Sheren Tang Taking Things Less Seriously

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Sheren Tang’s (鄧萃雯) popularity soared after the broadcast of War and Beauty <金枝慾孽> back in 2004. Her role as the powerful Yu Fei soon became a classic. After nine years, it is understandable that the audience would have their hopes up for the sequel. Unfortunately, Beauty at War <金枝慾孽貳> proved to be the complete opposite from its first installment with ratings plummeting down to an all-time low of 19 points.

As the lead in both installments, Sheren admitted she felt great pressure and was often frightened and anxious trying to live up to everyone’s expectations. “For the first installment, we already filmed until 3 or 4 a.m. in the morning. This time, it was even worse. Filming lasted till 5 or 6 a.m. But that didn’t mean it was time to rest. We had to start memorizing the rough drafts of scripts. After working like that for 3 to 4 months, I realized I started to experience panic and anxiety, which greatly affected my performance.”

For War and Beauty, the cast shot scenes in Wing Sau Gong for one week straight. Sheren said, “Each day, we had to memorize over 50 pages of lines. When everyone believed that Sheren Tang could make it through, I broke down on the third day. I cried until I collapsed in the filming room. Everyone on set stared at me blankly. It wasn’t until then that they knew I couldn’t handle it, and believed I’m just a normal person. I’m a person too, so why must I be able to do something that others aren’t able to? Is it because I’m older and have more experience?”

Sheren continued, “Before I cried, I couldn’t even look at Bowie Lam (林保怡) in the eye, because I was diffident. I was afraid that he would find out I had forgotten the lines. In the drama, Yu Fei is very tough, but Sheren Tang is weak. I would be giggling every time I happened to remember the script at work. So for the first installment, I would only give myself 50 percent.”

Nowadays, Sheren expressed she has learned to take things easily and lower her own expectations. In the past, she was serious about everything and strived for 100 percent. As a child, Sheren was abandoned by her parents and had to depend on herself. This was how her perfectionism may have originated. “Aiming for perfection is too tedious, which is why I need to seriously handle this and drop the idea.”

With many TVB artists heading to mainland China to dig for gold, Sheren admitted she would be very poor without the mainland market. She is not very efficient with investing and has managed to secure a house and car with the help of her uncle who works in real estate.

The only thing Sheren lacks at the moment is a romantic partner. She said, “My friends constantly introduce me to men. Once, my friend sat me down for a dinner. But in the end, the man and I didn’t speak a single word. When you find out beforehand that it is a set-up date, you’ll become more resistant.”

Sheren revealed that aside from work, she does not like to talk much or greet many people. In her spare time, she prefers to accompany her family members. Sheren cherishes these moments since she did not live with her parents as a child.