Eric Li Left TVB Due to Wife’s Advice

Eric Li’s (李天翔) standout performance in TVB drama The Man Who Kills Troubles<解決師>, which aired at the end of 2019 saw the veteran actor’s star power rising to new heights for the first time in a two-decade long career. However, that was also his final work before quitting TVB.

A String of Unsavory Roles

On a recent radio interview, the 43 year old chatted about how he had started off hosting children’s programs years ago, playing a special forces officer on Flash Fax <閃電傳真機> and a curious superhero on Kids Click <至NET小人類>. Looking back, he felt that he had been misplaced. As Eric was not considered one of the station’s own stable of artistes, he had been assigned countless antagonist roles since he started filming dramas in the year 2000, even earning the unsavory reputation of being “TVB’s de facto rapist”.

Eric recounted, “I was (like) a bull, whatever the company assigned to me I followed. I had never had much hopes for the anniversary awards show until 2008 when I appeared in many dramas. There was talk that I had a good chance to clinch Best Supporting Male Actor or Most Improved Actor; who knew that in the end I did not even get a nomination. I was indeed disappointed then, but held no hopes ever since.”

Contractual Changes in the Run-up to Quitting

TVB’s wages are known to be on the lower side for its actors. In early 2016, Eric switched to a part-time contract with TVB. In 2017 he married Bobo Tam (譚寶怡), his girlfriend of six years from outside the entertainment circle.

His decision to quit in May last year after 24 years at the station, without first securing another job, prompted many reports that his wife’s wealthy family background was the main reason he did not have to worry about the future. Eric shared how he had met and proposed to his wife, “My wife told me to leave TVB!” He admitted he would not have made the decision had his wife not been able to take care of herself financially.

Source: On.cc