After Leaving TVB, Bernice Liu Focuses Career On China
Appearing at a promotional event in a sleeveless top and shorts. Bernice Liu (廖碧兒) appeared very tanned. Recently, Bernice has been busy filming an ancient mainland series with Kevin Cheng (鄭嘉穎) and Michelle Yim (米雪) in Hengdian, China.
Signing with a new mainland company, Bernice hoped to open up the mainland market, “My company wanted me to host some variety programs. In the past, I had many opportunities at TVB. I want to do even better now.”
Claiming she was still single, Bernice said that she missed her seven dogs at home. Asked whether she maintained contact with past rumored boyfriend, Alastair Lam (林忠豪), Bernice said, “I kept in touch with my friends through phone calls and e-mail.”
Source: Orientaldaily.on.cc
Jayne: How fluent is Bernice’s Mandarin? I wonder if her father will follow her to mainland China to help her translate her scripts?
IMO, I think Bernice fares better in modern series and her image more suitable for Hong Kong movies than ancient mainland dramas. She was practicing Wing Chun and hoping to secure action roles. Surprised film roles didn’t open up, not even from Wong Jing….
Yes because ancient people don’t speak Chinese with a Canadian accent.
Her voice will be dubbed anyway, as with other HK artistes who filmed mainland china series. Sometimes, even Mandarin speaking artistes from Taiwan will have their voice dubbed.
She just need to work on her facial expression, which she seriously lacked.
It is not just actors from Taiwan that are dubbed but a lot of mainland actors are dubbed as well. They do use their real voice but not as much as I would like for them to. THat is one of the things that I don’t like about mainland series. However, a number of them do get dubbed with their real voices.
From what I know, Taiwanese are dubbed most of the time.
She always can speak Cantonese and then be dubbed to Mando if she can’t speak Mando.
I guess her mandarin should be decent if her mainland management company want her to do hosting.
From my knowledge, Bernice can’t speak Mandarin. She only knows the basic ‘thank you, goodbye, etc.’ She only knew English before Miss Chinese International & TVB where she started learning how to speak Cantonese. If she’s filming series her voice will be dubbed anyway, so it’s more important for her to improve on her expressions. Good luck to her.
If she can’t even speak Cantonese that well, I have a feeling that her Mandarin is even worse. She will be dubbed anyways so I don’t think it would matter that much.
I do agree with Jayne that she fares better in modern Hong Kong series/movies rather than ancient China series.
She cannot sPeak mandarin. I remember watching a promotional event for 72 Tenants of Prosperity and in was in China, Eric Tsang brought many actors from the movie. And his daughter was hosting the show. Bernice said that two wordsin mandarin and finished with Cantonese.
Even if she is dubbed, her mouth won’t be mouthing the right words? And what if she goes to promotional events, how the he’ll she goonnna talk? I think mainland people won’t like her….she should of just sucked it uP and stayed with TVB.
I had a feeling that she cannot even speak Mandarin but I wasn’t sure since I have not heard her speak it yet. I think that it would not be the biggest problem for series, but what about promotional events and other activities that she has to attend??
Well, since she is dubbed then of course people will understand that her mouth will not match the words all the time. There are even Koreans acting in China, but since they are foreign I guess people would be more understanding towards them.
She can always come back to TVB if things don’t work out in China.
good luck to bernice.
If “Kung Fu panda” can be dubbed I am sure they can do the same for Bernice too… Good luck with the new gig in china….
I always saw it that Bernice had it quite easy in the industry, especially with her sexy body figure, thus gaining many endorsement ads. I’ve never been a fan of her acting despite her popularity in the past. IMO, I don’t quite believe that she even deserves the Most Improved Actress for her performances. While she may have had some passable and watchable performances in her TVB career, her acting never wow-ed me. IMO, I prefer actresses like Mandy Wong who can speak fluent Cantonese. Bernice’s influent Canto has always been a turnoff.
