“Little Emperor” Pako Au’s (區珀豪) popularity rose since the broadcast of TVB drama, The Confidant <大太監>. With his credible performance as a smart, spoiled, playful, and arrogant Emperor Tongzhi, the 10 year old actor is becoming increasingly recognized by many people in Hong Kong. Accompanied by his mother, Pako spoke about acting and relationships with his costars in The Confidant in a recent interview. Pako is not a newbie in the entertainment industry. Pako was already doing commercials since he was a 6-month old infant and has appeared in over half a dozen commercials. Since 2009, Pako has been cast in numerous TVB series such as 7 Days in Life <隔離七日情>, Grace Under Fire <女拳>, Only You <Only You只有你>, The Life and Times of a Sentinel <紫禁驚雷>, Three Kingdoms RPG <回到三國> and King Maker <造王者>. This year alone, Pako has filmed 5 TV dramas. The hard working Pako has even more acting experience than some leading actors. Surprisingly, the mature and polite Pako is only a fifth grader attending a local elementary school. He goes to school during the day and afterward, he will film dramas. His mother and also manager, Mrs. Au, said filming has not affected his school work at all. Pako would do his homework while waiting for his turn to film his part. During the filming of The Confidant, he sometimes worked until 11 PM and still had to attend school the next morning. Mrs. Au said he has never been absent from school due to filming, and he still manages to earn good grades. Mrs. Au is worried that it will be too strenuous for him to film such long hours. She said that Pako sometimes began filming as early as 6 AM and has no playtime during the weekends. However, Pako quickly explained that he is actually happy and not afraid of working these long hours. Pako on His Adult Costars Pako spoke highly of his costars in The Confidant, who took great care of him during filming. Pako shared the most scenes with Michelle Yim who plays his mother, Empress Cixi. He said Michelle taught him how to cry in one of the scenes. She told him to think of something very sad that might make him cry. Pako thought of the passing of his beloved dog, and he immediately started to bawl. Wayne Lai (黎耀祥) was great teacher to Pako, who was having difficulty juggling the broomstick in one of the scenes. Wayne pretended to be the Monkey King and kicked the broomstick high into the air. Pako understood right away and finished filming the scene soon after. Portraying the child version of Oscar Leung (梁烈唯) in The Confidant, Pako said, “Oscar Gor Gor takes good care of me. When he sees that I did not recite my lines properly, he will help me read the lines and go into the studio filming with me.” Furthermore, Pako revealed that Power Chan (陳國邦) is also very considerate and friendly. On one occasion during filming in the winter, Pako and his mother were waiting at the entrance of TVB City early in the morning, and the security guard refused to let them inside without a notification from the production assistant. When Power saw them standing there freezing, he immediately drove his car out to take Pako and Mrs. Au inside the studio. He even blasted the heater to make sure they stayed warm. After filming, Power would sometimes even personally drive them to the nearest train station. When he grows up, Pako hopes to become a singer. Although his singing talent remains to be seen, Pako’s hard work and strong work ethic will definitely help him be successful in any career that he chooses to pursue. Creds: Sudden Weekly
