Lawrence Ng who’s 57 currently lives in Shenzhen. The veteran actor is among a number of Hong Kong stars who have shifted their focus to Mainland China over the years. He even started a company with friends creating short video clips and has been active on social media after joining Douyin (China’s tiktok) in October 2021.
Since then, he’s recreated some of his iconic roles on Douyin from Healing Hands, The Heaven Sword And Dragon Sabre to Stephen Chow’s 1994 classic film Hail the Judge. Known for many hits back in his days at TVB, Lawrence reveals in a recent interview with Southern Weekly 南方周末 that it’s not as impressive as it looks. He said, “When in Hong Kong, there was as a long period of time from when I first debuted and grew through the years where I felt that the pressure, for me, was a very serious problem.” He said he was often times very poor and couldn’t afford to earn less money. He added, “”Even when I was a male lead in TVB, one month would earn a few thousand. Monthly rent costs a few thousand. How do you live? It’s not as impressive as everyone thinks.”
On the other hand, Lawrence says it’s less stressful in the Mainland. He revealed the disparity in pay is not just for acting. But rather, he shared that many Hong Kong artists who come to the Mainland can live well from just attending events – one event can be equivalent to two months salary from a Hong Kong broadcaster. He said that many older actors who no not longer film do this instead as it’s also honestly a way out for them.
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