Raymond Wong Plays Twin Brothers in “All That is Bitter is Sweet”

All That Is Bitter Is Sweet <大藥坊> may not be Raymond Wong (黃浩然) and Natalie Tong’s (詩詠) first collaboration, but the costars believe that their partnership this time will bring a sense of freshness to the audience.

The period drama, which takes place in the Republican era of China, focuses on the life of To Kai Kei (Linda Chung), China’s first female traditional Chinese physician. In a time when traditional practices are at odds with modernized mindsets, many characters in the story are forced to adapt quickly to the new society.

Raymond Wong Portrays Twin Brothers

Raymond Wong portrays Chong Kai Cho and Chong Kai Chung, twin brothers hailing from a political family. Elder son Kai Cho, deputy mayor of Foshan, was engaged to Kai Kei, but he passes away after falling sick from consuming contaminated medicine. His younger twin brother Kai Chung, a student, returns to Foshan from Japan after his death.

Raymond revealed, “At first, Kai Chung is unsure of his feelings for Kai Kei. Did he protect her because she was his brother’s wife or was it because he actually loved her romantically? Taking into consideration the standard moral values at the time, he doesn’t try to figure it out.”

Portraying two different characters at the same time was a new challenge for Raymond. Fortunately, Kai Cho and Kai Chung are very distinctive from each other so it was easier to immerse into the roles. “The elder brother is calm and insightful, while the younger brother is more rash. He is willing to do anything to fight for justice. He doesn’t submit to force. They have very different personalities, so playing the two characters weren’t that hard.”

Natalie Tong is a Warlord’s Daughter

Natalie Tong, on the other hand, portrays Hui Kwan Yeuk, Kai Chung’s younger cousin. Her father is a warlord and she lived her whole life under his shadow. The character is completely different from Natalie’s earlier roles.

“With the image I’ve established so far, the audience probably thinks I’m someone who is very approachable. However, Hui Kwan Yeuk is a very cold person. The producer also didn’t want me to portray her like my past roles. Hui Kwan Yeuk is someone who doesn’t like to share her feelings with other people. She doesn’t care about what other people think of her, but when she comes across someone she loves, she will do anything to help him.”

Kwan Yeuk looks up to her elder cousin Kai Cho. After his death, she learns to accept Kai Chung, who is completely different from her. “Kai Chung is someone who can do whatever he wants, and that is something Kwan Yeuk can’t do. Kai Chung slowly begins to warm her cold world.”

When filming began, Natalie was finishing the filming for Rear Mirror <載得有情人>. The change from being Rear Mirror’s “MK mui” and All That Is Bitter Is Sweet’s “Kwan Yeuk” was difficult. “MK mui is very free-spirited. Kwan Yeuk is exactly the opposite. I felt confused when I first started on [All That Is Bitter Is Sweet], but after [Rear Mirror] finished, I was able to get more into character.”

Though the transition was hard, Natalie enjoyed portraying Kwan Yeuk. “It’s hard for modern-day women to grasp the feeling of unrequited love, but this was possible back in the Republican era. [Kwan Yeuk] is willing to do anything for her love and doesn’t ask anything in return. She is a very sad character, and portraying her has affected me on a personal level too.”

Source: TVB Weekly 

This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.

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Responses

  1. The twin brother story sounds exactly like A Change of Heart – one brother is calm, the other is more rebellious and both fall for the same girl.

    Natalie has been enjoyable to watch in here and in Rear Mirror

    1. I enjoyed Natalie in Rear Mirror (a surprising and pleasant change). However in this series, she’s so bland and just look bored half the time (maybe that’s her face of being cool and guarded persona…?). I hope she picks up as the series continues. I have more faith in her after RM.

      1. ^ What?! Either the character info is a typo, or TVB messed up, lol

  2. Aha, that explains it all! I wasn’t sure about story development with Raymond Wong’s character dying in the early stage of the series. Well, it’s more like I couldn’t come to accept the actor Raymond Wong disappearing from this series so soon. LOL. Okay, I guess I can pick up from where I left off at ep. 2. I am really hoping to see improvement in Linda’s character development and her acting.

  3. Actually according to the character intro i read, the brother who dies is the elder brother aged 27 while the younger brother is aged 25. They’re not twins.
    Ep 4 was pretty good with a surprise bonus for Ruco fans 😉

  4. This is getting ridiculous with the whole twin siblings. Same thing with A Change of Heart. Stop killing off characters and having their twin (played by the same actor) come back and fall in love. Making it seem like twins always fall for the same person, sheesh. A Change of Heart, Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain, etc. And not all twins are that different. They always make it seem like the older sibling is the calm and mature one, and the younger one is rash and bold. Blech. Just so tired of this kinda story line.

    1. TVB’s too cheap, so they like making the actors do double duty lol, joking!

    2. exactly. they already had Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain this year, with Selena Li portraying two contrasting roles, Yan Mei Leung and Tao Fa. why do they repeat it again? It’s boringgg

    3. Ryamond isn’t playing twin though. I thought they’re older/younger brother. TVB just couldn’t get another actor for the other lead lol.

  5. 岳華 and 杜燕歌 look too similar. I originally thought TVB is so cheap they are using 岳華 to play 2 characters until I clarified on their website.

    1. That’s what I thought too! I’m like oh, gawd, they’re using twins twice in one series? Lol.

  6. “It’s hard for modern-day women to grasp the feeling of unrequited love, but this was possible back in the Republican era.”
    Are you serious? That’s a really stupid comment. SO many people feel unrequited love.

  7. aarrggh, so many twins story…. why don’t they make a triplets and quadruplets story ah

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