Actress Karena Lam Ka-yan says 'nasty' comments by French acting coach Philippe Gaulier have made her more determined than ever to succeed.
Lam recently completed a five-day workshop with Gaulier - the mentor of veteran actor Jim Chim Sui-man, who founded the Theatre Ensemble PIP School. 'He used a very nasty way to teach, but he was spot on when it came to identifying your weaknesses.
'He knew that I was too nice and timid so he made me growl like a lion, but I sounded like a kitten. What he tried to do was to coax out my most primitive nature,' Lam said.
She said her polite upbringing had hindered her career. 'He wanted to strip you layer by layer mentally, but I didn't mind being mocked in front of my 39 classmates, because I wanted to confront my own fears and I wanted to learn.
'Some of my classmates didn't come back after the first two classes because they couldn't take his criticism. I think many people have too much pride, too much dignity. But actors face fear all the time. The more they were afraid of facing their fears, the more Philippe wanted to break them down. He wanted to bring you to another level, to open more doors,' Lam said.
Her hard work paid off towards the end of the workshop, when she managed to step out of the shadows. 'Philippe asked us to play musical chairs. At first, I would give away to others, but after he yelled 'Be more nasty!' I ended up pushing him off the chair,' she said with a laugh.