In the past, Bernice gave me the impression that she didn’t care too much about her acting career, perhaps due to her not improving her Cantonese. Look at Fala. IMO, Bernice had a decent amount of opportunities to improve her Canto, even though she’s always been a supporting actress. Fala started off her career playing supporting roles and she still is today (sometimes shared lead), but her Canto has improved immensely. *applause
There were a year or two where Bernice was TVB’s highest paid artist, even surpassing Charmaine Sheh. I suppose that was due to her filming ads and endorsements. At the time, I thought she was going the route of Michelle Reis. Does Bernice model too?
Ever since two years ago, she seem to have faded in the background. And because he romance with Moses is over, she seems even less popular now. With TVB not backing her up, she has to head off to mainland. 🙁 Seems like she has a new and rather tough route before her. I don’t have much faith in her acting and she will have to learn a new language, Mandarin, after barely mastering her Canto. 😮
But good luck to Bernice in the future! 🙂
On a side note, she doesn’t look that great in the above photo. I still like her long hair in the past more.
Chriselle,
I agree that going the mainland route will be difficult for Bernice due to Mandarin difficulties. The mainland market is also more segregated, with many regional television studios. Hopefully she chose her current management company wisely.
“I always saw it that Bernice had it quite easy in the industry, especially with her sexy body figure, thus gaining many endorsement ads.”
Aside from her figure, I think Bernice’s social skills boosted her popularity among advertisers the most, especially with international brands where the event organizers may be westerners and she had no problems socializing with them. According to tabloids, many advertisers specifically asked to work with Bernice again after good experience with them in the past.
I’ve always wondered why Sonija Kwok’s beauty was not enough to make her more popular. Sonija was very beautiful after she won the Miss Hong Kong title. Aside from high profile romantic rumors which she didn’t handle well, I suspect Sonija does not carry or represent herself as successfully as Bernice in social settings.
“Ever since two years ago, she seem to have faded in the background.”
Around 2008, Bernice went to Hollywood to film Gordon Chan’s “King of Fighters.” She picked up Wing Chun and set her sights on an action film career. However, the film was never released in American theaters (don’t know if it’s available in DVD yet).
Bernice also had some bit parts in Hong Kong movies over the last two years. I am quite surprised that with her social skills, she was unable to secure higher profile roles. I find her image very suitable for films.
I guess Bernice sadly just doesn’t have the luck that she hoped for nor the talent(in my opinion).
King of Fighters is only released on DVD. The movie itself is kinda bad, even if it’s released on cinema, I doubt it’ll make something big. Plus, Bernice is a supporting only. Maggie Q all the time.
I’ve just watched it on HBO.
@HeTieShou
I guess it depends on the person. But you’re probably going to speak your mother tongue the best. So in Fala’s case, mandarin is probably her mother tongue and probably is really fluent. Cause her english isn’t…
Oppps…that wasn’t supposed to go there… 😛
Going to China can be a good or a bad thing depending on each artists personal situation and all. However, in China there are already many very young, beautiful, highly educated,etc… actresses that these HK actresses have to fare against. Therefore, the competition will be even higher than it was in TVB. You would have more opportunities in China but that all comes with many pros and cons just like with anything. Having the language barrier will not help Bernice at all…BUt lets see since no one knows the future anyways. But if she already can’t even speak Cantonese that well, then I can’t even imagine her speaking Mandarin at all. Good luck to her anyways.
Did bernice ever win the most improved award? I thought she and Sharon Chan always got snubbed.
I think bernice’s on-screen Cantonese is just as good as fala’s. Offscreen, she uses a lot of English like Joyce Cheng. But it’s still better than oceane chu or Christine Kuo.
Btw, I think bernice should try to get hawick lau back if he’s still available in the mainland.
She has never won such award.
I disagree that Bernice and Fala’s Canto are on the same level. Maybe they are, and it’s truly Bernice’s acting that is lacking. However, Bernice entered the industry in 2000 while Fala entered in 2005. Even if they are on the same level, Bernice is still behind on improving her Canto.
