Sisley Choi Nominated for HKFA Best New Performer
Starring in her first prominent film role in Keeper of Darkness <陀地驅魔人>, TVB actress Sisley Choi (蔡思貝) was nominated for the Best New Performer in the 35th Hong Kong Film Awards. Although delighted by the nomination, the 25-year-old actress remains modest over her chances to win the award.
Stepping out of her comfort zone, Sisley expressed that she has never thought about winning an award at such an early stage in her acting career. Although she has only been with TVB for three years, Sisley managed to catch the attention of actor/ director Nick Cheung (張家輝) who cast her as a reporter whose body was taken over by a ghost.
With her surprisingly refreshing performance, Sisley impressed the Hong Kong Film Awards nomination panel. Unsure of her chances in this year’s awards ceremony, Sisley said, “I won’t have high hopes. When I was competing in the [Miss Hong Kong] pageant, I just went with the flow. I’m already happy that I got nominated.”
Competition from Jessie Li
Sisley’s strongest competition comes from 23-year-old Mainland actress, Jessie Li (春夏), who is nominated for Best New Performer and Best Actress in the Hong Kong Film Awards. For her role in the critically acclaimed thriller Port of Call <踏血尋梅>, Jessie won three separate Best Actress awards at the 19th Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, 22nd Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards, and Hong Kong Film Directors’s Guild Awards.
While Jessie has many years of experience in filming television dramas, Port of Call marks her breakthrough in film. Feeling grateful that she was given the opportunity to star alongside Aaron Kwok (郭富城), Jessie expressed, “He’s my senior and of course I respect him. Mr. Kwok is very nice and he doesn’t give off any arrogance at all. He said that actors shouldn’t limit themselves on what types of roles they should play, and that I shouldn’t put so much pressure on myself.”
Port of Call is nominated for several categories in the Hong Kong Film Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actor for Aaron Kwok.
Source: Oriental Daily
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
LOL this is a joke!
No one to nominate or cry hard enough and you get nominated?
Seriously? Is she that good in the movie? But since this is HKFA, doubts remains.
@funnlim
Here’s the comment on Sisley in the review from http://www.lovehkfilm.com
“while Sisley Choi is better here than her TVB work would lead you to believe”
@funnlim
It could be that her Seniors are giving her more pointers as well as the directors.
I think this is the 2nd movie Nick Cheung has directed a movie, so he definitely has been giving her advice on her acting.
Was Fashion Wars in production before Keeper of Darkness? I wonder.
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@freedalas Bet you haven’t even watched the movie
@peanutbutterjelly
Bet not many who have criticised her nomination have watched the movie. She might have done well. Kate Tsui won the best newcomer many years back and she was brilliant in the movie so its not impossible to make impact in a film.
@jimmyszeto
Yes, I’ve watched ‘Eye in the Sky’ and Kate Tsui indeed acted very well in the movie and deserved her ‘Best Newcomer Award’ back then. So, I will not be surprised that Sisley also did well in ‘Keeper of Darkness’. Need to check out this movie.
A good director can really bring out the best in an actor. Furthermore, filming a movie might not be as rushed as filming a TVB series. So, an actor/actress has more time to immerse in the character and did it right.
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@freedalas Ha. I knew it.
@peanutbutterjelly
Victory is yours!
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@freedalas
I was joking! I thought you had a sense of humour. No surprise there. As soon as you felt threatened, you would would send abuse. Look at my previous debates! I have probably has the most disagreements with others of anyone on this site.
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@freedalas
You took my ‘victory is yours’ punchline too seriously so launched your abuse. Shows your pathetic desperation to falsely portray that you have the upper hand. It wasn’t even an argument so I didn’t need an exit strategy.
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I don’t think she should win judging by her performance in the movie (it should be Jessie Li, she was perfect in Port of Call) but the nomination is more than deserved. It just goes to show you what a decent director can do to an actor (and it doesn’t hurt that Nick Cheung himself is an excellent actor too).
I always find people to be way too harsh on tvb newbies (especially actresses) on here, or did they all forget how horrible Charmaine Sheh or even the Great Maggie Cheung Man Yuk were when they first started out?
I love Chow Yun Fat, he’s one of my favorite HK actors of all time but when he first started out in TVB? Sorry he was a block of wood in terms of acting. Just tall and good-looking. And I STILL don’t think Andy Lau is a particularly talented actor (or Aaron or Leon for that matter) but I love what Ann Hui did with him in ‘A simple life’.
