TVB’s last drama before the 2012 Anniversary Awards, The Confidant <大太監> is set to debut with a two-hour premiere on Monday, November 5. The Confidant held its red carpet premiere at The Grand Cinema on Thursday, November 1. Attended by over a hundred fans, the cast and crew gladly accepted interviews and signed autographs before the two-hour premiere. Wayne Lai (黎耀祥), Michelle Yim (米雪), and Edwin Siu (蕭正楠) are currently hot favorites to win their respective awards at the TVB Anniversary Awards. Wayne will be running for Best Actor, Michelle for Best Actress, and Edwin for Best Supporting Actor and Most Improved Male Artist. Wayne’s role in The Confidant will bring his third nomination as Best Actor in a row. Asked if Wayne hopes to win Best Actor for the third time, Wayne expressed that he would rather see The Confidant win Best Drama instead. The Confidant is a biographical-fiction drama that focuses on the historical figure Li Lianying, one of China’s last and most corrupted eunuchs. Li was Empress Dowager Cixi most trusted adviser, and together, the pair ruled as the de-facto leader of the latter years of the Qing Dynasty, overthrowing the power of Emperor Tongzhi. Popular media usually portrays eunuchs as feminine, manipulative, and have no romantic interest in the opposite sex. However, the eunuchs in The Confidant defy these myths and presents different perspectives on the lives of palace eunuchs. The Confidant will tell the story of five eunuchs with five distinctive personalities and their unfortunate sacrifices for the Qing Empire. Li Lianying and An Dehai The Confidant will be Wayne’s second time in portraying Li Lianying. His first time was in 1993’s Man of Wisdom <金牙大狀>. However, both dramas have very different interpretations of the character. Li Lianying is a eunuch of the Jingren Gong. In his youth, Li and his best friend An Dehai (Raymond Cho 曹永廉) were sold to be eunuchs in the Forbidden City. They were brought up by the wise old eunuch, Liu Duosheng (Chung King Fai 鍾景輝). Afterwards, Li befriends the powerful Empress Dowager Cixi (Michelle Yim), and later becomes the empress dowager’s most trusted adviser and assistant. An also becomes a favorite. The Head of Eunuchs, Chen Fu (Elliot Ngok 岳華), is jealous of Li and An’s growing power in court, and plans to have them deposed. Luckily, Li is supported by the palace maid Lin Yung (Nancy Wu 胡定欣) and eunuch Yiu Sheung Hei (Raymond Wong 黃浩然). Li and An manage to get rid of Chen, and An later succeeds Chen as the Head of Eunuchs. With the support of Cixi, Li’s power in court grows stronger, and An begins to see Li as a threat, and later as his biggest enemy. Yiu Sheung Hei, Ling Sau Tim, and Pang Sam Shun Yiu Sheung Hei is a eunuch employed in the palace’s medical department. Yiu is a loyal friend of Li, who Yiu treats as his savior. Yiu later meets Princess Heshuo (Aimee Chan 陳茵媺), the aunt of Emperor Tongzhi, and falls in love with her. Ling Tim Sau (Edwin Siu) is another eunuch from the Jingren Gong, and is an apprentice of Li. A eunuch with a great sense of humor, Ling was also a very loyal companion of Li. However, after a misunderstanding, Li kicked Ling out of the palace, and Ling was almost beaten to death. An later brings Ling back to the palace, and exploits Ling’s hatred of Li to weaken Li’s power. Pang Sam Shun (Power Chan 陳國邦) is a relative of Chen. When Chen was still the Head of Eunuchs, Pang often abused his power and bullied Li and An consistently. The Confidant Trailer [video=youtube;7Jq36WwA__8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jq36WwA__8[/video]
