My dad always took care of me. He’d wake up at 6am to take me to school and then go to work at an NGO called Project Concern. We left food on the table for him for when he got back from work at 10pm.
Cantopop superstar Sammi Cheng’s story – and her rocky romantic life
Cantopop superstar Sammi Cheng’s story – and her rocky romantic life
He did everything and my mum was like a princess, she just went to work. My dad is a very simple, kind person.
Something about Mary
My first performance was in kindergarten. I wasn’t happy about being cast as Mary in the nativity play. I was wearing a simple dress and holding a plastic doll as baby Jesus. The plastic smelled and I thought, “This baby isn’t real.”
The girl playing the angel was beautiful and her costume was really cool. I thought her role was much more interesting.
I went to Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Primary School, where I was always chosen for performances and to sing.
I liked creating stories and getting my classmates to act in them. The other kids always took me as the leader, and I told them what to do. I was a director without knowing I was a director.
After school I’d visit my maternal grandmother. She was born in 1911 and was the granddaughter of the Qing dynasty naval officer Deng Shichang.
She had studied at a girl’s school in Shanghai and learned English. When I was little, she taught me English.
Born actress
In 1990, I went to secondary school at Jockey Club Ti-I College in Sha Tin, a training school for physical education and art. My mummy wanted me to do art as my main subject, but I took PE because I’m overactive.
I wanted to focus on tennis, but they made me switch to table tennis which I wasn’t too interested in and I got a C.
I’d never read a play or been to a stage performance I wrote my own piece and performed the four roles of my mother, father, sister and myself at the dinner table.
Karrie Tan on the monologue that earned her a study place
My teachers told me I was a born actress and kept giving me major roles. I told them I wanted to be a firewoman or someone who contributed directly to the world.
One of my close friends, child movie star Hoh Leng-Leng, encouraged me to apply to the Academy for Performing Arts (APA). I had to do a singing session and a monologue.
I didn’t know what a monologue was, and my friend told me it was a long passage that you read alone, maybe something by Shakespeare.
I’d never read a play or been to a stage performance, I’d only watched movies. I wrote my own piece and performed the four roles of my mother, father, sister and myself at the dinner table. I did all their gestures and voices.
Peter Pan
I started at the APA in 1995. It was a five-year training – a two-year diploma and then three-year degree. It was a busy time and I made a lot of lifelong friends.
I always wanted to have fun and didn’t think about my future. My dad was a Peter Pan and so was I. I didn’t have a clear direction, I followed what I enjoyed and let destiny lead me.
For the first year after I graduated, I worked in different companies. Professor Fredric Mao, one of the fathers of Hong Kong drama and then the artistic director of the Hong Kong Repertory Theatre (HKRep), gave me a lot of jobs. He scolded me a lot because I was like a monkey, never listening to anyone.
In 2001 he offered me a job at the HKRep. I was lucky because at the HKRep I got a good salary, which meant I didn’t need to waitress or anything to support my dream. I could focus on my acting.
I was lucky not to get typecast. I’ve played so many different roles – women as well as men, young and old; I’ve even played a cat. I had the chance to meet different directors from different countries.
Drama queen
In 2009, I got a scholarship from the government and HKRep and went to the Birmingham School of Acting in the UK to do a master’s in drama. I took part in a lot of productions, from Troilus and Cressida (as Cressida/Helen of Troy) and Hedda Gabler (as Hedda) to The House of Yes (as Lesly).
When I graduated, we did a showcase and I had five opportunities for contracts. My boss at the HKRep, KB Chan, was a very kind man and said I could stay on a year in the UK to work, but my mother said no.
She told me I’d already not contributed to the mortgage for a year and had to come back. I come from a traditional family, so as the eldest child I have to pay everything.
When I started at the HKRep, I gave my whole salary to my mum each month and she gave me back some pocket money. Since my parents retired, I take care of everything.
A bump in the road
My dad’s philosophy is that there is a reason for everything, so I never push things.
When I came back from the UK, my dad discovered he had something in his intestines. Because I now had a master’s degree, my salary was increased by more than 30 per cent. That money allowed me to tell my dad to stop going to work and I paid for him to have a body check.
The doctor discovered precancerous cells and said if he’d waited three months, he’d have had stage one cancer. After they removed the lump, dad rested for a year and he looked much better.
I could have lost my father if I hadn’t come back, and I could have lost my relationship with my mother. I still have my very happy healthy father who is so important in my life.
Buy one, get two free
I met my husband, Diesel, in November 2017. He’s in IT and is very sporty. I went to watch a rugby match with friends, and he was playing. He proposed three months later, and we married in May 2018.
He already had two children from his previous relationship and said, “If you buy one, you get two free.” I told him that was fine, I love kids.
In 2019, we had a baby girl. So, we have three children – 12, nine and four years old. My mother helps me with the youngest and my mother-in-law helps me with the two older children.
Supporting role
At the moment I’m rehearsing Moscow Express, a combination of Chekhov short stories. I play four roles, mostly wives.
In September I performed in a drama for the Fire Services Department. The firemen cried when they watched the performance because it was partly based on their experience of going to Turkey to rescue survivors of the earthquake there.
They could hear a young girl calling for help under the rubble, but they were told to evacuate because of the threat of aftershocks. Many of them were traumatised afterwards; they had children the same age as that girl.
The psychologist who worked with the firemen asked us if we could get involved in a project to make a performance about the experience to help them process it.
Many actors don’t like to do educational performances like this; they prefer to strive for the main stage; but I loved it. It made me feel I had purpose in my life as an actress.
I’ve done voluntary work before, and brought my kids with me, but this was the first time I used my professional skills to support people. I want to do more work like that.
My purpose now is to connect with people, so they feel better, that when they leave the theatre they feel loved and hugged; that’s what is driving me now.
Moscow Express runs until November 19. For more information, visit hkrep.com.