A good performance is so much more than raw talent but people don’t seem to understand.
@peanutbutterjelly
If Charmaine and Gallen Lo can become good actor/actress then anyone can because they were horrendous to be big with.Some are talented and are at a good level to begin with but we must not underestimate that some may have received private lessons or have performed in front of audiences from a young age.
@jimmyszeto Agree.
Also, don’t underestimate the power of a good director and well written character.
Faye Wong’s performance in chungking express is a great example of a memorable and impressive performance soley due to directing and script (of course Faye herself is very charismatic on screen so that helps but I wouldn’t say she’s very gifted in the acting department). I’ve said it before in another post but Wong Kar Wai just brings out the best in his actors.
@peanutbutterjelly It’s funny how you mention Faye as when she first started acting, I was skeptical as she doesn’t come across as someone who can express herself well. Went to 1 of her concert and I honestly find it boring. She has a great voice but watching her was not entertaining. But once I saw her act, I was actually really surprised and enjoyed it. I like watching in movies for sure.
Wait what…………nominated for best performance in what her annoying voice ppppffff……….what a joke
@sherla1019 sisley choi nominated? with such an annoying voice?
I think we should all take a deep breath and look at this from the proper prospective. First, she is nominated for Best New Performer, not Best Actress; therefore, there is no need to suffer any cardio arrest over this LOL!
Second, as our friends over at Love HK Films pointed out, her performance in the film is so surprisingly impressive that no one would have thought she had the chops in her based only on her TVB works. I think it is a reflection of how she fare under quality directing as opposed to TVB’s McDonald style.
@aiya
I do think the members here should watch the film first and not base it on TVB since this isn’t the TVB anniversary.Many TVB actresses have been nominated in the past for best newcomer and have not done many films since.Not a big deal at all. She might have done well but a future movie career is still a big ask. Sisley is only here to make up the numbers anyway. I would bet everything I have on Jessie Li winning.
@aiya Yep. Some people just perform better in movies vs. drama. Alex Fong is a good example. Gallen is opposite. He does better in drama then movies.
I haven’t watched the movie, because up until Fashion War I thought her acting sucked. Perhaps being in a movie put more pressure on her to do well in front of experienced big named actors and to improve her acting, and she had guidance from the seniors too!
Not sure which she filmed first, Fashion War or the movie, but if she filmed the movie first, then her improvement definitely showed in Fashion War imo.
First of all, the movie world is completely different from the television world – what works in one realm might not in another (and vice versa). As others here have already stated, some artists do better in movies while others are better in television. Wayne Lai for example – he had left TVB many years back to pursue a movie career, but couldn’t quite make it and so was grateful when TVB invited him back…and look at the success he has been able to achieve in the TV industry ever since. Just because Wayne didn’t make it in movies, does that mean his acting sucks?
I also think that some people tend to forget just how restrictive an environment TVB is (with their antiquated policies) and how poorly the artists/staff are managed, and so those people are shocked when artists (and behind the scenes people) who either leave TVB or take on jobs outside of it are able to excel and exceed expectations elsewhere. Best example of this was HKTV – I lost count already how many people claimed 3 years ago that HKTV’s series will all be just like TVB’s, which means they will all suck because majority (not all) of the scriptwriters/directors/producers as well as actors/actresses came from TVB…how many of those who actually watched all of HKTV’s series are willing to make that (general) claim now? Goes to show how working in a different environment with different policies / methods / styles etc. can have an impact on things. And yes, totally agree with the point that @peanutbutterjelly made about how having a good director and well-written script can also have a huge impact.
Lastly – I don’t see the point in getting all frazzled about Sisely getting nominated in this instance. Like someone else said, that category is a numbers game anyway, plus she has absolutely no chance at winning – no doubt that the award will definitely go to either Jessie Li or Michael Bai, since both are the front-runners and have already won – not just Newcomer, but also Best Actress and Actor/ Supporting Actress and Actor awards — at other award ceremonies.
