Tiffany Lau Thanks Joel Chan for Mentoring Her

Entering the entertainment industry after competing in Miss Hong Kong 2016, 24-year-old Tiffany Lau (劉穎鏇) is rising to the top quickly. Starring in two big productions, The Righteous Fists <鐵拳英雄> and Freedom Memories <青春不要臉>–the latter in which she landed her first leading role–Tiffany talks about her experience and gives special thanks to Joel Chan (陳山聰) for mentoring her.

Only 19 years old when she competed in the pageant, the Los Angeles native did not finish her university studies. In the last two years, Tiffany studied hard to complete her bachelor’s degree online. In December, she flew back to the United States to visit family and attend her university graduation ceremony. Because of Hong Kong’s restrictions due to worsening COVID-19 cases, Tiffany is still in the United States and postponed her return to Hong Kong until April.

From “Father” to “Lover”

Tiffany’s early hosting job on variety show Sidewalk Scientists <學是學非> allowed her to gain valuable onscreen experience. Similar to most Miss Hong Kongers, the best way to improve her acting once switching to dramas was learning from her seniors on set.

Thanking them for their helpful advice, Tiffany specifically called out Joel for his immense assistance throughout her career. “Joel has been the biggest help of all. In the last four years, I’ve worked with him the most. We’ve filmed four series together, and we’ve had the most scenes together. That’s why he would always give me advice.”

A patient mentor, Joel would pay attention to Tiffany’s lines and correct any “unnatural” diction due to her accented Cantonese. “He would also notice things that I wouldn’t notice myself – for example, he would correct the rhythm of my speech,” she said gratefully.

In 2020’s The Runner, Joel portrayed Tiffany’s father. The pair will have a romantic storyline in action drama The Invisible Team. Tiffany remarked, “Whenever we have sad scenes, he would try his best to help me get into character. That’s why he has been such a big influence on me.”

Hopes to Improve Her Weaknesses

Tiffany has learned to analyze and understand how each scene should be handled differently, and how each and every character has its own value. After getting home from work, Tiffany would re-enact scenes again just to understand what needs to be improved in the future.

Claiming that her weakness is crying scenes, Tiffany recalls a particular time when she was overwhelmed with pressure. Although many people tried helping her on set, Tiffany was unable to deliver a particular crying scene. Frustrated, Tiffany went home and ended up bursting into tears. Although she admits to lacking enough life experience to draw upon, Tiffany said it is not an excuse for not delivering the scene successfully.

With a better grasp of what it is like to be a real actress now, Tiffany is still searching for a method to continue improving and said she has yet to reach a point in her career where she can start crying at the director’s command.

Source: Ming Pao Weekly