Cast of TVB’s “AI Rhapsody” Greets Viewers At First Press Conference
TVB comedy drama AI Rhapsody <智能愛(AI)人>, co-produced by Chan Kiu Ying (陳翹英) and Leung Sung Fan (梁崇勳), held its first press conference and blessing ceremony today in Tseung Kwan O. Starring Ali Lee (李佳芯) in her first drama in one year, AI Rhapsody follows the journey of an android who learns to know what it feels to be genuinely human. Ali starts as the android, with Crystal Fung (馮盈盈), Billy Luk (陸永), and Kelvin Kwan (關楚耀) co-starring.
“This role is definitely going to be challenging,” said Ali when introducing her role. “I will have to convince the audience that I’m a robot, yet I also have to be very genuinely human. There’s going to be a lot of micro things that I have do well in. To me, this is a huge challenge.”
Ali was excited when she first received the script, praising the story’s uniqueness and fresh cast of characters. “That’s what I want to do as an actor. To be able to have more opportunities to play roles I’ve never played before. After reading the script, I do feel that the story is very complete, and I want to do my best.”
Although fresh from the critical success of TVB’s Death By Zero <殺手>, which ended earlier this month, Ali doesn’t want to place too many hopes and expectations on AI Lover. “I want to do well, but I will not give myself too many expectations,” she said. “There’s going to be many firsts for me. It’ll be my first time playing a robot. It’ll also my first time working with a different team.”
The production staff of AI Rhapsody will be commissioned, thus most—if not all—scenes will be shot at different locations. “We’ll be working regular 12 to 14 hour days,” she said. “There will be more time for us to rest.”
As for returning to the camera for the first time in a year, Ali said, “I have to readjust my mindset back into acting, because I’ve recently just released a book and that’s all I could think about. Usually I’m very too myself, but now that I’m back, I want to reach out to more people. I want to get back into the rhythm of things.”
AI Rhapsody will also be Ali’s first drama together as a couple with Billy Luk, who is the drama’s “male lead.” Billy doesn’t want to consider himself as the lead, saying, “This drama only has female leads, and that lead is Ali. The male characters are all here to support her. The story gets really farfetched, because her and Crystal eventually fight over me. I won’t be in the scenes with them. The story is still very much about them.”
From his debut as a FAMA (農夫) member in 2002 till now, Billy’s role in AI Lover is by far the most heavy. He clarified, “Whether it’s a supporting character or not, I always treat it as a main character. I don’t want to play favorites. I’ll do my best in every role.”
He shared that he actually had to do a double take when he first read the synopsis of his character. “The description said he was a good looking man. I had so many questions! Definitely not good looking, but I can see myself in his other qualities.”
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
Ok, I’m counting down to this, I hope the scriptwriters did a good job!
I google Chan Kiu Ying profile. He is the scriptwriter for “The Bund”
http://hkmdb.com/db/people/view.mhtml?id=4448&display_set=eng
@mike8177 and he produced shows in ATV that was considered fierce competition to TVB
Every actor/actress wishes for these unique. Ali has got it but she has been given the crappiest of casts to work with including a lead Billy Luk as Male lead who was worst actor by a mile in Barack o Karma. Hopefully she pulls off something special here…
@jimmyszeto hopefully, the producer does not produce old school stuff that bores audiences. Hopefully, scriptwriters did a good job with the story. Hopefully, the rational audiences in HK (& supporters of Ali) will bless the ratings.
Lastly, while Billy and FYY may not be as good as we would like them to be, may they provide good support to Ali to pull this off well….
@jimmyszeto To be fair, his story arc and character in BOK was just terribly written and I’m not sure that any actor could have made it better?
I actually like Billy and think that he has a lot of potential. He just needs to stop playing dumb roles. I enjoyed his performance in Two Steps From Heaven. That said, I feel like with the plot of this new one being so out of left field, there’s a ton of room for things to be cringeworthy.
Why is FYY involved again?
Seems like an interesting and challenging role. TVB has focused more on its male stars, it has been a long time since a woman is the draw for a series. Ali is unique for that in these times. I am unsure about Billy, and dislike Crystal, but at least this shows the main focus is her. Looks like Ram and Angelina Lo are in this too. They are always great supporting actors that add fun and interest to a series.
Kelvin Kwan is in this and no one mentions him?? Now that’s a refreshing cast. Seems like the budget for this ain’t small. Ughhh more FYY she is definitely a top notch shoe shiner to get all these opportunities.
Hopefully the editting is good and it doesn’t turn out weird. Good that Ali van get enough rest so she can stay pretty 🙂
@bubbles23 so??? He’s not even that popular as you make it sound.
@pisces2019 errr well, he’s not a nobody. Chillax.
@bubbles23 He’s a nobody. You chillax too.
