Hacken doesn't dare compare with Andy

One is the music world's most popular male singer, the other is the tv industry's most popular female actress. Hacken Lee and Charmaine Sheh have been at TVB for more than 10 years and have been in contact with each other during one Miss HK program. Today the two have cooperated together filming the movie "Lady Iron Chef" and have got to know one another. After rising to "TV queen" status, Charmaine has been involved in endless rumours and even partner Hacken cannot help her. But Charmaine firmly believes that once one is doing their best, then no poisons can harm them.

In the new film "Lady Iron Chef", Hacken plays the rich, arrogant son of a large food corporation owner. Charmaine plays a master of cooking and the two end up falling in love. This was the first time filming with Charmaine for Hacken and he said that she was easy to get along with, professional and punctual and of course she was an artist but great acting skills. Recently, Charmaine has been involved in many rumours and when asked if Hacken was worried filming with her, he said protectively "The media is a fault for much of the news, and they are often not fair to her. I have never seen, nor feel that such things said by the media would involve Charmaine. We chat a lot throughout the day during work."

Hacken does not feature in many movies. He laughs "That's because I'm a singer. I only film if there is a suitable script. Actually I'm just curious, after knowing Wong Jing and Eric Tsang for over 10 years we mostly get together for fun and things but very rarely am I asked to film. They probably think over the past 10 or so years I've never been outstanding in acting." He's good friends with Andy Lau and in the music world there is a bit of friendly competition. But in the movie world, Hacken doesn't dare to try and become "film king" just as yet. He says "Andy had filmed about 80 movies before becoming king. That's too far off for me." When it comes to singing however, he has much more confidence "Even though I've received the best male singer award, I just pretend I haven't. I start over again, each year I want to win."
　
http://ent.tom.com/2007-03-13/000E/13931453.html

New movie premiere - Virginia Lok brings viewers to support Charmaine

It was the premiere of Lady Iron Chef 2 nights ago. Director Wong Jing along with actors including Hacken Lee, Charmaine Sheh, Yumiko Cheng, Yuen Qiu, Alice Chen and newcomer Lau Yeung were present. TVB high executive Virginia Lok has often taken good care of Charmaine, and this time it was due to her that the night could be so prestigous. Miss Lok personally invited Gigi Lai, Angela Tong and other artists to support the premiere. The only one that didn't come was rumoured boyfriend Ron Ng.

Afterwards, Charmaine admitted she was very happy because TVB treats her well and she wants everyone to share the results of her hard work. Did she invite Ron? Charmaine said she didn't know as the important thing that night was to invite more girls. She doesn't want to say too much as she doesn't want trouble, just in case there's rumours again. She also doesn't want attention shifted from the movie itself. Gigi and Charmaine are good friends and even though it was her mother's birthday that night, Gigi still came to support her friend before going home to celebrate with her mother. Reporters pointed out that under Miss Lok's management, all the artists present appeared very united. Gigi smiled and agreed saying how they were all one family.

Lau Yeung's low top teases Hacken

On the night before last, newcomer Lau Yeung wore a low cut top and stood close to Hacken but Hacken did not once look. When asked later, he laughed "I don't/didn't have time." Because Hacken was recently in America, he couldn't personally collect the IFPI award for "most popular music and film award". He admitted that the award was rewarded based on real merits and cannot be won by fighting for it, so he really did want to collect the award in person.

Speaking of filming movies, he points out that he is a newcomer, normally only one a year. He likes comedies and says the hardest to film would be period dramas. He laughs that one year he acted as Sai Mun Chui Suet (a character) but he couldn't stand the hardships of filming ancient dramas. He said that the movie has done quite well in Singapore, and even if it doesn't sell so well in HK, the cost of the movie will still be covered. Charmaine has Miss Lok's support so why doesn't Hacken invite his wife Emily Lo? Hacken points out jokingly that Miss Lok could be supporting him as well. He says that he has a lot of work and if all his family members turned up then he would be even busier.

