Raymond Lam and Michelle Ye to Work Together Again!
TVB’s “Golden Couple” of the early millennium, Raymond Lam (林峯) and Michelle Ye (葉璇), known as “RM” by their fans, will collaborate again in a new mainland Chinese period television drama, Legend of the Purple Hairpin <紫钗奇缘>. Set in the Tang dynasty, the drama is a loose adaptation of the popular traditional Cantonese opera, The Purple Hairpin <紫釵記>, which is in turn based on a Kunqu play written by Ming dynasty playwrite, Tang Xianzu (湯顯祖).
Legend of the Purple Hairpin tells the tragic love story of a Tang dynasty scholar Li Yi, who falls in love with the beautiful dancer, Huo Xiaoyan at first sight. The couple soon marry, and he gives her a purple hairpin as a token of their love. On their marriage night, Yi is forced to join the army and is forbidden to return home, leaving Xiaoyan to painfully wait for his return in the next few years. When Yi returns to Chang’an three years later, Yi believed that he and Xiaoyan would never be separate again. He was terribly mistaken.
The drama adaptation will incorporate elements of Tang dynasty high culture, including dance, music, and martial arts. Similar to the original opera, The Legend of the Purple Hairpin also includes themes of betrayal, lust, ambition, and deceit.
The Legend of the Purple Hairpin will be produced by Michelle Ye, and is slated to begin filming in Hengdian World Studios this October.
Raymond has expressed his excitement in working with Michelle again. He said, “We have not collaborated in ten years. I want to see if we still have the same sparks as before!”
“RM” Couple Was Never Forgotten
Raymond Lam and Michelle Ye first collaborated on the set of 2002 TVB drama, Eternal Happiness <再生緣>, which was an adaptation of a short story by Qing dynasty female novelist, Chen Ruisheng (陳端生). Michelle portrayed the cross-dressing heroine, Mang Lai Kwan, who falls in love with the honest and kind Wongpo Siu Wah, portrayed by Raymond. The drama was also Raymond and Michelle’s first attempt at leading a drama.
Eternal Happiness was one of the highest-rated dramas of 2002, and was credited for being Michelle Ye and Raymond Lam’s most representative work at the time. Their chemistry in Eternal Happiness was highly praised and well-received by the public. They also jointly starred in 2002’s Golden Faith <流金歲月>, which premiered a few days after the finale of Eternal Happiness, but they did not share any scenes together.
Raymond and Michelle’s last collaboration was in 2003’s Lofty Waters, Verdant Bow <雲海玉弓緣>. Although the onscreen couple only collaborated as lovers in two dramas, their chemistry is unforgettable. “RM” had wowed audiences of the last generation, and fans hope that they will continue to impress in their new drama.
Source: Sina.com.cn, Weibo.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
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Yah so excited! But it’s mainland production not sure when i get to watch it in cantonese lolz.
like LWVB wasn’t bad enough. i dont think they have much chemistry. even in eternal happiness, didnt feel it there either even though the drama itself was fine.
There is way more to drama than the cast and chemistry of the leading couple…
so what happen to Michelle Ye after 3 years when LF returns from his service? She has remarried?
LF won’t act Li Yi. His role is Na Lan Dong.
Li Yi in the story about Huo Xiao Yan is different to the novel. In Huo Xiao Yan Jie, there is no Na Lan Dong – LF’s chac.
It’s just a very loose adaptation of the opera. LF portrays the guy Michelle meets after her husband leaves her. In the original opera, LF’s character is minor, but a major plot device.
I don’t think LF has ever been rumored or paired with another actress that can make me forget the LF/MY pairing. Hard to believe it was only really based on two dramas.
Definitely looking forward to this!! Have been rewatching eternal happiness and lofty and is estastic about this news.
They are a great couple and have amazing chemistry. <3
I knew from the start I’d never forget them. Can’t believe I’d waited for 10 years to see them work together again. So so so excited for this!
Yes, it’ll be exciting to see if their chemistry is different now. Michelle was just a young girl back then, now she’s womanly. Maybe it will be a more mature relationship, not so innocent. 🙂
Tragic love story ah???
I always thought Michelle in her own production will either ask him or ask Wallace Huo whom she has worked well with before. She must have approached them 2 and one of them become available.
Hengdian World Studios is one busy world studio. Must be booked for the next 100 years.
Actually the crew rooted for LF since last year, he’s the first choice. The script writer of the series mentioned that he wanted to write a story for RM couple, however when they approached him in Oct last year, he denied due to his packed schedule. That’s why they tried approaching some others but their prior choice has always been LF. They so want him that they don’t mind waiting for him to finish: his album recording, his concerts tour, his txb series, his 2 movies, etc… Michelle hinted many times in her Weibo that she wanted to have him as the male lead, and after he agreed, she posted happy: “Waited 3 lives (三生三世), only wait 4 “紫钗奇缘”” or “Happiness suddenly come”, “It’s you, only you”, etc. Her assistance even quoted “Be my love, be the one” (LF’s song lyrics) in Michelle’s weibo to celebrate. The phrase “三生三世” which indicates this is the third time they cooperate as couple comes from Michelle herself, not her fans.
