Celebrity Life
Dilraba Dilmurat Net Worth
Born in Ürümqi, Xinjiang, on June 3 1992, Dilraba Dilmurat, better known as simply ‘Dilireba’ ( 迪丽热巴; 迪麗熱巴), is a Chinese actress, model and singer. [...]
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Action Actress JuJu Chan on Her Path to Hollywood
From starring alongside Michelle Yeoh and Donnie Yen in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny to playing a leading character in Netflix’s hit show Wu Assassins, Hong Kong-born martial artist and actress JuJu Chan seems to be taking the world of cinema by storm.
Having trained from the age of 10, Chan represented Hong Kong in the 2013 Taekwondo World Championship in Bulgaria. Since then, she’s gone on to win the championship in the 46kg category of the WMC The One Legend Thai Boxing competition. What's more she’s a published writer, with two books to her name. We took a moment to find out about her inspirations and aspirations for her blooming career.
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JuJu Chan demonstrates her martial arts skills at Hybrid MMA & Fitness Gym in Central.
Hair by Cannis Chan for BRUNEBLONDE and makeup by Kayan Lo.
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Sonal Chouhan:- skin and hair care routine amid SARS COV-2 Lockdown
Sonal Chouhan divulges her lockdown skin and hair care routine Words:- Kartikya for TMM Sonal Chouhan has been indulging in a simple skin and hair care routine during the lockdown. In a conversation with TMM online, she talks about her quarantine beauty regime and shares tips on how people can nurture their skin and hair […]
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Radhika Madan: If you can’t go out, let’s go in
Words: Deepali Singh Radhika Madan | Our cover girl is ensuring she comes out as a better human being and artiste once the Coronavirus crisis is over. From learning how to bake a cake to taking acting workshops online, Radhika Madan has been keeping herself positively distracted in these tough times. Living alone in Mumbai, […]
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Celebrating every woman: Katrina Kaif
The Sizziling Katrina Kaif : TMM Cover pride Words: Deepali Singh Some of the oft-used words used to describe Katrina Kaif over the years – apart from ‘gorgeous’, of course, – are ‘professional’, ‘hardworking’ and ‘passionate’. You can see all of that in her journey to becoming one of the top actors in Bollywood today. […]
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Exploring Love Aaj Kal with Sara Ali Khan & Kartik Aaryan
Words by Deepali Singh Sara-Kartik: All about Love Aaj Kal It’s that time of the year when love is in the air again. And who better than the nation’s sweethearts, Sara Ali Khan and Kartik Aaryan to talk about all things love Aaj Kal! The lead pair of filmmaker Imtiaz Ali’s intense, romantic […]
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Getting to Know Hong Kong Actress and TV Show Host Grace Chan
In Prestige Online’s Getting to Know series, we ask our favourite personalities what they’re like outside of work — and get a little more personal.
Even with a whole host of TV dramas, shows, films, Hong Kong's biggest beauty pageant title, and now her new beauty brand Snow Queen under her belt, Grace Chan is something of a sweetheart. Loved by thousands for her genuine and humble personality, the actress is well known for being honest about her personal life too. Thanks to her Instagram, her marriage to Hong Kong actor Kevin Cheng gave us major #CoupleGoals and images of her adorable son sparked broodiness across the nation. But what is Grace Chan like in real life? We took a moment to chat to her to find out.
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
The most boring thing you can think of: brushing my teeth and washing my face.
What’s a normal weekend like for you?
In the afternoon, I love going to the park with my husband and my son. At night, we usually do dinner at home with my parents and his mom.
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What’s your favourite emoji?
Any colour heart.
What book are you reading right now and what’s on your list to read?
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg . I'm waiting for my order from Book Depository: This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay.
What are you most likely to order for delivery?
Dinner... and books. For dinner, most likely Vietnamese. Banh mi on a hot day and pho on a cold day.
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What do you like to do to relax?
Reading, binging on Netflix, or baking.
Tell us something that not too many people know about you.
The most hardcore addiction I ever had was watching WWE [World Wrestling Entertainment] in high school. I even went on a road trip from Vancouver to Portland, Oregon with a girlfriend to watch a pay-per-view. We had second-row seats.
What’s a guilty pleasure of yours?
Eating cake in bed at midnight.
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Have you ever had a fan-girl moment? If so, who was it?
Meeting my favorite WWE wrestler Shawn Michaels (at aforementioned pay-per-view) after waiting an hour and a half in the rain. I couldn't speak... it’s something I regret to this day.
