Adam's news >> May 21, 2007

"Return in Glory" is Chosen to Air on CCTV

Adam's 33-episode series "Return in Glory" has beaten TVB series "Drive of Life" to air on CCTV channel. "Return in Glory" is scheduled to air on June 23, 2007 on CCTV prime time slot. TVB's Drive of Life's story is also about Hong Kong 10 years return, yet it is not chosen to air on CCTV. "Return in Glory" has won.

Yesterday the reporters checked with CCTV and learned to know that the program timetable for June has been confirmed and "Return inGlory" is arranged to air on June 23rd, but it is not confirmed whether it will be aired on CCTV 1 or CCTV 8. CCTV will watch the series again on May 22nd - 24th and decide which channel the series will be shown on.

"Return in Glory" producer says the main attraction in "Return in Glory" is to see Adam, Jiao Huang and Gui Ya Lei, how the three veterans work together, it's a rare opportunity for the three of them to work together and they perform really well. Also, the story of the series is interesting, it is related to finance crisis, SARS, business failures and so forth. The main point is to show people that whatever obstacles they face, Chinese is able to overcome it.

The producer says, "If not because this series talked about Hong Kong 10 yrs returns, it would not be able to gather different kinds of actor to perform. The three actors have their very own way of portraying their roles and are already used to their own way of performing. But there's no production team that has such kind of "quarrel" or "argument" on set, and their "arguments" are always interesting. Jiao Huang belongs to the traditional kind of actor and there's a difference in his way of acting compared to Adam and Gui Ya Lei. So when everyone thinks his or her own way is correct and can't persuade the other party, the director will have to stop and think again."

The director says, "For other production team, it might be a problem but these three actors are cute because when they can't persuade the other person, the two will follow Jiao Huang's way of acting to see if it's ok. If it's not right, Jiao Huang would also 'surrender' himself. They don't have any illed feelings. When Adam and Jiao Huang 'argue,' they are for real. When things get serious, they even have to stop filming a few times, but the veterans' ways of arguing is very civilize and their tones even sound rhythmic and even more interesting than watching series. The whole crew enjoy watching them argue and the director even 'adds fuel' and asks, 'Why no more arguing?' Let them continue arguing, too good to watch.' Also, Adam belongs to Hong Kong's style, he films according to the rules, and during filming he is very serious and professional. Once the time's up, he will leave immediately. Jiao Huang was like, 'Feelings just can't come and go away instantly.'" The producer says the three of them have tried adjusting to each others.

It's rare for three actors coming from different places to work together. Adam, Jiao Huang and Gui Ya Lei have played Qian Long, Kang Xi and Empress Wu before. The competition between the three emperors is at Jiao Huang's advantage since he's filming at his own place and Gui ya Lei has also been filming China and Hong Kong series. Thus, Adam is the pitiful one among them because he hasn't filmed China Series, he has to act opposite to Jiao Huang once they start filming and their styles are different so the pace is already slower.

There's a difference between Hong Kong style and China's styles, Adam has to face a total different filming style. The producer recalls, "Luckily Adam is a very experienced actor and he is very modest. When he is filming, he can do a scene many times and allows the director to choose the most suitable one. When the director hesitates awhile, he will redo it at once. The most special thing is when Adam is filming the scene, Jiao Huang will be there to clap the pace, they will try to adjust with each other."

Heard from Zhang Yong Zhi (who plays Adam's eldest son) that, since this is a live recording filming, Adam always reads his lines repeatedly. Jiao Huang would not hesitate to tell him if any word is not pronounced accurately and Adam will always correct it until everyone is satisfied. The director cannot help but to say, veteran is really veteran, Adam's movements are always so skillful and he is so agile. You can see that he does everything at ease and when you look back at the filming tape, he has got everything in it. This is what you really call as being experience.

Although it seems that Jiao Huang has some advantages but after filming together, their relationship become closer. Jiao Huang also got affected by Adam and become "a big kid." In private, he often likes to "attack" Adam but Adam will counter-attack and gives him a staring and says, "Don't belittle me. I am a kung fu star in the 70s." "Both of them always like to fight," the director says and laughs. Once when they were filming the kidnap scene, Jiao dai hup wanted to show off his skills but just after filming for two scenes, he sprained his neck and he was disappointed that his fighting was not used.

Sources from Sina, ENT 123. Translation by Irene.