FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY NOW,
51 YEARS TO BE EXACT, the late entertainment mogul Sir Run Run Shaw’s Television Broadcasts Limited, more dearly known as TVB, has been shaping cultures across the globe. From reaching out to the Chinese communities outside Hong Kong and China at first, namely Taiwan and Macau, Southeast Asia, all the way to the US, Canada and New Zealand, it has quickly brought together the viewership of most other races and the generations to come, with many of us in Malaysia today having fond memories of keeping abreast of our favourite serials and stars growing up.
In this Age of Information, let’s not forget that, over the years, in producing some of TV’s most iconic programmes and screen stars, TVB has pioneered pop culture in Asia-Pacific and given the region what we would consider as the original influencers of our time. Celebrated not just for their entertainment values and glamour, they have each come to form Hong Kong’s cultural identity and define a time in history, influencing us with their stories both on screen and behind the scenes.
Among those who have come to inspire us of late is our cover star this month, TVB’s leading man Ruco Chan. Despite his early debut with a minor role in the 1994 hit series Instinct, it took Ruco more than 15 years of continuous work in supporting characters, often appearing in limited episodes, before he landed his first prominent part in legal drama The Other Truth (2011), playing a barrister, for which he was nominated Best Actor and Favourite Male Actor at the 2011 TVB Awards Presentation, followed by a few other villainous roles.
For a period of time, the graduate of TVB’s Artiste Training Class was signed with rival station ATV. While the aspiring actor made many appearances in variety shows and hosted many gala ceremonies for the station, chances to star in a main cast were rare. Yet, he carried on and, armed with sheer determination, returned to TVB.
His success in 2016’s A Fist Within Four Walls would later on be celebrated with a Best Actor win at the TVB Anniversary Award. Malaysian channel 8TV has included the series as part of its Best of TVB tribute, scheduled to air from every Monday to Friday, 7pm, later this year (date to be confirmed). Today, supported with a sizeable body of work consisting of almost 80 serials, Ruco is known to be the first actor to win Favourite Actor for three consecutive years at the StarHub TVB Awards (2014, 2015 and 2016), and twice in a row at the TV Star Awards Malaysia (2015 and 2016).
Later this year, we will see Ruco appear in the lead role of the period drama Succession War, portraying Qing’s court official Heshen, notably the most corrupt court official in Chinese history. The series is a fictional depiction of the last 28 days of his life, with each episode covering the course of one day.
Recently, while Ruco was here for a recording as a guest star on 8TV’s upcoming season two of the Korean music entertainment show I Can See Your Voice (8.30pm, every Sunday, starting from 19 August), August Man Malaysia had the opportunity to photograph the star exclusively and discuss his career, professional attitude and his position in the face of China’s growing influence.