In I Love Hong Kong 2013, Bosco Wong plays the younger version of veteran Alan Tam's character, who is goofy-looking but a do-gooder. -- PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER
He has been paired with some of Hong Kong's hottest starlets onscreen and off, but the most important woman in actor Bosco Wong's life is his mother.
She handles his finances and makes investments on his behalf. While he has no idea what these investments might be, he is completely fine with it.
Speaking to Life! in crisp Mandarin, he says with a smile: "I leave these to her. Even when she buys new property, I don't know when it happened and I haven't even viewed them.
"Some are in China, and I don't know whose name they're in, and it doesn't matter as we're mother and son."
Besides three properties in Hong Kong, Wong was reported to have recently invested HK$7.8 million (S$1.2 million) in a nightspot in Malaysia called House Music Club.
He was in town to promote his latest film, I Love Hong Kong 2013, a Chinese New Year flick produced by Eric Tsang. The movie is currently showing here and also stars veterans such as Alan Tam and Nat Chan, as two best friends who meet in the 1970s and later fall out.
Wong, 32, plays the younger version of Tam. The character, Sung Chi Hung, is a goofy-looking do-gooder with a heart of gold, who falls in love with Mei Yeung Yeung (younger version played by Kate Tsui).
The strapping actor, who is about 1.8m-tall, looks embarrassed when he tells Life! that instead of having to mimic Tam's portrayal of Sung, it was the other way round.
"When I was filming first, he would come for styling and asked me how I portrayed Sung. I told him about the little movements I made and he had to mimic me. That was too unfair to him."
Wong, who is better known as a TV actor in TVB dramas, has been in quite a number of such Lunar New Year flicks with huge ensembles, and says he always looks forward to joining the cast.
He says: "I like being in these movies, where I can be with a lot of people. It doesn't feel like work but a party, and makes me very happy because it's very rare for us to meet each other."
This is not going to be his last show with the previous generation of stars.
In a bid to boost TVB's ratings, veteran Tsang has been rallying big names such as Andy Lau, Chow Yun Fat and Veronica Yip - who plays the older Yeung Yeung in the movie - to film a new TV drama.
Tsang also extended the offer to actress Carina Lau, who, in reports last week, specifically mentioned wanting to work with Wong.
Referring to Lau, he says with a sheepish grin: "I have to thank Jia Ling jie (big sister in Mandarin). I just met her once in Shanghai for her shop's opening and we talked for a bit. I can't believe that she praised me like that in front of the media.
"If she really returns to film in TVB, whatever she suggests, I will try to fulfil her wishes."
Wong, who dated popular TV actress Myolie Wu for at least seven years before they broke up last year, has previously worked with Tsui as a gangster in the thriller Lives Of Omission (2011) - a role he reprised in the movie Turning Point2 (2011).
The actor plays down his sizzling chemistry with Tsui onscreen, saying: "Well, each actress brings out something different in me. For Kate, she can play the biggest range of roles, from gentle to wild."
He also recently played a dashing cop in Witness Insecurity (2012), opposite Linda Chung. Both garnered him nominations for Best Actor at TVB Anniversary Awards shows.
Of Chung, who was born and raised in Canada, he says he loves working with her because "it's very comfortable".
"Maybe it's because she grew up overseas so she is more open and very easygoing, " he says.
Ask if he would feel lonely as Valentine's Day approaches, his first since his break-up, and Wong simply says that "days like these mean nothing to actors".
"If this year is different, it's because it's going to be the first Chinese New Year that I won't be home because I'll be busy filming in Zhejiang."
Sounding like he would miss his mother, he explains: "I'll have only the first day off, so if I go home, I'll be wasting time. I'm not used to it as I have always gone home for the new year."
I Love Hong Kong 2013 is showing in cinemas. Witness Insecurity airs on VV Drama (StarHub Channel 855) on weekdays at 8pm.
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