NG queen? Director quashes rumours of Athena Chu being difficult on set of new TV series

Veteran actors may be perceived to wield more power on set, but do they actually use it? 

The Parents League 2 is the first drama series Athena Chu will be starring in since her last appearance in 2011's Twin of Brothers. Rumour has it, however, that the Hong Kong actress was being difficult during the show's production.

Among the 51-year-old's alleged demands included asking child actors to be quiet on set so that she could memorise her lines and being the only actor who requested to end work on time. She was also rumoured to have many NGs ('no good' takes).

Speaking to the media, director Lau Wai Hang quashed those rumours: "No, our filming atmosphere was great. Every actor had a specified number of hours of filming every day, but many times Athena would stay back and have fun with everybody, treating us to desserts too."

He also explained that he was the one who told the children not to be noisy as he didn't want to affect the other actors' performance, but "Athena said that it was alright".

"Athena didn't have too many NGs, but her performance was reasonable and she did her homework conscientiously… Even when I changed the script sometimes, she adapted to it," he added.

As he had not worked with her before, Wai Hang admitted that "he was initially a little scared of her", but after they worked together, he felt that she "did not have airs of a superstar", and that she even doted on child actors, buying them food and coaching them in their schoolwork.

He commented: "She is a form teacher in the drama, and a mother in real life, so she does have her own strategies when dealing with children."

The Parents League 2 is a Hong Kong drama series exploring educational philosophies of parents and educators. It will be released on ViuTV next year, and has a total of 15 episodes.

Athena married ex-Beyond vocalist-guitarist Paul Wong in 2012 after getting pregnant with their daughter. She is most well known for her movie Fight Back to School II (1992), TVB drama series The Legend of the Condor Series (1994) and Treasure Raiders (2002).

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jolynn.chia@asiaone.com