@bubbles23 who is Kelvin Kwan? I doubt it’s a high Budget show. I’m just happy Ali is being cast again and I hope it’ll keep coming
@conan2209 is he really that niche? He’s a singer actor, got caught doing drugs in Japan a decade ago. He’s been in some tvb dramas before iirc.
@bubbles23 i stopped watching TVB shows for about a decade. It’s pure coincidence that I caught Ali in act and now I’m catching up on her shows.
@conan2209 ohh I see. I still have my hopes that the budget for this won’t be small considering it’s a famous producer and has a non-tvb crew. I’m curious though, you only frequent this site cause of Ali?
@bubbles23 I’ve been a silent reader, just getting more vocal now cos I’m working from home with this pandemic. I’m definitely switching on to TVB for Ali though. I’ve got a bigger hope, that they want the producer In TVB permanently to lead the other producers and Ali will be cast more often By him if she can pull this off well 😉
@bubbles23 just to add, I was also told that, with non TVB crew, it’s likely the drama will not be heavily promoted. We will know soon.
@conan2209 awww I hope that’s not the case but I guess tvb is still salty about Ali upsetting mainlanders. I asked cause I wonder why do people frequent this site if they don’t watch hk dramas lol.
@bubbles23 the Chinese and the HKers are nuts to make such a big issue out of this. Everyone should be entitled to their political opinion but stay united As a whole, they’re out to kill each other! I read this to keep myself updated on gossips ;p I still know the artiste by name and do steal glances of their acting when my family watch TVB Dramas. That’s how I chanced upon Ali.
@conan2209 That was me. I had stopped watching for a decade or so but got roped back in. Started with seeing Michael Miu and Felix in Grey Metal Gun, then a few years later with Ruco, Vincent and Ali. Unfortunately, Ruco has gone down since he became typecast in action series and I am afraid Vincent may be going down that route too. He has DID which will break him out of this, thankfully. Ali is great. Every role has been different and interesting.
@potatochip I like Ruco (Aka his looks) when he started out Think not much of improvement in acting over the years. I think he Touch up too much on his face/nose, lost interest in him ;p
@conan2209 Ruco is a beautiful man. I wish he would stop trying to reverse aging, lol. He looks good fighting, but action series have terrible writing and plots. He’s better utilized in grey drama roles. He was the ultimate romantic in Outbound Love, but besides Nancy and possibly Linda (to a lesser extent), his female stars haven’t clicked. I liked his versatility in Captain of Destiny. Unfortunately, with the exception of the lowly watched Succession War, he had a string of bland series. I have no hopes for Chinatown which sounds trite, but may do well since he has been off screen for 2 years. His other stuff sounds slightly more interesting, but I am afraid he’s not going to turn this around anytime soon.
@potatochip not been watching him past years, the last was the one about Macau tycoon (sorry I don’t know the series by their English names). I’ve been either watching up to 3 episodes for selected series or catching glimpse of it while my family watches.
I always joke that I have watched beyond my quota in my younger days so I’ve become critically selective, can almost second Guess storylines and gets gut feel (aka bias) about Actors and Actresses now
I heard rumours that Ruco is an introvert and thus couldn’t survive in this industry.
Think I’ve been telling everyone recently, it’s only Ali that can make me sit in my couch, in front of my TV now.
I like FYY as a person, because she’s unpolished and blunt. But omg her speech drives me up the wall. I normally don’t hear these lazy tones people keep mentioning (maybe because my canto isn’t proper either), but I wonder if her enunciation is what ppl consider lazy. If so, maybe that’s what repels me from hearing her talk in dramas. It’s really bad. I feel like she wants to spit…very heavy “thh” noises.
@coralie she definitely has enunciation problems. She says the word speak (“gong”) like “gone”. Gotta say it’s pretty bad especially since she’s a local. I normally find it hard to notice when people talk with lazy tones but man FYY is out there.
@bubbles23 yes there’s a lot of spitting/guttural sounds she makes that sounds awful
Definitely looking forward. The script and cast seems interesting, with the exception of FYY. She just can’t act or speak. She loves to widen her eyes and leave her mouth open. It’s so weird. I thought Billy was good in Barrack O’ Karma, very convincing.
Hmmmm, interesting premise. I’m glad that TVB is becoming more creative and experimental. Hopefully this won’t be too cliche. The cast look a bit weak, except for Ali, but I tend to find that “green-leaf” actors tend to shine which will be nice to see them getting recognition.
Sounds like a cringeworthy script
Jaynestars, why is my comment being truncated again??????
I feel for Ali, to be paired with a so-so cast! Give me Ali and Ruco or Ali and Vincent!
@piggygrace That would be awesome!
Maybe in the future. At least, the focus will be on her on this series.
@potatochip I would rather she pair with seasoned actors that’ll build her skills further. I think it’ll be nice to see her with Kenneth, Roger, Michael etc
Re this show, it will be about how well she can pull this off with the support of the rest of the crew. I hope she’ll be able to prove to the naysayers and shine again!