The Elegant Barbara Yung Dressing Up Again
Sowing with on TV, harvesting on stage
Barbara Yung Mei-ling played the role of Huang Rong in The Legend of the Condor Heroes. Her portrayal and appearance were quite good, and she rose to fame through this series. However, judging from her look in The New Adventures of Chor Lau-heung 楚留香之蝙蝠传奇 (as shown in the photo), she seems noticeably older and much thinner. With a different role comes a different presentation. At the time of writing this article, The Legend of the Bat had yet to begin airing, so it's impossible to predict how her performance will be received. The impressions here are simply based on her photos.
Acting in television dramas doesn’t bring in as much income as people might think, and it’s also much more exhausting than many imagine.
To supplement their income, many actors have to take on stage performances outside of filming. That’s where the real money is made—insiders know this well. When there are no films to shoot, performers can travel to places like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan to perform. Live theater audiences are also much more engaged than TV viewers.
After becoming famous through television, actors don’t need to worry—TV series allow them to connect with audiences five days a week. In contrast, even if one makes three films a year, and each film is shown for two weeks, that’s still only 42 days of direct audience engagement in a theater. So while television acting is hard work with modest pay, it helps in building fame (especially in Hong Kong). But compared to movies, television acting is much tougher and pays less. Still, movies don’t necessarily bring in more money unless one gets major roles.
Barbara Yung, after rising to fame, has already made quite a bit of money from outside stage performances. So despite the exhausting nature of TV work, she remains interested in acting—because her goal is to use TV as a way to gain more opportunities for profitable stage shows abroad. You could say that acting in TV dramas is the sowing, while performing outside is the real harvest
— By Bai Ping
翁美玲：电视上播种，舞台上收获
翁美玲在《射雕英雄传》中饰演黄蓉一角而成名，她在剧中的扮相十分出色。然而，在《蝙蝠传奇》的剧照（如图所示）中，她显得年长了许多，人也消瘦了不少。角色不同，需要的气质自然也不同。在撰写本文时，《蝙蝠传奇》尚未开播，因此无法预判她的表演，此处仅是凭照片得出上述观感。
电视剧演员的收入并不如外界想象中丰厚，但其辛苦程度却超乎常人想象。
许多艺人通过海外登台演出增加收入——这才是真正的赚钱之道。业内人都明白，影院观众数量远不及电视观众。因此，只要通过电视剧（尤其是在香港）成名，便不愁没有电影可拍，还能赴新加坡、马来西亚、泰国、台湾等地发展。
演电视剧意味着每周有五天与观众见面。相比之下，即便一年拍三部电影，每部上映两周，也只有42天能接触到影院观众。
所以说，电视剧工作是辛苦且收入相对较低的。但拍电影却远不如演电视剧那样容易成名，并获得海外登台赚大钱的机会。
据悉，翁美玲成名后通过海外演出赚取了可观收入。因此尽管拍戏辛苦，她仍乐于继续演出——目的正是为未来赴海外赚取真金白银。可以说，演电视剧是播种，海外登台才是收获。
（作者：白平）
Add comment