Oceane and Christine are still rather new. Only 3 years into showbiz, give them more time to improve. Oceane really has charm onscreen. 😀
Bernice and Hawick were dating before? o.O
@Chriselle,
I agree with you that Fala and Bernice’s Cantonese is about the same, but Fala is a bit better. However, they both lack the skills and talent. But I think Bernice’s acting is better than Fala’s. From what I heard, Bernice and Hawick did date before but it was quite awhile ago…
Fala lived in China for years before going to US. That’s why her Chinese (writing) is of course better than Bernice.
@HTS: Yes, Hawick and Bernice dated.
I think even if Fala’s canto is about the same as Bernice, at least Fala can speak fluent mandarin. But I do think that Fala canto is way better, and she has less of a western accent, which is better i guess when speaking in cantonese. Fala cantonese has had way more of an improvemnent compared to Bernice.
Wonder what Bernice saw in Hawick? I like Bernice’s optimistic attitude towards life, but Hawick is as boring as Lai Lok Yi. *yawn
LOL ~ because Hawick was Bernice’s servant in VOH, I can’t imagine them together. It’s like “goh pan.” 🙂
Hawick isn’t a boring guy :P.
@Fox,
Prove me wrong. 😀 In what way is he interesting?
His answers to reporters
Hawick did release a pictorial (seh jun) before. I’m sure some of those pictures look interesting.
@Yee,
Are you sure that Fala can speak fluent Mandarin?? I highly doubt that since her Cantonese is still not the best that it can be.
@Fox,
Thanks but I already knew that Bernice and Hawick dated before.
@HeTieShou
Yea I’m pretty sure that Fala can speak Mandarin cause she speant the first 15 years of her life in China. And her last is written the mandarin way “Chen”, but I guess that doesn’t prove that she can speak mandarin. But I’ve heard her speak mandarin in like TVB8 interviews.
@Yee,
Oh yea, thanks for reminding that she did live in China before. Therefore, I think she should be able to speak it but whether it is fluent or not is a different story…
@HeTieShou
It most likely is fluent enough to understand and speak. My friend grew up in HK and came to Canada when she was 10 and speaks really fluent cantonese. So therefore if Fala spent 15 years of her life there, mandarin is probably her first language. But in my opinion, her english is kinda funny…weird accent…
@Yee,
Yea, I guess so and it also depends on the person. Many of my relatives have been in the US for over 30 years and can’t even speak a complete sentence in English. It also depends on each person and whether they want to learn a language or not.
@HeTieShou
I guess it depends on the person. But you’re probably going to speak your mother tongue the best. So in Fala’s case, mandarin is probably her mother tongue and probably is really fluent. Cause her english isn’t…
I think it is safe to say her voice will be dubbed.
Of course she will be dubbed just like most HK and Taiwan artists are. Even the artists in China get dubbed in a number of series that they are in. Being dubbed can be a good or a bad thing. Bernice will have to rely on her expressions and other things which I think is still a big challenge for her… Sadly, her acting still is not that good to me.
Well, that’s not a very flattering picture of her face haha. I like Bernice but she seems the type to use acting as her stepping stone into her desire to achieving other goals in her life; I don’t know what they are but something in the business arena since I’ve read once in a while that this is where her true interests [and perhaps talent] lies.
That’s just a hunch on my part though. I guess some people just don’t have “it” like others do. Bernice has loss some her initial “charm” for me, frankly.
isn’t obvious finding a gold mine to finance her needs.
yeah seems to have lost the x-factor. hopefully she can make a decent living in china or find a gold mine in china since there are plenty of them.
Hahaha iampheng! I think you are right about Bernice using acting as a stepping stone into business. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was her case and I felt a little bit of it.
Was she a business major in college? I remember her saying that she and Alistair shared something in common and it was business. Thus, they had many conversations about business. And Jayne confirmed that Bernice has very good socializing skills which are required for businesspeople. 😀
I think so too, that Bernice lost her initial charm, at least in the above photo. Perhaps due to stress and aging? She was sick earlier this year too, wasn’t she?
I think she did do something related to business…she also looks like the type haha very proactive, so it’s surprising if she gave acting her all and it didn’t work out. I bet her heart’s just not into acting :T
i don’t know whether she took business courses in HK but if she did i’m sure the media would know. she didn’t finish university here, she was only in first year uni and then dropped out to work in HK.
