I guess, you have read in various publications already about how this pretty Hong Kong actress de-stresses with going to spas and hanging out with her buddies which according to her manager usually means hanging with her gal pals. Okay, I get that this young lass has a squeaky “clean ” reputation although some quarters have mentioned on the contrary that she is quite a party animal. But I am not concerned, give these artists a break , they are human and they probably deserve a break . According to her manager and the actress herself her schedule is very very full. In fact , I was told that she literally is at the set early daily and gets home in time for bed and then off again the next day until the shooting of whatever work is finished.
According to her manager Tina Lau, Chermaine is one of the more disciplined actresses to work with and they have been working together for more than 8 years. She is usually on time (in fact they had just landed 2 hours prior to the signing ceremony of her as the new SKINZ Cosmetics spokesperson and she had started her day with a 5am wake up call to get ready for make up and her flight over from Hong Kong). She also knows what she wants to wear for press interviews , with some name dropping like Valentino or anything she thinks is suitable and she and the manager would usually go over the details and that probably also includes what to say to the press …especially the infamous Hong Kong “kow chai tui” (roughly translated as hound dogs press), the papparazzi that is.
But you know what I find it all believable even if the manager person was trying to do a quick sell on me, I am buying it. When my turn to interview her came along with The Star and Utusan reporter, I could see her shock, because she asked, “what all three together in Cantonese? ” before her practiced PR poise came back. Although she read her press release and her spokesperson’s message in English , her conversational English was rather limited and we actually interviewed her in Cantonese (which is limiting for me). You could sense her graciously contained impatience and to a certain extent her efficiency which despite the “accommodating” the press and the fans gesture which she showed at the end of the interview session with almost 20 local press (two or three at a time) when a fumbling middle age gentleman, helpfully tried to take a picture for someone using their Iphone and took a little longer than usual, prompted her to ask her manager Tina to help out, which amused me no end.
But throughout it all, what I realized was, that this was a very hard working actress and though she may look very fragile and slim (read skinny and I am not being sour grap-ish here), in a corporate world, she would be a very ideal corporate climber. Every question about future movie or TV show plans were answered with whatever the Company decides or want. You sort of get her that she is a tough little cookie where her work is concerned and quite similar to some of the characters she has played in the past; like the spoilt but determined rich granddaughter turned good; the servant girl who became a ”tong kar” on a tea farm and many others that shows a breakthrough in life and character despite initial hardships. Although, the thing that most people identify with her is fragility and her happy self, there could have been worse typecasting.
When I asked her how does she handle her demanding schedule in an effort to get to know her personality, more is a pointed “smile more”, so with that I would like to say, that this lady is one woman who works hard for her money. I remember in an interview show in a Hong Kong show early on her career she said when she started she wasn’t sure if she could hack it in this very demanding industry but I guess, the years has shown that she can more than hack it, in fact she is thriving quite well…
She actually made a lot of news about her ditching her bf for a rich tycoon or something.
Really? I thought she always had a rich boyfriend …:-) are we adding fodder to fire?
Anyway, she still has a cleaner image than a whole lot of others…