Which Chinese drama stars started off in Hong Kong movies? Charmaine Sheh, Myolie Wu and 4 more Cantonese actresses enjoying a second shot at fame in mainland China

Dec 10 , 2020

Clockwise from top left: Ada Choi, Gillian Chung, Charmaine Sheh, Myolie Wu, Cherrie Ying and Anita Yuen. Photos: Weibo

Gillian Chung, Cherrie Ying and Ada Choi also rank on STYLE’s list of golden age Hong Kong stars who have enjoyed a second bite at fame north of the border

The golden age of Hong Kong’s entertainment industry ran from the 1970s to the early 1990s, a prosperous period when the city’s stars were household names among the Chinese-speaking community worldwide.

In the past decade however pop culture fans’ attention has turned towards K-pop and Hong Kong artists have instead been taking their acts to the more lucrative mainland China market. Hong Kong-raised stars such as Angelababy, G.E.M., Nicolas Tse and William Chan have leveraged their increased popularity to gain opportunities in television, films and on stage.

Beside the younger generation, there are some old familiar names too, which once reigned over the Cantonese music, TV and movie industry and are now enjoying a renaissance in mainland China. Here are six popular Cantonese female stars who have extended their time in the sun by looking north.

Gillian Chung

In spite of the 2008 photo scandal which saw her dropped from many shows in Hong Kong and mainland China, Chung has recovered her reputation and returned to the screen in mainland TV dramas. The most well-known was Swords of Legends (古劍奇譚) in 2014 in which Chung portrayed Princess Xun Fang. The drama – the most viewed online at that time – was a huge success and helped Chung to develop her career in the mainland.

Chung re-enacted the role of Ruan Lingyu in the reality show Everybody Stand By. Photo: Weibo

Last year, she joined Everybody Stand By (演員請就位) which pitted 50 actors against one another in a contest to re-enact classic scenes from TV dramas and films, while Chung has gained prominence for portraying the role of Ruan Lingyu in the movie Center Stage (阮玲玉).