I heard that the university gave her 10 years to come back and complete the degree. I think that is good for her because many schools in here in the US don’t allow that. I heard that if you wait for a number of years and don’t come back and finish up all of your coursework, then will have to start all over again.
yeah 10 years which isn’t fair for other students because it’s more than it’s policy. since this is her last year, it’s highly unlikely she will come back and complete it unless the university extends it again.
Yea, I think her 10 year time limit is up now or will be over soon so I highly doubt that she will come back and finish it. I think that the university was favoring her over other students. Since she has been away from school that long, I don’t think she will come back. If you are making money, then I highly doubt that you will want to come back to school again…
@ Chriselle, HeTieShou, lampheng and beanie – I can explain that most universities in Canada give students 10 years grace to complete their first degree and will recognize the students’ credits for the courses that the students have taken before dropping out. Bernice is treated like everyone else, she is just a #. I love it when HK actresses announce to the media that the registrar gives them special permission to finish their BA or BSC (To be fair to Bernice, I am not sure how she said it to the media so I can’t fault her). I don’t think she will return to the University because she is making money right now so what is the point. However, I do know that Kenneth Ma is smart and he does have an engineering degree from the university because I seen his picture in the Engineering Faculty.
@Lacey,
Kenneth went to university overseas too? I always thought he was based in HK, born there, raised there, and then joined TVB.
@ Lacey,
You went to the same university as Kenneth Ma?
Can you confirm this for me? What university did he graduate from? Someone said he graduated from University of Chicago while I read article said he graduated from University of Illinois.
@ Chriselle
Kenneth Ma look very HK based, right? Lol
I’ve known for a long time that he has an engineering degree but only recently I know that he got his degree from an oversea university and that he came from an engineering family.
Kidd,
I thought Kenneth went to University of British Columbia, the same school as Bernice Liu?
Lacey,
Do the teachers remember Kenneth? Is he considered a famous alumni by the school administration?
@Kidd,
I never dug into Kenneth’s past and I didn’t know he had an engineering degree. Not as interested into his personal life and personality as some are.
He does look like he has grown up in HK all his life. I can’t recall a lot of scenes where he spoke English, but he did speak it with an accent, I’m guessing. And because he entered the industry in the late 1990s or early 2000s, I thought it was safe to assume that he had an education in HK. Only after 2004-5, did TVB have a rush of newcomers from overseas and did they start promoting artists with heavy Cantonese accents.
Wow, an family of engineers? 😮 I wonder why he entered the industry as opposed to pursuing a career in engineering. He didn’t seem to have a promising future in his early career, before 2006.
@ Chriselle
Ge graduated during the economic slump. So, very hard to find work. According to him, he did work in an engineering firm for a short while, but, didn’t like it, so, he tried TVB acting class.
@ Lacey
“@Chriselle – you could be part right, he could have been born in HK. (Either he obtained a student visa or moved with his family from HK)”
I always thought that he was born and raised in HK and only went overseas for tertiary education. But, seem like I was wrong. According to wiki, his family immigrated to Canada in the 90s.
And thanks for the info on Kenneth. I got his uni info mix up with Philip Ng. It’s Philip who I was not sure which uni he studied it. 😛
@ Jayne
“I thought Kenneth went to University of British Columbia, the same school as Bernice Liu?”
Yeap. My mistake. I mix him up with Philip Ng. The Chicago/Illinois confusion is actually for Philip Ng.
Bernice said she want to continue her business degree and interested in doing some business. But, she has yet to do anything to achieve this goal. Seem like all talk and no action when it comes to this area. I wonder if she’s really serious about doing business or just an excuse given when she’s caught with Alistair.
As someone here said, her 10 years hiatus limit already near. Can she still continue with her studies after that?
Selena Li, on the other hand, has gone back to uni, finished her degree and even started a beauty school.
Didn’t Bernice enter TVB in 2000? So that makes 2010 the 10th year mark, so it passed already.
