Mandy Lieu
Actress, model and TV host Mandy Lieu has just started shooting a role in Chip Tsao’s directorial film debut. She tells Andrea Lo how she’s preparing for the erotic drama’s saucier scenes, and about experiencing culture shock when she first moved to Hong Kong.
You can’t find any other city like Hong Kong. The energy is just incredible. Although everything is really fast, you can see that people here are receptive and open-minded. You meet all sorts of people from all over the world.
Ask anybody and they will tell you they experienced culture shock after moving here. It’s the fast pace—everyone is always going somewhere. That was my first impression of Hong Kong and something that I had to get used to.
Within a month, I was walking really fast as well.
When I was in Malaysia, I was offered a commercial for Pantene. That kind of got me into this. I came to Hong Kong, went to an agency, got some job offers and one thing led to another. I started doing TV hosting and emceeing, and now I’m doing movies.
I wonder sometimes what the turning point was, but I guess everything had a flow to it.
Somebody asked me, “Why did you move from modeling to TV hosting?” There was no moving. Every new challenge that I take up is an extension of me—you always see Mandy in it. When I was modeling, it was different in the sense that there was not much Mandy in there—you can’t really see my personality. When it comes to TV hosting, suddenly I have to be out there. I want to bring the audience to feel everything I see.
I’m still really new to acting and enjoying it. It’s a huge challenge to me because all of a sudden, representing something is gone, being Mandy is gone—you have the opportunity to be this person for a period of time.
Everything I do, I am 100 percent passionate about. Otherwise there is no point—why put yourself through the misery?
I only met Chip Tsao recently when I signed on to do the project. When he approached me and was telling me about the story, one of the things that captivated me was his passion for it.
I like that—somebody who is really passionate about what he does. It’s also his directorial debut, so we’re constantly learning new things together.
In the first phone call he made, he said something about a very sexy film. And I was like “Nah, I don’t think it’s for me.” Then he said, “No, what I mean by saucy is that it’s passionate, with the love and hate thing. Please just give me a chance to explain it to you.” We met over coffee, and then it hit me—it’s not the kind of story that I had in mind.
There are some really passionate scenes—I’m still working on that. I really have to thank my acting coach.
What kind of movie role would I want? I think for now I just want to say yes to everything, because I’m still new to the craft.
Being part of movies is not just you in front of the camera. It’s a whole team—and a huge amount of people behind the camera as well. I really like that.
If you get used to the paparazzi, something is wrong with you. But I don’t mind it. They’re doing their job and I’m doing mine.
I was hosting the Asian Film Awards this year and it was near my birthday. There is a girl—I wouldn’t call her a fan because it’s been so many years, I’d call her a friend—she was just waiting for me with a cake.
If anybody is able to get used to that, then gosh—they should just pack their bags and go on vacation, because you can’t be that jaded.