TVB’s Newly Promoted Millennial Five Tigers

TVB cultivated many superstars in the 1980s and 1990s. Successful examples include the Five Tigers, which consisted of Tony Leung (梁朝偉), Felix Wong (黃日華), Andy Lau (劉德華), Michael Miu (苗僑偉), and Kent Tong (湯鎮業). Ready to cultivate a new group of leading actors, TVB has allegedly chosen five young actors to promote as the Millennial Five Tigers. The group includes 33-year-old Joey Law (羅天宇), 31-year-old Dickson Yu (余德丞), 23-year-old Karl Ting (丁子朗), 28-year-old Brian Chu (朱敏瀚), and 25-year-old Kalok Chow (周嘉洛).

All five actors are currently busy filming new dramas. Dickson and Karl are headlining youth drama Shameless Youth <青春不要臉>. Brian, who won Most Improved Actor for his breakout performance in Al Cappuccino <反黑路人甲>, is filming The Ringmaster <拳王>. A staple in Come Home Love: Lo and Behold <愛·回家之開心速遞>, Kalok will be replacing Wong Cho Lam (王祖藍) in a new ancient drama.

Perhaps the most experienced among the young actors, Joey had received a boost in popularity after Hong Kong Love Stories <香港愛情故事>, in which he garnered a Best Actor nomination. Since then, Joey’s schedule has been packed and he has been filming Return of the Cuckoo 2021 <十月初五的月光> and upcoming drama The Gatekeepers <把關者們>.

Humbly denying that he was being promoted, Joey stated that TVB has many other actors. He acknowledged that TVB is very willing to give opportunities to new actors, and he will work hard to portray each role well. “I’ve been taking acting classes, and I want to be able to improve my singing and communication skills. I hope to be given roles that I’ve never been able to try before. For example, a character with a very extreme personality or a role with lots of action scenes. I want to expand my acting experience.” He shared that he will start filming a drama in June, but he has not been given any details yet.

Source: On.cc

This article is written by Kiki for JayneStars.com.

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Responses

  1. I’m fan of Kalok as an actor (he is on TV every single night so you can see his constant improvement) and Joey as a person (all his exes praise him and even did a travel show with him) and Dickson as a host (this guy is sharp). Karl Ting has all the looks and charisma, but is too young to judge right now. Brian Chu always had these less prominent supporting roles and out of nowhere he gets promoted extra heavily and wins an award. Still letting that sink in.

  2. Good to see tvb trying to make these changes. Tvb is in critical need of new talents. However, I wish they have shows searching for new talents. I am sure there r talented young people out there who wants to be seen. They should open up to accept applicants who can speak Cantonese not just restrict to jk residents only.

  3. I’m fine with everyone but Karl (personal preference)
    Wish Telford Wong would get a place. Also, isn’t Matthew technically one of their promoted artistes?

    1. @bubbles23
      If those unknowns are Five Tigers then Mathew can be compared to Chow Yun Fat given his dominance. It’s a joke if a comparison can be made since of these 5 actors none of them have even had a big role nevermind a big hit performance. Aside from that 3 of them over yrs old including two of them over 30yrs old. No achievements at at an advanced age too

      1. @jimmyszeto loool yes we all know tvb now vs then…. Pretty sure lots of Mirror members at Viu TV are more popular than these five and under 30 eg. Keung To, Ian, Edan.

        Like, should not the new five really be Brian Tse, Matthew, Kalok, Joey, and Dickson? And eventually they’ll have to pull Kalok from the sitcom timeslot with real serial dramas if they want to promote him. Dickson is not in dramas enough to get experience. Anyways, kind of too little too late. I’d say the female version of five tigers has even lower prospects.

      2. @bubbles23 oh definitely. I think he should replace either Dickson or Karl but it might be because he’s a bit more developed than these guys?

        He’s so cute. Loved his look in beauty in the boss.

      3. @tt23 Like Ali said his character and look in the drama is Superb. Now only if they had this kind of feel in every drama ….

  4. I guess you have to start somewhere, but none of those guys have the potential to be compared to the 5 tigers. I guess if you compare TVB back in the 80’s to TVB now, then relative to company overall talent its comparable? Lol I don’t see any of these guys breaking big budget box office movies anytime soon.

  5. This isn’t a bad selection, none of them are unbearable to watch (looks and acting) and they all seem like good guys.

    My favourite is Kalok. Joey is charming. And Brian is ridiculously good looking.

  6. It is essential to promote younger actors, but 2 of these guys are already older than 30 which is past that developing idol age. Unfortunately, TVB can have the best looking and most talented actors, but without good writing, none of them will become Tigers. 5 Tigers became big because of the classic series like The Condor Heroes, Return of the Condor Heroes, The Duke of Mount Deer, Police Cadet, etc. Also, they are missing charismatic actresses like Barbara Yung to elevate these guys. There’s more to the formula than just looks.

    TVB really needs to work on the basics of story telling first.