@Kidd – yes, I went to the same U as Kenneth only different faculties, he graduated way before me. It is the University of British Columbia. Engineering Faculty is very hard to get into, you have to be pretty smart to be accepted. A couple of my friends are engineers and they showed me his picture. From what I have heard was that after he had received his degree, he had a hard time finding a job so he decided to go back to Hong Kong to try his luck. (Don’t quote me on this because I am not sure if the story is true or not).
@Chriselle – you could be part right, he could have been born in HK. (Either he obtained a student visa or moved with his family from HK)
Kenneth, I love him even more.
Kenneth is educated and this is great. Most other actors in his generation only finished high school.
that’s what i heard about kenneth too. he used to live in my neighbourhood in Coquitlam and it took awhile since his departure to actually have ppl here talking about him. his family immigrated from Hk
bernice was in arts first year, i think she was registered in courses but not sure if she completed them. Same with Linda, she went as far as first year.
Other celebrities that went to UBC – jennifer tse (graduated), edison’s other sister (grad from commerce), Anne Heung (graduated)
@Jayne – sorry I forgot to reply to you. Yes, K. Ma attended UBC. I am not sure which faculty Bernice had attended, it could be the Faculty of Commerce. I can’t really comment on whether Kenneth is considered as a famous personality at the U or not because I am not in the same faulty. We have over 54,000 students at the U so it is a pretty big campus.
Hey, didn’t Linda Chung go there too? Don’t think she graduated though…
Linda Chung entered TVB at 19 years old and got a big part in VOH2 right away. ROFL obviously she dont graduate 😛
@Yee – Vivien is correct, Linda did not graduate from the university because of the beauty contest. She had attended Templeton High School because my nephew had attended the same school only he was 7 years behind Linda. The reason I am aware of this bcos my nephew came home one day from school and told his mom that a couple of his teachers told his class that Linda Chung was one of the few famous celebrities attended that school.
It was quite obvious that Linda didn’t finshe university…she’s 27 and has been in the entertainemtn industry for 7 years…but I read she was really good in schooll…shame to just quit like that…maybe it wasn’t the path for her 😛
** sorry that’s “finish” not “finshe”…I can spell…Oh and entertainment…opps
Nowadays they all seem to flock to Mainland China rather than be with TVB. I still prefer HK series to the Mainland ones. Many people think they are far better and better scripted, storyline is better. However, I have never liked films that are dubbed as it just doesn’t seem natural. I find Bernice Liu’s acting so so. Her Cantonese is pretty good and not half as bad as people like Aimee Chan or Flora Chan. Well, good luck to her for the future.
i agree with you i also hate all dubbed shows except animation of course..that is why i don’t like series from china cos most of them are dubbed to cantonese and the voices are so faked
Same. I HATE DUBBING!!! I rater read subs…but mainland dramas aren’t that good in my opinion. Though the quality is not as good as anymore, it’sstill better in my opinion. I think that Aimee has better cantonese vocabulary, but her canto pronociation might not be as good. Where as Bernice only knows like common words and not like chinese sayings. For someone who works in Hong Kong, she has a vocabulary of a chinese teen in western countries. Like me, lol…
@Yee,
Even though I don’t like dubbing, I would rather listen to dubbing rather reading subs since it is really tiring to read subs. I personally don’t agree that mainland dramas are not good. It just depends on the series just like with TVB or any company. Many mainland series are really good but you have to give them a chance. I personally find mainland series productions getting better while TVB is going more and more downhill…
You guys are big fans of TVB so I am not shocked if you are loyal to TVB only even though their series are not even that good anymore. I admit that the dubbing is a bit annoying, but you get used to it and not all series are dubbed. However, if you are from HK then you are going to be dubbed for sure since how can you avoid that??
She’s not going to survive in Mainland China for that long….
Im betting shes going to the movie industry in Hong Kong or Southeastern Asian countries, maybe Bollywood.
I think Bernice is better suited for movies. It’s her looks and body.
I disagree. She still look embarassing in movies because her acting suffers. I cringe watching her in her movies.
yeah sure she can make in big in bollywood since she will become a rarity there 🙂
I have to say her acting is not really that great after seeing more of her work. She did Red Blood, an action movie,she wasn’t good. She has a sweet smiles, maybe just the happy roles. As for the mandarin, I don’t think it would be an issue, as it would be dubbed.