Yumiko hopes to act well and receive awards

Yumiko attended the premiere 2 nights ago even though she was ill. She claimed she couldn't bear it any longer and requested her company to let her see a doctor but didn't take any leave. Her company joked that she can die but can't get sick. Luckily after taking some medicine she seemed to get better. When mentioned that Isabella Leung received Spain's International Film Festival's "Best Actress" award, Yumiko said that she felt happy for Isabella. At only 18, becoming a film queen (?) was the highest honour. Yumike hopes that she will be able to film a good movie, she feels that to be an actor means opening up oneself.

http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/03/08/UL-702379.htm

Hacken, Charmaine and cast attend premiere of "Lady Iron Chef" - Gigi Lai appears too!

On 6th March, Hacken, Charmaine and cast attended the premiere of "Lady Iron Chef". As Hacken had jus rushed back from "The Same Song" concert in San Francisco to attend the premiere, he looked very tired due to his rushed schedule. Hacken said that he had confidence "Lady Iron Chef" would do well, and hoped that there would be good reception after it screened. In the movie, Hacken often faced lots of good food - did Hacken become interested in cooking after filming this movie? He replied: "Not really. I've never had much knowledge in this aspect, and in the movie I didn't have to cook, I only had to taste test! On the contrary I've become very fussy over what I eat now, and like to eat more quality food!". Hacken also said: "I can employ someone to cook for us for a few thousand dollars, so I dont really need to learn I guess!".

Yumiko was ill during the premiere and asked people not to come too near to her in case she spread the illness to them. However it seemed she wasn't taking much care of her health - the temperature was only 14 degrees but she wore a mini skirt and sleeveless top - no wonder she was sick. Apart from the cast attending, the biggest surprise attendance of the night was Gigi Lai, who had always been touted by the press to be Charmaine's biggest competitor in TVB. As soon as Charmaine saw Gigi, they began chatting non-stop and hugged in front of all the cameras, dispelling any rumors about them competing.

Source & More pictures @ http://www.tungstar.com/hotspot_bag.do?bagId=37273&cateId=0

Lady Iron Chef scene

Picture: hacken and charmaine's one of many 'scary' scenes in new movie

The second film of the new year, "Lady Iron Chef", was released last week. The movie talks about a romance between leading actors Hacken Lee and Charmaine Sheh. One particular scene talks of wealthy Hacken being abducted and held to ransom and hidden in Mong Kok, and when he tries to escape, accidentally falls off the balcony of the building. As Charmaine rescues him by grabbing onto his legs, his pants fall off, leading him to reveal his boxer shorts whilst danglign in mid air. However Charmaine manages to drag him back into the apartment, adn the two of them meet in this way, starting their romantic relationship, with the joke that Hacken's underpants are very manly.

Hacken insisted on filming this scene himself, saying: "Although there's wires around my waist, looking down at the ground my heart was beating like crazy! It was lucky the director only asked for two takes. During the take I wore 5 pairs of underwear, so i definately wouldn't expose anything." Charmaine also praised Hacken's courage in filming this scene, saying he was very professional, and then poking fun at him and saying again that the brand of his boxer shorts was very 'manly'. Hacken retorted that it would probably be of a better quality than the instant noodles Charmaine cooked in the movie. Apparently Hacken and Charmaine have been acquaintances for a while but this is the first time they've acted together. Both promised that if the movie did well, they would shout dinner for all staff on set.

Credits: takungpo

Hacken & Charmaine are interviewed @ Lady Iron Chef Dinner

http://ent.sina.com.cn/m/c/bn/2007-02-16/17227078.html

in mando, though....

Lady Iron Chef CNY dinner

Date: 15-2-07
Source: Takungpo

(Picture: Hacken and Zhou Chung watch Charmaine cook dumplings

In the movie Lady Iron Chef is a scene where male lead Hacken's pants fall off. When asked about the scene, female lead Charmaine replied that she didn't see anything, and it was Hacken that was in danger, having to do wire scenes for a whole night. When asked if she would try for Best Actress (movies) award after winning Best TV Actress, she stated: "this is a very long way away. I hope to film more movies because they're heaps of fun, especially the atmosphere when filming comedies."

