Interest Over Money: “Threesome” Actor King Lam Rather Be an Actor Than a Physical Therapist
Portrayed by new actor King Lam (林景程), the lawyer BoWin from TVB’s Threesome <三個女人一個「因> isn’t exactly a likable character, but his snobbish and arrogant personality does add in some new freshness into the cast.
King Lam, who made his debut through the 2009 singing competition The Voice <超級巨聲>, did not start his acting career until 2012. He hasn’t had a standout role yet, but his supporting performances in The Hippocratic Crush II <On Call 36小時II> and Raising the Bar <四個女仔三個BAR> are some his more well-known works.
Prior to joining TVB, King worked as a professional physical therapist (PT). He actually portrayed a PT in 2016’s Daddy Dearest <超能老豆>, and has had many experiences playing professional roles in the past, such as playing doctors and lawyers. Asking if his experience as a PT was reason behind TVB’s tendency to cast him in professional roles, the 33-year-old said, “Not necessarily. My character in Raising the Bar, for example, is meant to be humorous and likable, while my character in [Threesome] is annoying and snooty, with a bit of a vagabond feel.”
Pointing out that many viewers and netizens have started to notice him through Threesome, King said, “I think it’s because of the increased screen time I have with this role. Out of all the dramas I’ve done, I’ve only had significant roles in about four or five of them.”
Physical therapy is a healthcare profession, and King said he still works as a PT on the side to keep his license. Already hitting his ninth debut year, the chances of scoring larger roles at TVB seem to be getting slimmer. Asking if King would retire and resume to full-time physical therapy work when his TVB contract is up, he said, “I did come from The Voice, so I had it a lot luckier than other people. At least the jobs kept coming. I didn’t join the industry because I saw it as a fairytale. I joined it because I love acting. I would not be happy if I stopped this aspect of my life.”
He continued, “A senior once told me that I’ve already mastered physical therapy. Of course I still have to keep myself updated with it, but it doesn’t take up a lot of my time. Why not use the extra time to do something else?”
Though it is hard to juggle two jobs, King said it is a lifestyle he chose to do. “Once I leave the studios, I go home, take a quick shower, and head straight to the physical therapy [clinic]. It’s tiring, so I try to manage my time well. It used to be okay. I had a lot more energy in my 20’s and was able to do it all, but now, if I knew I’d be filming all night, I would not be able to move the next day.”
The attractive pay as a PT is one of the reasons why King insists on keeping the job. “My salary [as a PT] is usually a few times more [than my salary at TVB], and if I worked really hard one month, my salary could get seven to eight times more, and that’s not even being full-time.”
King said he insists on continuing his double lifestyle due to his love for acting. “Acting is something I enjoy. A PT is a very noble profession as it can help many people, but I didn’t do it out of interest.”
Source: HK01.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
So when is TVB going to adjust their pay so that artists don’t have to keep leaving or supplementing their income with other jobs in order to get by? King Lam isn’t the only artist in this situation. I read an interview that Derek Kok did a few weeks back and he said that in the nearly 3 decades he worked at TVB, he could barely make enough money to buy a house (and Derek is considered one of the more well-known supporting actors too!), yet since leaving TVB 3 years ago, he has made several times the amount filming in Mainland and also web series in HK, to the point that he was able to buy a house recently and also the hours are less grueling so he is able to spend more time with his family. They are but just 2 examples out of many.
TVB always claims they “cherish” their artists but that is the biggest BS. Salary and work environment are the two most important contributors to job satisfaction for employees, yet those are the exact 2 things that TVB sucks big time at. Loyalty can only go so far, especially when it boils down to artists having to feed their families and put shelter over their heads (and living in HK is not cheap, as all the recent debates over housing issues illustrate). As the years go by, more and more options are cropping up in terms of entertainment, so if TVB doesn’t want to get to the point where no one is willing to work for them anymore, they need to get with the program and at minimum, fix the pay and work environment issues. But of course, feedback like this is going to fall on deaf ears, since at the end of the day, TVB doesn’t care about their artists (who are merely money-making tools for them) – they would rather spend the money on grand productions with Mainland and also break into Hollywood (i.e. their partnering with Imagine Entertainment) rather than re-invest it into what should be their biggest asset: their artists. Sad and pathetic!