Bernice lost her attraction. i used to find her charming in VOH but after, she annoyed me greatly in every drama. just the way she acts, expressions not interesting, just kid-like.
I guess it is because she keeps on using the same old expressions over and over again that it got boring???
She CAN’T ACT. It’s nice to see some charm smile but when everything she has is only the charming smile it gets tiring. She has the same expressions in her happy roles and is wooden in serious roles. Her acting in her movies are bad.
Even though her acting isn’t the greatest, it is still better than Fala’s acting.
Fala Chen is prettier and arguably the prettiest promoted fadan in TVB now. I think Fala>Bernice acting or looks.
Well that’s your opinion and I respect that, however, I don’t agree… I have never liked Fala’s acting or anything about her. I don’t get why TVB is promoting her… I guess they don’t have anyone new to promote yet. I am shocked that she is being called a “fadan”.
@Vivien,
Agree with you. I think among Tavia, Myolie, Kate, and Linda, Fala is the most gorgeous.
@HTS,
Fala’s acting has greatly improved. At the beginning of her career, I didn’t like her either, mainly because of her deep, noticeable accent. But now, I prefer watching her over Kate and Linda. Tavia and Myolie is still above her in terms of acting, but that’s also because they had an extra 5 years to polish their acting skills beforehand. Fala really has charisma onscreen. CBML was a poor-written series, but she shined, and almost even outshined Charmaine, who was the leading female, IMO.
Curious, which was the last series you’ve seen of Fala? Because she improved heaps, especially in Moonlight Resonance. If since you rarely watch TVB and modern dramas nowadays, not sure if you are up-to-date with her acting skills. 🙂
@Chriselle,
No, I actually watch a lot of TVB series and even modern ones since I don’t really get to pick. My 2nd older brother picks all of the series that we watch since he pays for them all. He likes TVB as well and gets a lot of TVB series. I have seen Fala a lot so I hope that you don’t think that I am judging her unfairly. I have not seen all of Moonlight Resonance yet since that series did not interest me. But from what I saw, her acting is the same old to me… She just doesn’t have the talent or charm to me… That’s just my opinion though. I also don’t think she overshined Charmaine in Can’t Buy Me Love. I also don’t just go for the cast when I watch a series.
I watch China, Korea, Taiwan, TVB,etc.. I watch series from every company since I don’t want to be prejudice against series from any country/company because I believe that there are good and bad series in every company/country. Luckily, my brother doesn’t discriminate either and gets series from every company and every type of series so that we get to watch a variety of them…
Gotta agree with you. Bernice gave me a good impression in her first role in VOH. I remember loving her princess role. At first, I even thought she was a mixed beauty since she looked a bit different.
After Survivor’s Law, which she had a quite annoying character, none of her roles stood out too me. Into Thin Air, Love Bond, The Brink of Law, there was nothing interesting about her. She probably could have done better in Mysteries of Love as Kenneth had an interesting character, but she was nothing more than a guest star.
It appears that you don’t like Bernice just like how I don’t like Fala… I guess the point is that we are both bias just like anyone in our comments…
kid-like = always full of giggles and smiling like some young girl in every scene.
haha that is so true. it’s also the same teeth bearing grin!
I find it disappointing that Bernice has resided in HK for about 10 years and still fails at Cantonese.
I watched an interview with her and every second word she used an English word to replace the Chinese word . I don’t understand why she doesn’t try harder to learn the language.
There are so many other actresses/actors who have not resided as long as her in HK and have improved their Cantonese immensely.
I’m surprised that she can even break into the mainland industry considering she barely even had any acting opportunities with TVB.
besides the money most mainland dramas are poo. and actually in mainland films you usually just have to act but the words you say don’t really matter you could be speaking cantonese for all they care since they dub over it anyway.
I’ll miss bernice. Mainland however does have high budget scenery, landscape, backdrop and effect. It’s usually the show itself that sucks. They have the best landmarks and nature to use. They can actually film in a really well designed or the actual palace. Etc.