Sheren Tang Suffered Anxiety Attack Due to Incomplete Scripts
It was reported last week that 47-year-old Sheren Tang (鄧萃雯) had suffered from depression while filming TVB’s production, Beauty at War <金枝慾孽-貳> due to the impromptu changing of scripts and late night filming. However, at an event yesterday, Sheren Tang stressed she had only suffered a minor anxiety attack.
At the National Anti-Drug Tour event yesterday, Sheren clarified that she had faced pressure from several factors at that time. Besides the last minute changes to the scripts, she also needed to make sure that she memorized her lines on time. With the lack of rest and her own high expectations of herself, it led her to having an anxiety attack. “When I filmed War and Beauty <金枝慾孽>, but it was not as severe as this time,” Sheren said.
Pressure from Incomplete Scripts
Sheren had decided that whether filming for TVB or other television studios in China, she would not accept any roles if the scripts are incomplete. However, she made an exception for Beauty at War as she was looking forward to the challenge of reprising her role as Consort Yu in the sequel. Unfortunately, the stress in the lack of a complete script proved too much for her. She said, “It has nothing to do with the fact that I’m filming for TVB. I had no problems filming Rosy Business <巾幗梟雄> or No Regrets <巾幗梟雄之義海豪情> as the scripts were complete before filming began.”
God and Friends
Sheren attributed her fast recovery to both God and good friends, Sammi Cheng (鄭秀文) and Maggie Cheung (張可頤). Through this experience, Sheren also learnt not to be complacent about her health. “I am trying not to take myself too seriously to avoid giving myself too much undue pressure. Health is the most important so I’ll be taking a break. I will only accept roles with a complete script from now.”
Sheren hopes to share her insight with the Hong Kong work force, whom she feels is under too much pressure.
Source: Ming Pao
This article is written by Karen for JayneStars.com.
Is it me or does she look old in this picture… well I guess she is 47 after all.
She is still an impressive actress!
I think it’s just you! To me, she looks very cute and young in this picture. =P
Exactly! Playful as well n I like her!
Agree. Sheren looked very cute and sweet in the above photo. She behaved like a little grown-up girl.
I think she looks well… Contented and beaming with joy
I actually think she looks a lot younger than her 47 years.
Good on you Sheren, you came through a lot wiser from this experience. Anxiety coupled with perfectionist tendencies can be a scary concoction. Take good care of yourself Sheren, you are a great actress.
Sheren looks cute in the above pic.
Glad to hear that Sheren is good friend with both Sammi and Maggie. They are all my favourites.
She definitely looks younger than 47 in the above pic. If you didnt’ know her, that pic could pass as a late 20s early 30s.
she is great; I love her acting and personality.
She is a fantastic and highly professional actress. She sets very high expectations for her already-very-good acting.
I hope her stress will get well recognized in April ……… high viewership ratings and good critiques of her acting and “Beauty at War”.
Want to see more of her drama series from TVB. She is surely one of the best actresses in TVB or even in Hong Kong.
I agree , She one of my favorite actress
But being single not a good sign , “Only Lonely” could being depression . Look at Stephen Chow, Only Loney ..look like he is having depression
I don’t think Sheren Tang will ever film another drama series for Producer Jonathan Chik and Chow Yuk Ming in future. Chow Yuk Ming is well-known for his “Flying Paper” scripts, and Jonathan Chik always pairs up with Chow Yuk in his drama series.
A lot of TVB scripts are in flying paper format.
Just a note – Chow Yuk Ming is not the sole scriptwriter for his series. He supervised a team of scriptwriters, that’s why you see different ppl being credited in diff episodes.
All of them were bad then. Anyway they were under Mr. Chow’s supervision and all the approvals were done by Mr. Chow.
If it was a modern drama series, most of the experienced artistes could handle it, but it would be extremely difficult to read, understand and memorize those old classical Chinese dialogues.
What does flying paper mean?
I just learned about the term, “Flying Paper” script, during the airing of “When Heaven Burns”. It means that the script is only ready a few hours (or some minutes) right before the actual filming of a drama series. Artistes will have to memorize the dialogues with very short notice. It is very hard for inexperienced artistes, especially those who cannot read and speak Cantonese. It is bearable if the script is modern Chinese, but it will be terrible for the artistes if the script/dialogues are those old, literary, and classical Chinese for members of the royal families (like emperor, empress, concubines, etc.). The artistes need to understand the scripts, memorize the dialogues and say them out with proper tones, facial expressions and inner emotions.