Overall, she wants him so much LOL.
Maybe she still has feelings for him after all these years?
She said she waited for someone for 10 years. This year is their 10 years reunion. Lololol
WOW,thanks for the info Fox!! It shows that they do have good feelings towards each other. Honestly, it would be great if they had great chemistry in real life too… I am sure that fans would be very supportive of them in that aspect as well, but lets leave it to fate… Lets hope that this drama will turn out. I wonder how many eps it will have??? Hope the storyline will be good..
I really liked Eternal Happiness. I think that was Michelle’s best role.
Lofty Waters, Verdant Bow was horrible and boring though.
Lofty Waters, Verdant Bow was horrible and boring though.
Agree. That drama also made me think Rain Li to be a TERRIBLE actress, but she does well in her other work. She was just terrible in LWVB. Can’t understand why.
Partly due to her role?
I used to hate her in LWVB until I watched Stolen love and she was so adorable with LF. After watching Stolen love, I feel pity that their love didn’t work long.
I thought everyone was bad in LWVB. It was a horrible show.
I personally enjoyed LWVB but I guess EH was way more popular..
Looks like a great LF+MY series! Anticipate this I’m confident this will get popular!
I’m bored of the TVB fadans LOL. It’s great to see LF back with MY!
happy they are together again
I am really excited to see this series and LF with MY! It will be an amazing series. =)
D
I’ve never ever finished watching Eternal Happiness, and never understood the hype for it. I think I tried watching it like 3 or 4 times. Found it extremely bad and boring.
I loved EH because of RM, but I skipped those boring scenes with Joe and Liu Kai Chi fighting =_=
Yes, those scenes were so boring, and Joe Ma is a terrible actor, especially around that period. But I didn’t really like Raymond and Michelle in EH too. Their acting wasn’t good enough to ignore the flaws.
And what did u think about your girl myolie?
TERRIBLE. LOL
She looked terrible too.
I really liked Eternal Happiness, and I have rewatched it a couple of times. I didn’t like LWVB though. It was a chore.
I truly agree. Bad plot bad story bad acting. Luckily RL and MY were both good looking and looked cute together. I’m sure that boasted viewers.
My mom hated TVB’s version of EH since they completely changed the story and characters. They just used their names but that was it…I thought EH was ok,but is way overrated…
RM reunite! lol, loved their chemistry back in the days.
Michelle is a producer now? Quite an accomplishment.
Actually her company, but she has the name in the contract. Like Ruby Lin.
Please don’t dub their voices. T_T
Your wish is not granted, they are getting dubbed. Its obvious 🙂
But there is chance that they dubbed the series themselves, by their mando. Recently LF dubbed Mando for all of his movies (White Snake, Love is… Pyjamas, Saving general Yang).
Not in China. They enjoy dubbing because they have a PDL aka Professional Dubbers League. Unless distributed out of China. I bet they will dub this series no matter what.
It’s cheaper to get other guys to dub for them.
why would they dub raymond’s voice? isn’t he from china?
The same reason why even a china actor is dubbed sometimes. Accent. Unless it is a modern series. If it is an ancient series, 100% he will be dubbed. Not by himself but by others. Rarely some dub themselves unless they have such wonderful voice with a neutral accent.
why would they dub raymond’s voice? isn’t he from china?
He moved and lives in HK from 2 years old.
If it is an ancient series, 100% he will be dubbed. Not by himself but by others.
But he dubbed Mando for ancient movies (White Snake + Yang). However I don’t think he will dub for a series because it took him too much time to do it, and he dun have that much of time. If he speaks Mando for the series, it’s different. However, it’s up to Txb to let him speak Mando in series or not, as he is still has management contract with them.
Nothing to do with TVB. And isn’t this a series?Series is different from movie.
Dubbing for an ancient series and ancient movie is still the same, if you look at the aspect of accent.
I also pointed out that because this one is a series, if he and Txb dun agree to speak Mando, 90% he’ll be dubbed.
the thing is with series, they are more picky with the accent. LF does really speak in a beijing accent, so most likely he’ll be dubbed. the beijing accent is the “national accent”
a lot of china actors will be dubbed too because they don’t have that accent.
another reason series are dubbed is because the sound system during filming may be lacking the quality.
sorry correction, LF doesn’t*** speak in a beijing accent
China series always dubb but the good thing is at times the actors and actresses dubb with their real voices. However, that does not happen very often.
Wow okay so i am indeed one of the minorities (or maybe the only one) who isn’t a fan of RM! Never liked EH or LWVB..
Nevertheless im still going to give this drama a go and see if my feelings towards them change.
I’m with you…but now that they mature as actors who knows I might end up liking them like everyone else 🙂
I thought they were cute enough in EH, but I don’t get the hype.
I hated the series if I remember correctly, since I haven’t re-read my own review written many many years ago. Hard to imagine Tavia was in it as well. Yes just had a look at my own review. Wow, so many years ago. Now I remember; I hated this series with a passion.
