Four years may have passed since Kate Yeung Kei landed a role in Sylvia Chang Ai-chia's 20:30:40, but the actress says her memories are still vivid. It's hardly surprising, given that her performance won her a best supporting actress nomination at both the Hong Kong Film Awards and Taiwan's Golden Horses.
Referring to her turn in 20:30:40 as 'one of the luckiest thing ever happened' to her, Yeung says working with Chang totally changed her attitude to being an actress.
'She always asked me, 'What does acting mean to you? Are you doing it just for fun or as a career?'' says the 22-year-old. 'She looks at it as a career - and she'll be making movies for many years to come.'
Chang's enthusiasm for her art - even well into her third decade as an actor-director-producer - inspired the then-teenaged Yeung to take up acting seriously.
Yeung says Chang's mentoring extended beyond the set of 20:30:40 - the veteran filmmaker, who already counts Taiwanese singer-actor Rene Liu Ruo-ying and Malaysia's Angelica Lee Sinje among her charges, is now Yeung's manager.
Yeung says that Chang encourages her to do things she enjoys (for example, dancing) and constantly reminds her to take things slowly - her part in Eternal Summer, by Taiwanese director Leste Chen, is only her second outing since 20:30:40.
'Many newcomers do a lot of things in a very short period,' she says. 'I think you need time to digest what you've done, or you won't be really clear about what you're doing and how you can improve in your next job.'