    1. @potatochip Agree, being past 30 is probably not exactly “youth” status anymore.
      The problem is, TVB also does not have that kind of power to push young actors to fame anymore, or the progress that these youth stars develop is so pitifully slow that some never see their main role well into their mid 30s.

      1. @megamiaow TVB mostly stopped doing grand costume dramas. Those would be best to promote younger actors. But they don’t have the budget or writing talent to do so. And they never replaced their last generation of young actors (Raymond, Kenneth, Bosco, Ron)

  7. Joey I agree since I’ve seen that potential since long time ago. The rest I don’t know who they are or maybe I don’t recognise their names. Frankly I do find them uninteresting. I haven’t watched a TVB series proper for long long time.

  8. Karl is so young! wouldnt have noticed him if not for the way he was acting in front of Ali! So much a young man in front of his crush. They collaborated/will collaborate in a new variety show, wonder if he stuttered thru the filming LOL

    So agree with @potatochip that scripts is still the basic for success and TVB really needs to work on it

  9. Sorry, they all suck, none of them can lead and carry a series..

    Comparing them to 5 tigers is a joke..

    1. @mulder99 I agree that they shouldn’t be called 5 Tigers because yes that it’s a joke, knowing how talented the original are and how they continue to be prominent figures in the industry. It’s not like they’ve retired or fallen in popularity.

      They should be marketed as just top 5 actors they want to promote more.

      1. @tt23

        I agree with you. Naming them new 5 Tigers (Millennial Five Tigers) gives them a big shoe to fill. TVB has tried to do it once but the name never stick to the new group. People just remember the original tigers.

        Just for fun. The second generation 5 Tigers are:
        – Louis Koo
        – Leo Ku
        – Carlo Ng
        – Hawick Lau
        – Keith Ho

      2. @kidd I think the only one that has any talent in that second one is Louis? You see, it doesn’t work especially since they got incredibly lucky with the first one. When anyone thinks of Five Tigers, it’s them. I didn’t even know Louis was considered one lol.

        I would watch anything with the first five tigers over everyone else.

      3. @kidd
        During the 1990sFive Tigers, only Louis Koo really made it big as a consistent reliable male lead. Leo Ku got more famous in his music career, and Hawick Lau didn’t really make a big name for himself until he went to China. The problem was that consistent resources were not put behind the 1990s Five Tigers to really promote them–only Louis Koo got cast in big-budget dramas…the others’ acting careers slowly faded to the background.

        While the new Millenial Five Tigers is a big label, Joey, Karl, Brian, Kalok, and Dickson won’t really have chances of high success unless TVB dedicates to developing their careers for the next 3 to 5 years. They really need star-making roles. Like the 1990s Five Tigers, the promotion may be short lived or only dedicated to promoting one or two actors out the batch. I think Joey is at the greatest advantage now because he has the highest recognition in the group. Thanks to “Hong Kong Love Stories” being a hit, producers are more willing to cast him as well.

        There are other good looking young actors in their 20s/ early 30s such as Telford Wong and Ricco Ng, but their acting won’t improve if they are always given the younger brother roles.

        TVB can should produce different genres of dramas catering to different demographics if they are truly chasing after a global Chinese audience. The young actors can be cast in miniseries idol dramas, and slowly phased into more mature roles as their acting becomes more experienced.

        Otherwise, actors in their early thirties such as Owen Cheung, Matthew Ho, and Hubert Wu are more experienced and close in age to the Millenial Five Tigers, and would compete in similar roles.

      4. @jayne

        I really don’t understand TVB’s promotional plan for the 90’s Five Tigers. Why name them 5 Tigers and never bother to seriously promote them? Did TVB do it just for the quick attention? Or that TVB really just wanted to promote 1 or 2 in the group and the others were there just to make up the numbers.
        Of the 5 of them, only 2 have been given lead roles in dramas (i.e. Louis and Leo). Carlo was in a few youths teamed dramas but as an ensemble cast. Keith got the least promotion. There was reason for Hawick lack of promotion though. In one interview, he admited that his work ethic was not good when he was in TVB, thus losing a lot of opportunities. He realises the error of his way when he became older, so, he left TVB to start anew and changed his attitude.

      5. @kidd
        It takes far more things for a plan to fall into place than just naming a group of kids the ‘five tigers’ then promoting them. It needs all of them to have similar work ethic, good popularity, strong roles and timing. I don’t know when exactly the 80s five tigers were named but I would guess it was ‘after’ all of them have starred in at least a few successful hits each. They were probably all established before they got given their nickname just like the ‘four Heavenly Kings’ in music. It’s just a stupidly hopeful gimmick in the 90s when they named the new 5 tigers because barely any of them had even done anything in acting and that’s the same for the Millennial version. It looks like desperation to me. It was different in the early 1980s because most of the leads had left TVB and there was a void to fill. The promoted five tigers were all at the same early stage of their careers and all had the same respectful and dedicated attitude. If there were anyone who can be considered as promoted or irrespective of age then the more suitable candidates would be the likes of Gallen, Louis, Canti Lau, Chilam. Currently the only young actor capable and shown promise is Mathew Ho…

      6. @jayne

        I also agree with you that TVB should produce different genres of drams to cater for different demographic. Bring back the wuxia series. Costume and scenery wise, they might not be able to compete with China, but, they can focus on good script and good presentation and storytelling. China viewers still watch old dramas, why? Because they have good acting and story.