@llwy12 @kidd @peanutbutterjelly
Yes. It’s totally different. Movies and series. I agree that the script and director quality and requirements are also different.I have mentioned in previous forums that trying to create an impact in a handful of short scenes with a few lines is a big contrast to having long dialogue in 20 plus episodes of a series. Movies require a lot more charisma,mannerisms and expressions And you don’t have much time in a scene to capture the audience. Some actors/actresses will never make it into movies regularly because it is just on another level. Sisley getting nominated must mean she didn’t do badly but only the elite will push on from there. Many TVB actresses have been nominated in the past but haven’t made progress since.
As for why Sisley was chosen for the role. There could be a any reason as films require many actresses and give chances to newcomers. @kidd One good reason I can think of is that Anthong Wong is a friend of Sisley and has vocally supported her. He is one of Nick Cheungs best pals. Just being indirectly acquainted is always advantage but still it requires her to pull it off and getting nominated means she must have done. Grace Chan however was criticised by Anthony Wong and viewers for her performance and she is by far the worst lead actress in TVB right now. If she doesent show improvement in Blue Veins, she will be in for a horrible backlash once again. It will be deserved too because viewers had suffered miserably whilst watching her scenes in Captain of Destiny.
I want to watch this movie to see how she did. I have no doubt that she did better than in TVB because of different environment, better script, better director, better mentor…etc like others already said. I believe in Nick Cheung. If he sees something in her then that’s promising. To be honest she captured my attention when I first saw the trailer or Young Charioteer. But lack of training and experience doesn’t help. And I believe at this point Sisley has been typecast by TVB looking at all the roles she played so far. Hopefully she can keeps improving in the movie world and make it big.
Ok now this is actually something that bothers me more than Sisley being nominated. Why is it this is called Hong Kong Film Award but a mainland actress is being nominated?
@kaykay408 hmmm Hong Kong is part of China now so maybe that’s why?
@kaykay408 No surprise there, as Mainland artists have been nominated quite often, especially in the post-2000s era — and there have been several times where they end up winning in the major categories. For HKFA Best Actress category alone, the award has actually gone to Mainland actresses such as Zhang Ziyi, Siqin Gaowa, Gong Li, Zhou Xun, Vicky Zhao (who won just last year as a matter of fact). I remember Jet Li got Best Actor one year too and there have been a number of Mainland China winners in the other major categories as well.
To be honest, with the rapid rise of HK-China collaborations over the past 2 decades (to the point that you would be hard-pressed to find a pure ‘HK only’ film anymore nowadays), non-HK artists/crew getting nominated and even winning is becoming more and more standard as the years go by. Not surprising in the least.
For me, the category I’ll be paying most attention to is Best Actor (of course, lol). But I am also very interested in seeing which film wins Best Picture this year, especially given all the controversy with one particular film that was nominated….
@llwy12 that’s sad. I’m going back to watch the old films.
I wonder how Sisley Choi landed this job? Was she handpicked by Nick Cheung or her manager recommend her to Nick?
@kidd I believe it was Nick’s affinity with TVB (though I have a feeling Anthony Wong had something to do with it too). There are actually other TVB artists in the movie too, though most of them had cameo roles (Louis Cheung and Sisley Choi had major supporting roles while Ben Wong, Elena Kong, Chin Kar Lok, Lawrence Ng, etc. all had cameo/guest-starring roles). A bunch of Nick’s other friends had cameo roles too, such as Jacky Cheung, Karena Lam, director Andrew Lau, etc.
There was an interview Nick did last year where he talked about how he came up with the cast for the movie and all the ‘friendship cards’ he had to use (I obviously paid attention mainly because of Nick’s ‘connection’ with Jacky, plus him inviting Jacky to participate in the movie in an important cameo role). Let me see if I can dig up the video clip buried in my archives, lol….
@happybi Then there should be a Chinese film awards instead? Mainland should already has its own playground, and I guess a much bigger one? So why do they always want to cross the boundary and take others? The way I see it is if it says HKFA, it should be left alone, just solely be a playground for Hong Kong people. I feel like China is like a big bully going around claiming everything whenever they feel like it. “if it’s mine, it’s mine. If it’s yours, it’s also mine.”
@kaykay408 China do have a film award show. Golden Rooster and HK artist and film are nominated in it too i think for both golden rooaster and hkfa, it an award show for Chinese Language film.
how she ever won a spot in the pageant was beyond me…. then started seeing her in dramas…really…. and now films?! and an award?! what type of connection does this girl have?!