Auntie takes television by storm

This is one tropical storm warning the meteorological department failed to issue. 'Typhoon Auntie Hoe' has blustered through Hong Kong and swept through the Guangdong countryside leaving many households in tumult. Damage in Southeast Asia has yet to be ascertained'. Last week, the 'typhoon' - in the form of veteran actress Nancy Sit Kar-yin - burst into the dressing room of a TVB studio in a pink flurry. She is running a little late - courtesy of Hong Kong's unpredictable traffic - and was most apologetic. Hong Kong's hottest new idol is a busy woman these days, having blitzed a comeback trail that even John Travolta would envy with the runaway success of her role in the popular series A Kindred Spirit. Her clothes sponsors for the series have seen a marked increase in sales as housewives eagerly snap up outfits she has worn, and in Guangdong where she has been dubbed 'Typhoon Auntie Hoe', housewives are reportedly unable to sleep without first watching that night's episode. The wife of one Guangdong official paid the star a visit recently to invite her up for a meet-the-housewives session. '[The response] has been a really pleasant surprise. I'm very lucky that I can still elicit such support and start a new wave,' bubbled the 45-year-old over tea and a snatched sandwich. 'You don't find many middle-aged idols now and I'm very happy with the trend. When TVB first approached me with the role, I was not very confident I could do it. 'It had been so long since I did something like this. But I'm glad I did.' Stardom is nothing new to Sit, who appeared in her first feature film at the age of eight. She was 'discovered' by producer Li Siu-wun when she took a part with an opera troupe hired to perform at her grandfather's birthday dinner. 'When I came out, there was a lot of applause. There were a lot of producers in the audience and they thought, 'what a scene stealer'. They didn't realise the audience were mostly my relatives,' she chuckled. 'So when they made this movie which needed 15 child actors, I was cast. Where else were they going to find all these kids?' Sit joined an impressive list of child stars such as Chan Po-chu, Fung Bo-bo and Josephine Siao Fong-fong who took the Cantonese film world by storm in the 1960s. It was Bunny Girl, which she made at 15, that made her a star. More than 100 films and many concerts later, Sit finally decided to wrap up her acting career in 1980 because she wanted to start a video retail business with a partner in Malaysia. 'It was a choice between acting or the business because of certain contractual problems,' she said. Having missed out on the joys of teenage dating, Sit was also looking forward to having a 'personal life'. 'The only man I was in contact with at the time was Michael [Lai Siu-tin] and only because we were working together. And I thought, 'my god, what if we fall in love?',' Sit said, dissolving into peals of laughter. But fall in love Sit did, with an American Chinese businessman, and she settled down to a life of domestic bliss with her husband and three children. The marriage blew off-course, however, and she divorced her husband of 14 years earlier this year. It was then that TVB dangled the 'Auntie Hoe' carrot in front of her. The role would cast her as a shrewish mainlander opposite Melvin Wong Kam-sang, who plays her middle-aged lover. 'I was really hesitant at first because the character was written as very fierce and shrewish. But the scriptwriter suggested we could make her more comical,' she said. 'It helps that the audience know me. After watching me for so long, they know I am not like that at all. Maybe if someone else had played it, the character would have turned out quite dislikable. Now they just find [Ah Hoe] funny.' Leaving the business as a perky leading woman and coming back as a 'plump' housewife idol might dent some egos but Sit's irrepressible personality has obviously triumphed. 'Being called a fat housewife doesn't bother me at all. At least I'm lovable and I have a supportive audience. In fact, the director has ordered that I do not lose any weight because the people like me this way!' she said with a laugh. Going back to work took some getting used to even for the veteran. 'I missed my children a lot. I was used to seeing them all the time and I would get the urge to call them every hour or so,' she said. Domesticity, she found out, had 'slowed down' her brain as well. 'I think you get progressively stupid when you don't work,' she said. '[Ah Hoe] has a lot of things to say . . . usually at a very fast rate, too. It was really difficult getting it right at first. It's a lot better now that I have come to understand the character better.' Other than good scripts, Sit thinks the role has been such a ripping success because everyone identifies with it. 'She is so cartoonish that kids pick it up really quickly and love her. 'The housewives like her and she allows these mainland woman to have their fantasies of being like her and meeting a good man here,' she said. 'The young people also enjoy the kind of embarrassed and bashful courtship between Ah Hoe and Seong-yan [Melvin Wong].' Perhaps the greatest proof of how convincing her acting is can be attributed to her seven-year-old daughter. Sit had worked two consecutive long-shooting days and the children had no chance to see her. When Sit finally returned home at a 'normal' time, her daughter looked up and called out: 'Auntie Hoe is home!' 'They probably watched the programme on both nights and saw [Ah Hoe] more than they saw me!' Sit guffawed. Certainly when Sit first signed on for the role, she never expected to be working such long hours as she was originally promised a 'nine-to-five' schedule. When Auntie Hoe achieved gale-force popularity, she became the focus of more plots, and the fight for ratings with ATV's A Better Future added another 15 minutes to the length of the show. And then, there are press interviews for which the waiting list has become exceedingly long. Sit lamented that age has begun to take its toll. 'My health isn't as good as before,' she said. 'I have started to lose hair and if I go for longer than two days without sleep, then I get these bags under my eyes! I never had these problems when I was younger. 'Everyone is saying I have the heaviest schedule amongst them. I only get about two to three hours' sleep every night, but the audience support is what keeps me going. 'After my divorce, I received a lot of letters encouraging me to return to acting and promising me staunch support. So I know I have to put in the effort.' The programme and the happy working relationship between the cast and crew were just what the doctor ordered to help her get over her failed marriage. 'By then the worst was actually over. Two years ago I was very disturbed and thought about ending it all but my optimism held out. When I decided to file for divorce, it put my heart more at ease,' she said. Still, the happy atmosphere on set every day buoyed her spirits no end. 'Every morning when I get up, I am happy just thinking how much I enjoy the character. Once shooting starts, I also don't have time to think about unhappy things. If I had time to sit around and mope, it would not be good. As it is, I got over [the final break] very quickly,' she said. Her comeback has also made her realise how much she has missed performing and how much she had sacrificed in trying to keep the relationship alive. 'It's only hit me now. My husband never understood. It's not the money but the realisation that I really enjoy acting, singing and meeting people. [The divorce] has been a great disillusionment but it takes two to make a marriage work,' she said. Not only have acting offers been pouring in, Sit has also been invited to give some concerts in hill resorts in Malaysia next month. Sit is most excited about the two films she has signed for (she had to turn down two others). One will be a costume drama and action-comedy, starring the new Wong Fei-hung, Chiu Man-cheok, for which Sit says she will be providing mostly comic relief. The other will see her reunited with childhood friend Fung Bo-bo in a retro film not unlike the successful 1992 La Rose Noire. 'I think that will be great fun. I have full confidence acting opposite Bo-bo and I think audience members will be looking forward to that, too,' she said. 'It's heartening that even in such slow times I have had such offers. The other two films were also very interesting but TVB could not squeeze it into the shooting schedule. 'I already look like this now, if I take on anymore I'll start looking like a giant panda!' After more than 30 years in the business, however, Sit finds there is still room for new hopes and dreams. 'I want to make a really good film and then maybe, finally, win an acting award. There weren't acting awards for Cantonese movies in my time.' A Kindred Spirit (TVB Jade, Mondays-Fridays, 10.05 pm)