Three-time TVB Best Actor winner, Wayne Lai (黎耀祥), is at a crisis. The disastrous ratings and critical reception of his most recent drama, Bullet Brain <神探高倫布>, have pulled down Wayne’s credibility as TVB’s most valuable actor, even earning himself the name “plastic TV King” for his underwhelming take on the charismatic Detective Columbo. The actor admitted, “I’ve never had so many people scolding me before! But they are right; there were some illogical points in the drama, and some parts of it were exaggerated.” Wayne turned into an unlikely leading man after starring in 2009’s sleeper hit, Rosy Business <巾幗梟雄>, earning and winning his first Best Actor nomination. The 48-year-old won two more Best Actor honors afterwards, including 2010’s No Regrets <巾幗梟雄之義海豪情> and 2012’s The Confidant <大太監>. Wayne became TVB’s next big hope after starring in a trail of successful blockbusters following his Rosy Business gig, such as 2011’s highest-rated serial Forensic Heroes 3 <法證先鋒III> and 2012’s unexpected hit The Greatness of a Hero <盛世仁傑>. Helmed by Rosy Business franchise producer Lee Tim Sing (李添勝) and with Wayne in the lead again, critics expected Bullet Brain to draw in successful ratings. After its 25-episode run, which ended last week, Bullet Brain only drew in an average rating of 24 points in total, even lower than the ratings of TVB dramas that were aired during the early-year “canon-foddler” time-slot. Bullet Brain was also a critical disaster with dreadful word-of-mouth. The 2012 TV King is now at a risk for becoming ratings poison. Nonetheless, Wayne still has the chance to redeem his status with the upcoming legal drama Will Power<傳愛事務所>, created by acclaimed producer Tsui Ching Hong (徐正康), and No Reserve <巾幗梟雄之諜血長天>, the third installment to the Rosy Business franchise. Currently in the midst of filming No Reserve, East Week reported that Wayne is “pressured” to do well in his dual role. In the World War II epic, Wayne will portray a pair of twin brothers with vastly different personalities. The older brother was raised in Japan while the younger brother was raised as a guerrilla fighter in China. “The roles are very difficult,” said Wayne. “Especially when it comes to the psychological aspects of my characters. I will have over 20 episodes of screen time, and I rarely sign on to that many episodes. It is tiring.” Wayne admitted that his No Reserve role is one of his most difficult in recent years, and he has never had such a tiring experience in a long time. Wayne stars alongside Myolie Wu (胡杏兒), who portrays Communist spy, Cheung Kei Sang. Edwin Siu (蕭正楠) stars as Nationalist spy, Chau Sai Kai, and Sire Ma (馬賽) stars as fallen Qing dynasty princess, Kam Wan Ling. Creds: East Week
Oh damn, it was No Reserve which Wayne portrays as 2 characters. I thought it was from Bullet Brain when I first read that awhile ago (weeks or a month?) because he has two personalities. Oh well. Sounds interesting and I think he is emphasizing on the difficulties of portraying two characters just to get more credit or have the excuse to say he performed poorly because of that lol
Give credit where credit it due, and lambast the real culprits when a TVB series trips over its own feet. Did Wayne suddenly stop knowing how to act? No. He's the same performer who drew those previous accolades. Truth is, the script sucked like no other; well... perhaps it was almost as bad as Beauty At War, LOL...Seriously, Wayne Lai has been acting since the mid 1980's; he's a season player and the problem isn't with him. The problem is and always has been, TVB's lousy writing department. TVB should solicit for third party independent scripts, both to take in new talent, and to light a fire under the asses of their own idea people.
lol.. bullet brain sucked because of the script and some of the actors (the female lead for example), not because of wayne lai. people trying to create a buzz out of nothing, just to include wayne's name