Gigi Lai was a good and experienced actress, but she still had to read out her lines a lot in “War & Beauty” because of this “Flying Paper” scripts. At that time I did not even realize that it was due to “Flying Paper” scripts. I just said her acting was no good.
I think that “Flying Paper” is just a colloquial term describing the scripts landing on the artistes very quickly, like an airplane. Please correct me if I am wrong.
I heard that Mr. Chow Yuk Ming had the habits of making many and many changes of the scripts during filming.
I felt so sorry for those artistes because I had difficulty in understanding all the dialogues in “War & Beauty” ……. don’t ever mention to memorize them and speak with the proper expressions. Mind you, I took Chinese literature and Chinese history in English high school in Hong Kong.
@sandcherry, while I agree that flying papers are a bad habit as the cast have to cram in new dialogues and scenarios, it’s not that uncommon in creative field in Asia. This is because the filming process is actually a combination of creative from several people, from the producer, scriptwriter, director and the actors themselves. For TVB series, they usually would have at least a quarter of the episodes in script before filming start. It’s not like they just start writing the next episode a few days prior.
Example: Sometimes, the director disagrees with the scriptwriter scenario, or wanted to use another method to describe the scenario. Depending on who the producer sides on, the scripts will have to be rewritten, including the following acts. Say a lead actor/actress disagrees with the dialogue because they have different interpretation their roles (only veterans and leads have this power, I must say), the scripts have to be adjusted on the spot again (and this has lead to infamous animosity between cast). Or the producer/scriptwriter suddenly have inspiration to revise the scenario. Maybe management decided to vet the script (propaganda) or add in product placement to please sponsors. A lot of unpredictable stuff goes on and it’s not always the scriptwriter fault when everyone have to complete filming in time to avoid over spending. It’s not like the scriptwriter changes the script on whim but rather was given short time to re-adjust the writing.
Working on filming projects before as client, I tagged along the production and it was very stressful for the crew. And it’s expected to make last minute changes (including changing the whole scenario, even cast) on the spot. Given more budget & time (hah, TVB!), I do believe this can help to reduce the flying papers habit because they do not need to worry having to extend filming or re-renting the set again.
Yup, most of Txb series are flying paper script. Or they often write 4-5 eps first, the rest will be done while filming started. It often causes to the inconsistent in the content of Txb series.
Sheren Tang was a lot (at least 8 years) younger when she filmed “War & Beauty”, so she was able to take more stress physically and mentally. It is extremely hard to memorize those ancient scripts of Chow Yuk Ming. The dialogues are beautiful and literary, but it is very hard to read, understand, and memorize them.
Why does TVB scriptwriters like changing scripts at the last minute? I would understand that artists may receive scripts last minute because they’re not done writing them yet maybe, but if a storyline is settled already, why keep changing it?
It’s usually not because they are changing the scripts. TVB rarely ever gives these script writers enough time to write, review and edit the scripts. Plus a lot of the seasoned script writers at TVB has left in recent years to head north or ventured out to other tv stations for better pay and treatment.
It is true in a way. I think the producers will have to make sure that scripts of ancient drama series (especially those old classical Chinese) have to be ready on time. It is not fair for the artistes.
Anyway, Mr. Chow Yuk Ming had been like that for a long long time. The scripts of “War & Beauty” was also ready as “Flying Papers” in 2003/2004.
Sheren is strong in character and will be able to get over this stressful period. I’m glad that she will not act in a series unless the script is ready. All scriptwriters should be more thoughtful of the actors by finishing their work on time.
Sheren is a consummate professional. Huge fan of all her works. It’s good that she recognises her limitation and to avoid similar stress, in future will not choose series will incomplete script.
While BAW does not have a cast as attractive as WAB, I’m still looking forward to watch it because of Sheren and Ada Choi.
go Sheren! (:
At least now we know not all of TVB’s script writers finish their scripts so late. People should really learn from the RB writers and trying finishing their scripts on time. Producers are partly to blame too. They should not be producing a script that is not completed.
Producers are partly to blame too. They should not be producing a script that is not completed.
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Agree. I think Scriptwriter Chow Yuk Ming was badly spoiled by Producer Chik Ki Yee.
I think Rebecca Chan had the same complaint when filming for Chik and Chow. She said the script was incomplete, was given to her late and had many last minute changes.
It is impossible to acting well and naturally if an artiste cannot memorize the dialogues. How can the artistes memorize those difficult classical Chinese dialogues if they are given a last-minute script? If they cannot memorize the scripts they will be just reading out the lines (like Gigi Lai and Charmaine Sheh in “War & Beauty”). Not fair for any artistes!