Steven Ma to ‘leave the nest’ next year, will head North to make a living

Tuesday, August 16, 2011 Hong Kong

Source: Wenweipo
Translation: llwy12@ http://asianfanatics.net

Steven Ma grateful to those who trained him
TVB invests less in production, artists are disappointed

Recently, TVB has been re-airing 2004 series (War and Beauty) in the midnight timeslot, which has attracted many TV fans to tune in and ‘chase’ the series, despite its late broadcast time. The reason why the series is still able to attract such a massive audience at such a timeslot? It’s simple – because back when the series was made, the production was taken very seriously. In comparisons, TVB series (The Life and Times of a Sentinel), which is currently airing in the ‘golden’ timeslot, has only garnered so-so ratings so far. In addition, a few sharp-eyed netizens have already noticed that many of the costumes used in the series were previously worn by artists in (War and Beauty). With TVB’s current policy of cutting back on production costs, series are rarely ever filmed ‘on location’ [outside of TVB City] anymore. It’s not surprising then that even Sentinel’s star Steven Ma feels discouraged and disappointed in the company, to the point that he has decided to shift his career to Mainland China next year.



Steven Ma’s imperial bodyguard character in (The Life and Times of a Sentinel) can actually best be described as an undercover guard who, along with the Second Prince played by Kenneth Ma, mutually exploit each other’s brotherly relationship in order to advance their own goals – in a sense then, the series is similar to a Qing Dynasty version of (Infernal Affairs). In the past, series with a theme revolving around imperial palace conflict is usually attractive to viewers, however watching this particular new series generates a different feeling – upon paying closer attention, the problems with the background scenery become obvious, problems that even male lead Steven Ma notices and helplessly admits to: “To be honest, for costume dramas nowadays, you can’t just hastily create a fake set to serve as the background scenery, especially since today’s audiences are very knowledgeable and particular about what they watch. It’s actually very difficult for TVB to film ‘good’ costume dramas – my previous drama that was filmed on location was (Land of Wealth) from 4 years ago – sometimes when I’m at work and see these types of situations [hastily built sets], my heart aches. Just take my Sentinel character Nip Dor Bo for example – he’s a high-ranking imperial bodyguard, yet he doesn’t even have one horse-riding scene! Think about it: an imperial bodyguard with his sword in one hand and a horsewhip in the other – isn’t that a better spectacle to behold? If the company was willing to invest a little more in terms of resources, the results would be so much better. But unfortunately, it’s expensive to rent a horse for filming nowadays, plus if the artist doesn’t know how to ride a horse, then they need to hire a stunt person for the scenes – everything costs money! All I can say from an artist’s viewpoint is that it is such a pity. At TVB, there are many people who have the heart and put in the effort wanting to do a good job, but unfortunately there are some situations that we must helplessly accept.”


Teaching newcomers for the good of the series

As a child, Steven Ma lived in the Sham Shui Po district of HK’s Kowloon Peninsula. When he was just 6 years old, his mother was diagnosed with Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (cancer of the nose and/or throat), so at the young age of 16 ½, in order to make a living, Steven joined Longman Publishing Company as an operations assistant. Throughout her battle with cancer, Steven’s mother suffered 3 relapses that eventually took away her hearing, her sense of smell, as well as her taste buds. In the hopes of giving his mother a better living environment, Steven became a singer and at the age of 27, bought his parents a mansion in HK’s Ho Man Tin district, thereby allowing his parents to move from government subsidized housing to a 1000 plus square feet house. Steven bought the home in July 1999 – regrettably, on the 21st of that same month, his mother passed away.

