Elena Kong Mei-yee
TVB actress Elena Kong Mei-yee has ignited controversy for taking on relatively risqué roles in conservative TV dramas. The 42-year-old tells Yannie Chan about the early days of her career and how she earned her nickname, “Black Stockings Yee.”
I lived in Wan Chai growing up. I lived near the cinema, and I would be tortured by the smell of grilled squid in the middle of the night.
My father loves watching movies. There weren’t any subtitles for English movies, and we would get a piece of paper introducing the plot. Everyone would read it intently before a movie.
I worked as a secretary. I was buying a sandwich for my boss when a model scout spotted me, saying “Your hair is long, and you look really pretty. Do you want to be a model?” I said, “Don’t you try to scam me.”
I gave him my boyfriend’s number. He kept calling for half a year, so I gave it a try.
I was an actress at ATV for 13 years. Those years were like a really long training course. I had to do everything, from choosing the costumes to preparing what to say on a variety show.
We worked just as hard as actors at TVB, but why did people recognize TVB actors and not us? Multiple people on the street called me “the mau lei [moron] from ATV.”