Me neither. I tried watching it 3-4 times and gave up like 5 episodes in.
I’m excited to know RM will collaborate onscreen once again. Thanks for the good news.
HOLY MOTHER FKING GOD.
i have got to be like their biggest fan here because i’ve been waiting for something like this since LWVB.
seriously can’t wait. omg.
I want to know who her plastic surgeon is…she looks good & very natural…not overdone.
Yea definitely I never found her looks appealing at all back in tvb days but after her surgery she has become very pretty…job well done
She didn’t have surgery. She just used eyelid tape to make her double eyelids more prominent, lost some weight, and had a makeover. Not everyone needs surgery to look pretty. She was naturally pretty to begin with (hence the winner of a beauty pageant), the rest is an effective application of make up.
If that could happen (the eyelid and lost weight), same to LF LMAO =))
why do people automatically assume she had something done? She was never an ugly girl to begin with. Her face and features look the same from her tvb days.
But now…she’s womanly. 😉
I also don’t think she got anything done. She looks pretty much the same as when she started, just lost a bit of weight.
Uh…she never had any surgeries. The only PS rumors I heard were her eyes. But, she admitted using tape to make her eyelids more noticeable.
I never said she was ugly, but she was 8 now she’s a 10. And that’s good ps 🙂 to anhance what you already have.
No ps. So stubborn…
@lol
Makeup enhances what you already have. PS changes your face. You asked who’s her plastic surgeon. Others have clarified the matter for you.
http://mhkgallery.net/mci1999wpic1.jpg
@gap,
Than whatever she did…I want to know lol she looks different to me.
Who are you guys referring to??
did she hve ps…dont look lke it
No. Hence it doesn’t “look like it”.
This story is quite deviated from the original opera. Liyi was coerced into being engaged to a powerful minister’s daughter and because Li Yi and Fok Siu Yuk (original name from opera) were not officially married, she could not do anything about it until she found about her real identity.
I’m curious to see how deviated the details are but from what I am reading, this version doesn’t appeal to me.
I guess if you know the original story well then you will hate the changes,however, if you don’t then I guess you will enjoy the newly written story… I just hope that the story will be good…
I think Ray and Michelle will have great chemistry since I guess they are still good friends after all these years. They also miss working together and Michelle really wanted him to be in it. Therefore,I have a good feeling that their chemistry will be great… But there is more to a series rather than just the chemistry of the main couple… Just hope the the story will be good…
I hope they will do a modern series together! =D
I actually prefer ancient but modern is ok too as long as the story is good.
Very excited at the news at first but then the excitement died when I realised that there might not be Cantonese version. Sighz!
I don’t think you need to worry since I am sure there will definately be a Cantonese version. They ALWAYS dubb into other foreign languages, so why not Cantonese. From what I know, there definately will be a Cantonese version. You don’t have to worry at all…
This news is awesome news. I really anticipating this. Good for Michelle for adding “producer” to her resume as well.
is it just me or LF is getting uglier these days????? i mean come on he’s not that old but above pic he looks awwwww…god WTH happended? perhaps he did some well as rumored??? gosh, no no
He looks tired…worn out. That’s the problem. And if only he would stop chok-ing.
His schedule is full packed than his peers in Txb.
And the pic above was 2007, when Chok wasnt born
Kiki, the above picture displayed in this is actually an old picture of him. I’m pretty sure it was taken around Heart Of Greed year.
Really looking forward to this. I hope they will have a Cantonese version. RM really do look good together. She looks fabulous now and in that above photo as well.
They were in their early 20’s when they filmed EH & LWVB; 10 yrs later, they reunite in another series. Jaynestars doesn’t post much of her news so I was keep questionings what happen to her working in China; Thanks god, she’s still alive and will be with Raymond in the upcoming drama.
eternal happiness…i watched probably until episode 5 and i stopped. i didn’t even watch lofty. but i know they look good together. yeah tavia was very young there as michelle’s servant. she’s even prettier than michelle then. i head that michelle’s classmates from wellsley college says she is a B. i want to see their collaboration. i like both of them.
I think Michelle looks very cute in EH and I like this tomboy look of her more than her current look, although I’m not a big fan of Michelle back then. Myolie looks quite bad in EH, have to say that, but Michelle looks pretty.
This is a very good picture of her. She looks great.
Good news
Michelle was ugly in EH, she looked like a man. Now she’s a little better after plastic surgery. You guys must be blind if you think she used tape to fix her eyes. Look at her nose.
YOU must be blind. Have u seen her high school pictures? She looks exactly the same as now (nose and all) but just older with more mature features. She had double eyelids to begin with but it was just less noticeable. Have YOU tried using tape on double eyelids? Well i have and the result is the same as hers. It becomes more noticeable. Surgery isn’t required for such minor stuff…
Yup, I don’t think Michelle had plastic surgery as well. I think overall Michelle is a very pretty girl..but she’s always had a big nose..and if you were gonna get plastic surgery…wouldn’t you want to get a smaller sharper nose? Anyways, I used double eyelid tape for me as well…worked out great!
Raymond + Michelle = match made in heaven