With his Chao Zhou upbringing, Steven’s personality has always been very straightforward, however those who do not know him well may mistake his blunt personality for ‘arrogance’ – it doesn’t come as much surprise then that occasionally there are rumors of him acting like a ‘number one brother’ and teaching others how to act on the set: “The magazines claim that I act like a ‘big shot’ and ‘show off’, needing to be involved in everything, from what dishes to cook to which camera angles to use to types of lighting! All I can say is that being in this industry 18 years, I truly do understand the various positions. If one day, I decide not to film series anymore, if you told me to go take care of the lighting or take on a PA (production assistant) position, or even be a director, I would know how to do it. When I first entered the industry, the more experienced senior artists such as Kwok Fung, Michael Tao, Lawrence Ng had no problems teaching me and scolding me if I did something wrong. When I collaborated with Ken Gor (Kent Cheng) on (A Journey Called Life), he told me that I lacked expression in my eyes, so I immediately started practicing how to show more emotion in my eyes. One time, while chatting with Wayne Lai, he told me I was being too protective of my voice and that I should use more force in my voice. All of them gave me advice, so should I go around telling people that they are pretending to be ‘big shots’? I don’t mind teaching people, as I believe that when you encounter someone stronger than you, it makes you stronger. Also, in all honesty, when newbies film Qing series, they really do need to be taught where to put their hands and what types of body movements they should focus on. I can’t bear for the series to be ridiculed and mocked when it airs, especially over such a small thing. I watch a lot of Chinese opera and am very familiar with the various hand gestures required, plus TVB doesn’t teach these things. I was always taught not to be selfish – my seniors taught me and so I feel obligated to teach my juniors – that’s how we mutually accumulate experience and skill. I’m the type of person who understands very clearly right from wrong – if I am truly wrong, I will admit it. If I see other people being lazy or dragging out their work, or if they are late arriving to work, I definitely speak up, but not if it’s only a one-time thing – only if it’s a repeated occurrence, for example, being late 4 or 5 times – then I will say something. Someone once told me that the times have changed and my thinking is ‘outdated’ now – however I deeply believe that being punctual, responsible, and being grateful to those who helped you are basic principles of life. Even after doing this for so long, the fire in my heart is still there – I deeply believe that there are still a lot of very hardworking colleagues in the entertainment industry.”


Lost the opportunity to collaborate with Mainland actor Hu Jun

In reality, Steven Ma is truly qualified to ‘teach’ people, especially in the area of filming Qing series – the primary reason why he has become a ‘regular’ in Qing series lately is because he is one of the few willing to shave his head. However, according to Steven, filming a lot of costume dramas definitely has its rewards – due to filming so many costume dramas, Mainland producers started to notice him. As a result, every year, there are numerous scripts that end up in his hands – for example, he was invited to participate in the recent Mainland grand production (The Reign of Kublai Khan) , but unfortunately, things did not work out, which Steven feels is truly a pity: “There are many artists participating in the series, including Mainland actor Hu Jun, Sheren Tang, Ray Lui, etc. I was very satisfied with the script as well as the conditions negotiated and technically, everything was pretty much set except for one last step – since I am a TVB contracted artist, if I want to film outside series, I have to get approval from the company. In the end, due to a small issue that the 2 companies (TVB and Mainland company) could not come to terms with, I was not able to participate…such a pity! Nevertheless, I believe that opportunity doesn’t just knock once – plus I just need to wait a couple more months and things will be better. Recently, I’ve had quite a few offers from Mainland producers and the conditions are very attractive, plus the Mainland market is big – I believe that I will be focusing my career primarily in the Mainland in the very near future.”


Grateful to Catherine Tsang and Stephen Chan for recognizing him and employing him

Actually, Steven Ma’s management contract with TVB is scheduled to expire very soon – it goes without saying that after his contract is up, Steven will be joining the likes of Charmaine Sheh and Bowie Lam in heading North (Mainland China) to make a living. But since Steven did not want to say it verbally himself, the writer took the liberty to put the words on paper:

“After I finish filming Mui Siu Ching’s new series, my contract with the company will be up. A lot of discussions are being had right now and I’m greatly looking forward to the road ahead. There are quite a few Mainland management companies willing to offer contracts that give me a huge amount of freedom. Right now, my main objective when deciding on series is a good script – money is actually secondary. I’ve worked for TVB a long time and have had many happy collaborations with both artists on screen as well as crew behind the scenes. I’m very grateful to my benefactors at TVB and especially want to thank Zan Jie [Catherine Tsang] and Mr. Chan [Stephen Chan] as well as Uncle Choi [Leung Choi Yuen]. I’m also grateful that TVB’s series helped me break into the Mainland market, so most likely I will be changing collaboration method with the company – I will still maintain a good working relationship with the company. Hopefully, there will be new sparks in our collaboration.”


Being the ‘dark horse’ for years, already indifferent toward awards

The reporter suddenly decided to ask Steven one question: “If TVB were to give you the TV King award, would you be persuaded to stay?”

Steven sighed for a moment, then responded: “I would not use the word ‘want it badly’ to describe it – of course, if I get the award, I would definitely be happy, as who wouldn’t want to be TV King? However if I don’t get the award, I won’t be disappointed. I don’t think there’s a person who would reject an award if it’s given to him/her – after being nominated for so many years and not having fate to be TV King, I’m no longer unhappy about it. In order to get the award, the timing has to be right – several years ago, I did get the ‘Favorite Male Character’ award, but missed out on the TV King award and at the time, I admit I was disappointed. But things have changed now – in the past few years, I was given some good scripts and had the chance to portray some very well developed characters….I am already satisfied.”