      7. @jayne
        The problem is that TVB is far too cautious and would rather keep relying on the old rating guaranteed veterans such as Bobby,Moses and rather bring back Raymond than to gamble on a younger actor. The ‘five tigers’ were all carrying lead roles all by themselves at an early age. It’s hard for a young actor to shine or learn more about himself when he is either playing support or 2nd lead.

      8. @kidd
        I don’t believe these guys were ever promoted as 2nd generation 5 tigers.

        I recall TVB promoted these guys as the next 5 tigers

        Samuel Chan
        Chris Lai
        Raymond Lam
        Bosch Wong
        Kenneth Ma

        Chris Lai didn’t get break thru until very late in his career
        Until Come Home Love as John Ma

      9. @mulder99

        Yes, they were. You can read it here. Louis Koo himself even acknowledges the existence of the group.

        https://taykis.tripod.com/5tigers_5beauties.html
        https://sg.style.yahoo.com/four-5-fresh-tigers-reunite-060600275.html
        https://www.asianenews.net/2018/10/21/louis-koos-birthday-raymond-lam-and-5-fresh-tigers-celebrate-with-him/

        I guess Raymond and gang were promoted as 3rd generation of 5 Tigers. I didn’t know of that. But, I do remember this generation has other promotional label such as S4 and Olympic Six.

      10. @mulder99 I think Ron Ng should be part of this group instead of Chris Lai. Ron was heavily favoured by tvb along with Raymond lam

      11. @mulder99 The problem with the promotion of Raymond, Kenneth, Bosco (and Ron), was that they didn’t find younger actors to promote once these guys got older. Now they are stuck with no younger actors. Too much reliance on them.

      12. @mulder99 Pretty sure they were collectively known as the Six. Ron Ng was the first to peak of all of them. The thing was even though they were the “next big thing”/ A list in all the dramas they played there was still a bigger name actor with them eg. Francis Ng, Michael Miu, Damien Lau. None of them won TV King, the first being Kenneth Ma because he literally stayed at tvb until he became the biggest name. Alas, now all of them aren’t young and there’s no one under 30 at tvb with a recognizable face.

      13. @kidd Whoa, I would have thought the “Fresh Tigers” would be Louis Koo, Chi Lam, Gallen Lo, Francis (Although he might have been too old at that time). Leo Ku wasn’t a strong actor but he had charisma, same with Louis Fan. And Louis Fan had the beautiful fighting that they should have promoted.

  10. It’s good to see TVB invest in “young blood”. I’m interested to see how TVB promots them. Karl is the most questionalble person here for me. He hasn’t had much acting oppertunities (and hasn’t stood out for me). He hosting is also average imo.

    Tbh the scripts are what TVB need the most improvment on. These actors will mature and improve only if they have the right oppertunity to.

  11. The guy on the bottom left, he’s Brian Chu I think? I never really liked him as an actor. He’s always overacting, or kinda meh. Not a fan of his voice.

  12. I think they need to swap out Joey and Dickson and focus on developing the younger (under 30) artists if they really want to push the “Five Tigers” agenda.

    Ricco Ng is promising but like Kalok Chow, they also need to give him more opportunities outside of Lo and Behold. I’d also like to see them promote Niklas Lam (Katy’s brother from HK Love Stories).

    In the slightly older almost 30/30+ bunch, I’d want to see more from Owen Cheung, Brian Tse, Lincoln Lam, Kelvin Leung (TT from Lo and Behold), Arnold Kwok, and Telford Wong.

  13. @jayne Will you do an article about tvb’s top 4/5 upcoming fa-dans 2021 ver.? Would be interesting to find out who they are and I’m sure it’ll get us all discussion.

  14. if you put this new 5 tigers in the ’80 or ’90 of tvb, they couldnt even be a second line actor. tvb’s downfall in new refressing male lead already begun 10/15 years ago. raymond lam/bosco wong was the last generation which was reasonable ok. actors like tony leung, chow yun fat, andy lau, felix wong, gallen lo, louis ko, leon lai, are much more charismatic and handsome than this “new tvb tigers” anno 2021.

  15. *TVB recruits Mr & Ms HK’s
    *Young stars are not really young like other Asian countries.
    *While other countries have child stars and even if they are young they can actually act. The only child star I can think in HK was Leila Tong?
    *Same leads over and over and average at 30-50’s yo as leads and recycled cop/forensic crappy series over and over. Sigh….

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