(I'm not translating the rest as it's not relevant to Hacken...that and the fact i've got to rush to work now! But the rest of the article was just about Charmaine =])
http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/02/15/UL-693325.htm

More Pix:

Hacken Finds it difficult filming movies where his 'pants fall off

(Picture: Hacken indicates that he has no choice in having to film wire scenes for comedies)

Hacken finds it difficult filming movies where his 'pants fall off'
Date: 2007-2-15
Source: Takungpo


Before the premiere of "Beautiful Cooking" stars celebrated with a traditional Chinese New Year celebration, where boss Wong Jing distributed many red packets as prizes. Amongst those present were Hacken, Yuan Chau, Tat Ming, Zhou Chung, Lau Yeung, etc. Everyone waited for Charmaine to come from the TVB CNY dinner before events started, with the game making 'tong yuen' (glutinous rice balls) competition with new actor Lau Yeung. Hacken, Yuen Chau and Zhou Sheng were asked to judge the competition, but they were busy trying out the sharks fin and asked for a break for them to finish the sharks fin before they went on stage.


The Yumiko Incident

The movie will premiere on March 8th, which is also International Women's Day. Male lead Hacken said that the most lasting impression from this movie, apart from his strange wig, is that it's his first time where his pants fell off on the silver screen. Initially when he saw the script he couldn't bring himself to do the scene - however, he then realized that as an actor he shouldn't have any burdens about this, so he decided to lock away his "idol singer persona" for this movie.

The scene where Hacken's pants fall off talks of Hacken falling from the balcony to the street, with Charmaine grabbing his legs in midair trying to save him, but pulling off his pants in the process. This scene is very similar to Yumiko's accident (at the TVB charity show), to which he replied: "There is no relation between what's in the script and what happened to her". Yumiko, who didn't appear last night, is also in this movie, but Hacken said that he hadn't talked about this scene with her.

In order to avoid unnecessary exposure, Hacken took all precautions before hand, wearing two pairs of underwear as well as boxer shorts. When it came time to film the scene, staff on the set also gave him two pairs of boxer shorts, so when audiences see this scene, he's in fact wearing five pairs of underwear! However he is still slightly embarassed: at the end of the day, he's still an introvert.

He said: "I'm not filming a martial arts film, I don't know why everytime I film a movie there's always a "wire" scene! That scene took an entire night to film, and my pants had to keep falling off, the feeling was very strange and not comfortable, the only time that would normally happen is if i've got food poisoning! (Was Charmaine uncomfortable with the scene?) I don't think she was, and it's easier just to not talk about it! Actually, it wasn't that bad, I was wearing so many layers of underwear."

Topic then changed to filming when crew cleared a street in Mong Kok to film a scene, to which Hacken said he hasn't had a chance to walk the streets of Mong Kok so happily, and that this was a test for them. He said that there wasn't a single incident where they were "asked after" (sworn at) on the street, indicating people were aware who they were and this made him happy. The unhappiest thing for him during the entire filming was that he became ill, and even today he still has a slight cough.

Unsure if he's hosting "Minutes to Fame"

Later, reporters asked if Hacken would continue to host "Minutes to Fame", and he replied honestly that he didn't know. Hacken said that if fate let him do it, he would do it, but at the moment TVB was still considering its options. Perhaps TVB has many hosts in mind, and he was only one of the potential choices. Regarding the rumors that TVB would only choose either him or Joey Leung and not both of them, Hacken once again indicated that he had no idea. Hacken stated that it is like the initial Minutes to Fame series: initially, he didn't have time to host, but at the end he found he could do it, and both him and Joey ended up "picking up the job" after someone else.

(http://www.takungpao.com.hk/news/07/02/15/UL-693326.htm)

Lady Iron Chef trailer

Trailer for the new movie "Lady Iron Chef" featuring Hacken Lee and Charmaine Sheh.