him.”
I strongly agree with you that Felix is a humble person. I like Felix’s excellent performance as an actor and his humbleness is a person.
this means no reunion without Felix for 30th anniversary show of The Legend of Condor Heroes tv series conducted by TVB….
Felix always a good actor, love his performance back then and till now, can’t wait to watch his new series. he always my favourite actor