TVB News World - Asian Entertainment News Daily

Bowie Lam has very clearly stated that he does not like to drink heavily and also does not like social dinners, however, the ‘culture’ of socializing is prevalent in the entertainment industry – especially in the Mainland, where social dinners are as natural as breathing. In an environment where socializing is a way of life, Bowie must adjust his ‘breathing’, despite his preferences. Luckily, in Bowie’s case, after many years of hard work, a few Mainland acquaintances had actually reversed course and adjusted to his pace of ‘breathing’ instead – never thinking that he would be able to affect such long-held tradition, Bowie takes comfort in the importance of being persistent.

**The following are Bowie’s words as recorded by the reporter:

I don’t like socializing. One time, I had attended a dinner for one of the investors involved with the Mainland broadcast rights of "War and Beauty" -- at first, I had thought it would be a two person dinner, however when I arrived, I found out there were two tables full of people. That night, I witnessed the ‘socializing’ culture of the entertainment industry – for me, it was like watching a show, as I had already made my position clear that I was not going to follow in the habit of heavy drinking that was common at these parties. That’s just the way I am! When it comes to alcohol, it’s necessary to know one’s limits and don’t overdo it, otherwise it’s easy to endanger your own health. If I wish to, then I’ll stay a little while, but if I’m unhappy, I will definitely voice my displeasure. Later on, the Mainland acquaintances slowly went from heavily drinking to just enjoying a glass of red wine with me – this type of change was not easy to accomplish.

Comparing notes on acting, not necessarily about money

I remember 10 years ago when I went to the Mainland to film for the very first time. At that time, Mainlanders were very heavily xenophobic, as they felt that Hong Kongers going up North to make a living were taking away their livelihood. I had to work very hard and take a very proactive approach to help them understand that I was only there in search of good scripts and to ‘compare notes’ with other quality actors – I was not there to take millions of dollars away from them. After much effort, I went from being isolated and helpless to being able to eat with them [Mainlanders] at the same table. Actually, with Mainlanders, as soon as they are familiar and comfortable with you, they will treat you like a brother. Almost every day now, I receive text messages from Mainland friends asking me: ‘When are you coming over so we can meet for dinner?’

Learn Mandarin to assimilate into Mainland

Many years ago, I heard a fellow "War and Beauty" colleague speak embarrassingly bad Mandarin and it made me realize how important it was to learn the language. Therefore, I bought a lot of learning materials and also asked a Mainland friend to help me learn pinyin. I studied Mandarin on my own for 10 years off and on with the hope of making it easier to assimilate into the Mainland. I’m happy to say that I’ve been able to gain a little bit of success in this area.

Epilogue (by the reporter)

Meeting up with Bowie for this interview, the reporter gave him 5 topics to talk about – he did a lot of preparation ahead of time, which enabled the interview to be completed very smoothly. What was even more praiseworthy though was the fact that Bowie’s response to each question was ‘just right’ – he doesn’t say too much nor too little. This reflects the same work ethic he applies to his job as well – before filming, he would always make sure that he studied his lines thoroughly so that his actions in front of the camera perfectly matched his expectations. In a world where ‘exaggerating’ and doing a ‘passable’ job are pretty much the norm, it is indeed rare to have a work ethic like Bowie’s.

Source: Oriental Daily
Translation: llwy12 @ AsianFanatics