Joel Chan and Shaun Tam Return for “Brutally Young” Sequel

A sequel is bound to happen when a drama is well-received, as such is the case with Barrack O’Karma <金宵大廈>, Hong Kong Love Stories <香港愛情故事>, and Return of the Cuckoo <十月初五的月光>. It turns out Brutally Young <十八年後的終極告白> will also have a second installment with original cast members Joel Chan (陳山聰), Shaun Tam (譚俊彥), Nicole Wan (尹詩沛), and Candice Chiu (趙希洛). There will be new cast members joining as well, including Katy Kung (龔嘉欣), who will play the heroine, and new mom Zoie Tam (譚凱琪).

Released in early 2020, the original Brutally Young garnered great feedback for its suspenseful plot despite its average ratings. Viewers were already onboard an emotional roller coaster ride when the first episode kicked off with a compelling murder case involving seven students. In the end, Joel’s character was stabbed to death, while Shaun’s character Sam was imprisoned. After Sam gets released, he imagines a reunion with his friends on the mountaintop, bringing this tragic drama to an end. Many netizens praised the show as beyond exceptional in hopes of TVB coming out with a sequel, and TVB answered their prayers with a second installment.

A Completely New Story

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Joel shared that he and Shaun really wanted a sequel as well, given the positive reviews. However, the second installment will have a completely new and fresh story since the entire cast will not be returning. While viewers can anticipate a drama focused on karma like the original, new elements will also be added to the series to enhance the suspense and drama. The actor disclosed, “I will not be playing a triad member this time. Instead, I will be very poised and polite.”

As for whether there would be an encore of the first season’s shirtless fighting scene, he said, “I think they will give me something even more difficult this time. Unfortunately, I can’t share much yet, but I promise it will be very exciting. I have already started working out to maintain my physique.”

Although Brutally Young was the last time viewers saw Joel on the small screen, fans can look forward to seeing him again soon. His dramas, including The Runner <大步走>, Chinatown <唐人街>, I’ve Got the Power <超能使者>, and Barrack O’Karma 2 <金宵大廈2>, are all expected to air this year. Meanwhile, production will soon commence for the sequel to Brutally Young.

When asked how he felt about working with Katy, the newly crowned Malaysia’s Favorite TVB Actress, he joked, “With a Best Actress present, the drama will be drastically different. We need to borrow some of her popularity.”

Katy is Nervous About Her Role

This time, Katy will be pairing up with Shaun, marking their first collaboration. She expressed, “I also watched the first series, and it has a good reputation. I have never filmed anything suspenseful before, so I think it will be very interesting. I’m a little nervous since I have a very serious role.”

As this is Katy’s first drama after snagging two awards at the 2020 TVB Anniversary Awards, she believes viewers will have higher expectations. When asked if she feels more pressure, she said, “Not really because I am happy that people are congratulating me for winning an award. It is very valuable to me.”

Source: On.cc

This article is written by Hailey for JayneStars.com.

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Responses

  1. Did people really had a hard time figuring out who was the actual murderer in this drama? I kinda knew from the first 2-3 episodes in that Shaun Tam was the real killer. I felt the drama was rather cliche in that sense and hit all usual tropes…like the token flawed character who has a heart of gold, the disabled character for the sympathy and breakout card, the suspenseful whodunnit moments but is also clearly suspiciously obvious when you see two possible suspects at the same time but it’d be too easy to prove the “bad” guy, so it must be the “good” guy who did it…

      1. @bubbles23 @coralie
        Shaun wasn’t the murderer but was the more guilt ridden one and the one most fearful of losing what he had built. He was the one who indirectly invited the murderer though. He did not know that till near the end and didn’t kill anyone else till then Guessing the murderer early would have been almost impossible. It was a guy who appeared a few times throughout

      2. @jimmyszeto alright that was my bad. I didn’t watch the entire thing because I anticipated that Shaun was the one murdering his friends one after another until he was arrested. I assume then, that he didn’t do this?

      3. @coralie
        He killed the revealed murderer in self defence who idolised shaun’s character. While trying to destroy the scene, he accidentally killed Mandy’s mother. Joel he accidentally killed too near the end. He never intended to kill any any friend at all…

  2. Looking forward to this but it’s gonna be very hard to live up to the first instalment. If the writing will be even 80% as good as the first one I’ll be happy. Also very glad that Nicole Wan will be in the sequel, much deserved recognition.
    Does the inclusion of Katy and Zoie mean Mandy is not going to be in the sequel?
    Shaun-Katy doesn’t feel like a suitable pair but let’s see how it’ll go.

  3. What’s the point of calling this a sequel if it doesn’t have the same storyline or same actors? Just because two of the male leads are returning, they will be playing completely new characters… I mean, TVB has a limited number of artists so recurring collaborations is common. Even though the theme may be similar but I’s rather they just give this series a new title, truly fresh start, and stop trying to call or make everything a sequel. I’ll watch a drama if it looks good, period. But to try to lure viewers in by milking a good drama when there isn’t a good enough storyline really mostly hurts and ruins the franchise cuz viewers have a certain expectation already, yet it doesn’t live up to its predecessor. I’d rather give it a new title since it’s a new story, then I would have no expectation, and formulate a fresh objective opinion about the drama than to compare it and be letdown like most TVB sequels.

    1. @gnomageddon I wonder if they are going for an anthology series, where the theme is similar but totally different settings and characters, sort of like thhe American Horror Story series

  4. Loved Brutally Young, still disappointed how neglected the drama was during the recent awards show!

    I really hope this sequel is well written though I don’t have that much hope with tvb and sequels- sometimes they just try and milk the same idea (LW ehem)…

    If there’s a ‘sequel’ without the entirety of the original cast, I really do hope Anthony Ho returns because I thought he was great in the original!

  5. I liked Candice and Vivian in this. Too bad Vivian is no longer acting. Looking forward to Zoie’s return. Katy, I am hesitant, but I think she fits dark, moody series well. They bettter also bring back Anthony Ho, the moral center and glue of the group. Dominic probably won’t be in this, but it would be nice if they had a similar veteran.

    Glad Mandy isn’t going to be in it. It was really hard to connect with her character.

  6. After reading this first line “Katy Kung will portray the heroine in the sequel” then no matter how hard I tried, I can’t remember who were the female leads in Brutally Young…

    1. @snoopy It was Mandy, as the cop and Shaun’s love interest and Vivien as the cute death/mute girl and Joel’s girlfriend. I had trouble remembering Mandy too, which speaks more to her weakness of leaving an impression as an actor. Vivien was good and should have gotten more recognition.

      1. @potatochip Nay, both of them are equally forgettable. For me, Vivien Yeo, Candice Chiu, Jason Chan and Aimee Chan don’t have any TV personality and cant act at all. No matter how hard they tried, I still feel that they are trying to act and not the character itself. But luckily they are all pretty and good looking.

      2. @snoopy Vivien improved a lot in that role. Still slightly stiff, but the mute aspect was a nice change. I didn’t like the sappy door mat love story part though.

        I think Candace is a good supporting actress. She is noticeable in her roles, but I don’t think she is good for lead.

        The others, I agree, are not fun to watch.

      3. @potatochip Yeah, it was her best performance but still not good enough. She was considered to be good because the others in the drama were average.
        Candice has the same face expression in every of her drama. She’s now in Lo and Behold and she’s such a bore to watch.

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