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Mar 19, 2024
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hkactor-FN
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It seems I'm destined to fall for any professional who shows serious work ethic and commitment - this has been true for me for the past five years. My latest admiration is Francis Ng. Although I've known him for years from shows, movies, and interviews, seeing him on an acting reality show really struck a chord. He demonstrates incredible knowledge, experience, and unparalleled acting skills. The guy truly knows his craft - he's amazingly skilled at delivering captivating performances with intricate details and complex emotions. He's an outstanding actor.
What's more fun to watch is how he coaches young actors - staying real and straightforward, never hiding emotions like anger or impatience. During a particular scene, the young actor failed to pick up his cue. Frustrated, Francis shouted, "That's your cue!" Unfortunately, the actor continued to struggle with this. Growing impatient, Francis bluntly stated, "You're out. I need another actor.”
I can relate because I expect excellent work and dedication too. When others fall short, it irritates me as well. So I get his frustration when inexperienced actors give subpar performances without understanding the art of acting. It's entertaining to watch him explain acting while calling out those who cannot follow his guidance.
Diving into his past interviews, it's clear articulating thoughts isn't his strong suit. He struggles in expressing what's on his mind, making it hard for most to fully understand him. I think part of reason being his mind works too fast, but he makes up for it with animated body language and exaggerated facial expressions to convey his points. It's hilarious watching him do all that.
Another relatable aspect is his evident passion and energy for acting. He has an urge to perform, to channel his emotions through his craft and captivate audiences.
Surprisingly, despite no formal education, he's well-read and can easily recite and quote from various books.
While unsure of his politics, there are hints he doesn't align with the right, like a satirical song mocking excessive government praise. Concerningly though, his son seems deeply influenced by negative aspects of Chinese internet culture - familiar with slang, playing games made by Tencent, NetEase, Mihoyo, and really into his Chinese heritage.
Years ago and recently, I looked into his son's social media posts about his daily mundane life - things you'd never see celebrities share to maintain an image, like their messy living room and chat histories. It truly shows the real, unfiltered Francis Ng behind the scenes, aligning with how he is on reality shows - never concealing true emotions.
As for his taste in clothes and accessories, well, I don't quite understand it myself. His love for camouflage is a mystery. He often wears Buddhist beads and bracelets - I know he's into Buddhism and related stuff but haven't read his views on it yet. Apparently he almost converted to Buddhism and became a monk when younger, before getting into an actor training program.
Edit: After checking some of his interviews with Hong Kong media, it's clear he's not on the pro-RED side. He spoke quite openly about the tank incident, though not extremely openly. But if you're familiar with it, you'd know he was referring to that event. Based on this information, I can deduce two things.
First, while he's against the system, he doesn't seem against profiting from that side. He appears very skilled at concealing his true political opinions when in mainland China, which I imagine isn't easy. I find it difficult to hide my own disgust most of the time.
Second, this could explain why his son comes across as quite pro-mainland - the way the weibo crowd would want. You don’t have to turn all the mainland Chinese audience against you, just because you want to be yourself on social media. The consequence of doing that would be catastrophic, just look at what happened to Anthony Wong, poor dude. And I don't think he'd allow his son to be pro-RED. Both of them seem to separate criticism of the system from their Chinese ethnic and cultural identity.
Francis clearly loves the cultural aspects of being Chinese - he's well-versed in the classics, ancient history and so on. Ethnically, there's no doubt they are Chinese, and they admit this. I think Hong Kongers should share this spirit - the system is separate from appreciating the good aspects of Chinese culture. I know you may hate the system, but don't extend that to the valuable elements of the culture itself. I myself acknowledge the beauty of classic Chinese poetry. We can't deny our cultural roots and identity - that's the base of who we are.