@llwy12
The usual TVB explanation to counter your points will be. ‘We help the artists become known to viewers and gain popularity. This helps the artists to earn money by taking on jobs outside the station’. TVB is becoming more of a feeder company or a stepping stone for wannabe celebrities rather than a long term employer to work for….
@jimmyszeto LOL…of course that’s what TVB will say. If that’s the case, then that’s what TVB should re-brand themselves to be – a feeder company that makes artists popular (through immersion in their 24/7 promo cycles) and then outsources them to other companies to work. Many people call TVB a “school” but to be honest, they are not deserving of such a title because there is little to no training that goes on (sorry, but I don’t consider plucking an MHK winner straight from the pageant and throwing them into series as “training”). Honestly, there’s so little substance to what TVB churns out nowadays, they might as well just switch to being an artist deployment company or something and outsource their artists to others who actually care and can help the artists build a truly solid career (it would be better for us audiences too, lol).
@llwy12
I agree that the training has totally disappeared and not like what it once was in the 70’s and 80’s where all the artists got taught how to act, how to fight,horse riding etr. The artists from the past all developed a good set of skills to cope with a career in acting. Now it is just a business and quick promotions to catapult Miss Hong Kong winners or former singers to stardom. Even acting and music awards are strategically used for promoting own station artists. TVB has the monopoly so they can do as they please. People who have ambition of making it in the entertainment industry should treat it as a long term investment by trying to use TVB as a stepping stone in achieving greater things. If things are not looking to go well then change professions asap…..
@jimmyszeto
Always has been like that. During its heydays of the 70s and 80s it has always been a stepping stone to making yourself known as a star then getting into the movies realm. In the late 90s and early 2000s it was then trying to get into Hollywood and now into Mainland China.
The funny thing about the HK entertainment industry is that TVB need the actors and vice versa. Seems that unless you are super popular (think heavenly kings type level) most come back to TVB to get better exposure once in a while when their careers become stale or experience a lull.
@llwy12 At least they can supplement income with commercials and movies and endorsement hence working all the time. Poor supporting actors as well. I can only imagine what about writers, directors, assistants. Those are the ones who have nothing else to do except take salary. Stop paying top artistes too much money.
@funnlim Technically, it’s only a small percentage of artists who get commercials/movies/endorsements – mostly the “popular” ones or the ones that TVB are trying to promote. The lesser known supporting artists usually rely on other means to supplement their incomes (outside jobs not related to the industry, theater work, teaching, opening a business, singing at bars or other entertainment venues, etc.). And definitely agree regarding the behind-the-scenes people, who are almost always underpaid and under-recognized (and also forced to bear the brunt of people’s anger when series don’t turn out right). Scriptwriting, for example, is one of the worst positions to take up because they oftentimes have to work under a ridiculous set of rules and enormous pressure for a small measly salary (some don’t even get paid) and then depending on who they get the fortune (or misfortune) to work with, sometimes have to watch their scripts get butchered / changed / altered, yet they still have to take the hit for it when those “edits” don’t work out, even though they had nothing to do with the changes (and the opposite is true too where scriptwriters don’t get credit for a good script – the producers get all the credit). It’s sad that in HK, scriptwriters for movies get recognition (in the form of awards and name recognition) and lyricists / songwriters do as well (albeit on a smaller scale), yet television writers get nothing – not even name recognition – but they still have to “grin and bear” whatever “abuse” comes to them….who would want to join the ranks of television (which is still dominated by TVB) scriptwriting in these circumstances? And we wonder why TVB’s scripts are so formulaic and old-school with no new ideas or creativity and also why audiences oftentimes can’t relate to the series at all – that’s what happens when you have the same few overworked and underpaid people blindly churning out script after script after script just to meet deadlines….
“A senior once told me that I’ve already mastered physical therapy.”
Such bull.
While I admire his genuine interest for acting overall, I won’t be surprised if he ends up working as a physiotherapist full time due to the competitive and questionable nature of TVB.