(A Special Ming Pao Weekly Article)
After being crowned Miss Hong Kong 1998, Anne Heung made her debut in the entertainment industry as an actress. At the start of her career, Anne took the leading role as Beauty Yang Gwai Fei. However, Anne's performance was stiff, thus leading to criticisms. Despite the negative feedback, Anne's acting skills improved in the last few years. From her beautiful role as Chan Yuen Yuen in "Perish in the Name of Love," to the witty market seller in "Hidden Treasures," Anne proves to the audience that she is a capable actress. Last year, Anne was in "Bar Benders," and recently her series "Best Bet" broadcasted in Hong Kong. In "Best Bet," Anne's role is different from her previous characters. Anne's role as Gong Ma Lei is money driven and selfish, with a humorous side while trying to speak English in the series.
Other memorable mentions include her villian role as Sung Ngai Sheung in "The Charm Beneath."
A colleague said that in Anne's latest series "Best Bet," Anne's comedic portrayal as Gong Ma Lei is convincing and well done. Looking back at Anne's performance in "The Legend of Lady Yang," Anne's acting has greatly improved. After her first few series, Anne started to take the villian route, where she played a few deceitful/villian roles. With her recentn comedic role, Anne proves that she is an actress of versatility. Moreover, last year, Anne announced that she will be taking courses in law and reducing filming series.
Anne says that in "Hidden Treasures," she acted a role that was quite different from her usual characters. The character Kwok Lai Kam (Nicam) that Anne portrayed was a loud and witty, completely different from her femininity.
In her recent series, Anne also took on a different role. Producer Lee Tim Seng told Anne to freely portray the role of Gong Ma Lei in "Best Bet," letting her experiment and decide how to develop the character. With her co-stars Wayne Lai, Michael Tse, Kwok Fung, and others, Anne expressed that the working atmosphere was great and comfortable, as well as being able to receive some tips from the actors. Looking back in time, Anne has been in the entertainment industry for nine years.
Talking about her early years growing up, Anne states, "In the family, I am the only child and daughter, therefore my mother is quite strict on me. I was not able to participate in some school field trips and extracurricular activities because my mother thought it would be too dangerous for me."
Living near the bay, Anne went to school in Causeway Bay during her adolescent years. Everyday, Anne was driven to school and picked up after school. As a young girl, Anne enjoys putting on her mother's clothes, wearing high heels, playing the role of an adult, playing the role of a teacher, and many more. Since Anne is the only child her in family, Anne expresses, "I really envied my classmates who had brothers and sisters." At the young age of two, Anne's parents filed for divorce. As a result, Anne lived closely with her mother and Anne was able to spend time with her father every two weeks.
At the age of ten, Anne's mother married for the second time. Anne says, "I remember them telling me that they were going to get married with each other. I did not object, so it is natural that I should call him 'daddy.'" Although Anne calls both her biological and stepfather 'daddy,' Anne clearly knows the difference between this. Anne's stepfather, who works at the Hong Kong University External Affairs Department, wanted her to travel abroad to study and to experience an indepedent life. Therefore at sixteen, Anne was sent to Vancouver where she went to high school. After high school, Anne continued her studies and graduated at the University of British Columbia, Canada.
When she was in Canada she had her first boyfriend, dating from high school to university, the opposite is a Hong Kong immigrant, dating for 3 to 4 years, afterwards because her family disagreed, she decided to break up, although having an independent lifestyle in Canada, she learned that from dating, her family has to give some suggestions. "My mother feels that he isn't smart enough, and I also feel that he is not progressing. With his age, he should be able to work harder. In that place at that time, many migrants are Hong Kong people, all they care about is eating and having fun, he doesn't like to study, so he doesn't make it into university. I am continually improving, while he is not making an effort."
Although she earned a degree in economics and psychology, Anne is not much of an ambitious person, in terms of business. Shortly after her graduation, a friend called Anne and persuaded her to join the Miss Hong Kong Beauty Pageant. After words of advice and encouragement from her friend, Anne decided to join the pageant. In addition, Anne and Virgina Yung are classmates in middle school and college, and both of them are beautiful. Anne says that sometimes the teachers get them confused with one another. Since childhood, Anne enjoys dressing up in different outfits from her mother. Even many aunties said that Anne is a pretty girl, therefore they urged her to join the pageant.
With her knowledge and beauty, Anne won many awards on the pageant night, in addition to earning the title of Miss Hong Kong 1998. Soon after her victory, Anne landed her first leading role as Yang Gwai Fei in "The Legend of Lady Yang." Anne lacked confidence during that time. First of all, Anne lacked experience as an actress. Secondly, portraying a historical figure is not easy to do for her first series. As a result, Anne must spend an abundant amount of time to rehearse and to develop the role of Beauty Yang.
Last year, Anne also became the president of the Wai Yin Association, therefore she has a lot of responsibility. Wai Yin is a charitable association with the foremost goal of receiving more funds every year. Anne jokes, "Since I do not have a rich husband to support this association, I must work harder to receive funds for Wai Yin."
Many former Miss Hong Kong winners are married to rich men, making Anne to think of this matter. Anne does not mind to talk about these matters. Anne says that she envies the former Miss Hong Kongs who are married to a rich husband, but she feels that the most important thing in a marriage is to be bliss. Anne articulates that her parents' divorce did not influence her love and martial expectations and perceptions.
In the past two years, Anne is working her way to earn another degree -- a bachelor's in law. Anne is currently preparing for her law exam in May, therefore she has been reducing her work to spend time for reviewing.
Aside from being an entertainer, Anne has always been fascinated with education and to learn more skills. Throughout her childhood, Anne practiced ballet for two years, earned eight awards by playing the piano, as well as many sports and outdoor activities.
Recently at an opening ceremony for a new McDonald's restaurant in Hong Kong, Anne admits that she is a fan of McDonalds. Anne reveals that she tried the different McDonalds restaurants when she travels. Anne says, "The McDonalds in Hong Kong are good, whereas the ones in the United States are not as good. But Canada has the best McDonalds." Despite Anne's age, Anne is still youthful as she still enjoys some of the younger hobbies (i.e. Nintendo Wii, Hello Kitty, etc.)
source: ming pao weekly magazine + thanks to Annie for posting the original article