What’s the strangest or most horrible thing you’ve read about yourself on the internet?
That I’m not my parent’s biological daughter. Hurtful — a bit, but definitely strange for people who don’t know me to make up accusations like that.
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Tell us what you have going on at the moment.
I recently launched my first personal care brand: Snow Queen! I'm really proud of this moment because we’ve been working on it for quite some time. We’ve only started with one product thus far — premium quality facial cotton pads — but we’re getting some positive reviews and hopefully this means we can keep expanding the brand further!
To date, what do you consider your greatest accomplishments?
Being married to the man of my dreams and having a wonderful family with him.
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The post Getting to Know Hong Kong Actress and TV Show Host Grace Chan appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.
Getting to Know Singer, Song-writer and Actress Meg Donnelly
In Prestige Online’s Getting to Know series, we ask our favourite personalities what they’re like outside of work — and get a little more personal.
The rising star of ABC comedy, American Housewife, Meg Donnelly is so much more than just a pretty face. The 19-year-old has already played as the female lead in Zombies, and recently released her singles "With U" featuring Fetty Wap, and "Digital Love", and there's no sign of her slowing down in the limelight. We get a chance to chat with the budding celeb to get to know what it's like outside of work.
What's the first thing you do when you wake up?
Get ready for work; brush my teeth and take a shower.
What's a normal weekend like for you?
During the day, I hang out with my friends, go hiking, go to flea markets and the beach. At night, dinner and dance parties with my friends (and laughing is a must!).
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What’s your favourite emoji?
The blushing smiley face with three hearts around it.
What's on your playlist right now?
I listen to all kinds of music. I have an eclectic taste. There is a little bit of everything … to name a few - The Temptations, Bob Marley, Neil Young, Angie Stone, A Tribe Called Quest, Bell Biv Devo, Drake, Luke Bryant, Sam Smith, Radio Head, Tori Kelly, Beyoncé…. the list goes on and on. I also like finding new artists and showing them to my friends.
Tell us something that not too many people know about you.
I speak Japanese!
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What’s a guilty pleasure of yours?
ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) videos on YouTube.
Have you ever had a fan-girl moment? If so, who was it?
Yes, Chris Hemsworth! I melted when I met him!!
What's the strangest thing you've read about yourself on the internet?
That I said David Hasselhoff was my favourite actor. I love SpongeBob SquarePants, so I guess they just assumed David Hasselhoff was my celebrity crush? But, it’s really Chris Hemsworth.
Do you consider yourself more of an actress or a musician?
Although I do play guitar, I don't consider myself a musician; but I do think of myself as a singer. I have been singing longer than acting, but I honestly can’t choose between the two. I love them both equally!
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What projects do you have coming up that we should keep an eye out for?
I am currently shooting Season 4 of American Housewife (it airs on the ABC Network in the United States and is available on Hulu). I am looking forward to the release of Zombies 2 this year – excited to share Zed and Addison’s continuing story. I just released my first album Trust and will be headlining a music tour this spring! I can’t wait to travel around and meet all the fans at my shows. This will be a new experience for me and I am beyond thrilled!
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To date, what do you consider your greatest accomplishments?
I have been blessed, both professionally and personally, so it is hard to choose the greatest accomplishment, as they all are intertwined. But professionally, I think it was getting the role of Taylor Otto on American Housewife. I will forever be grateful for the opportunity.
The post Getting to Know Singer, Song-writer and Actress Meg Donnelly appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.
Oscar-Nominated Actress Felicity Jones on the Art of Film and Personal Beauty
She’s been a professional actress for 23 years. She’s portrayed a villain, a resistance fighter and a Supreme Court justice. And she’s widely considered the embodiment of inner and outer beauty. Is Felicity Jones the closest thing to a modern-day superhero?
Felicity Rose Hadley Jones became a working actress at an age when most kids are studying algebra rather than studying lines. “Well, my first role was in a costume drama for television called The Treasure Seekers, about a group of children trying to find a fortune to help their single father struggling as an inventor,” she recalls of the 1996 TV movie, for which the then 12-year-old Jones received second billing. “We shot it in a lovely old house just outside of London where there was a huge tree swing, which we would all play on in between scenes.”
A promotional poster shows the young star grinning widely along with the rest of the cast, a sure indication that Jones had found her calling among her fellow thespians. Nowadays that same cheeky smile can be seen on posters and advertisements all over the world, either for her latest blockbuster film -- The Theory of Everything, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, On the Basis of Sex come to mind -- or in her role as global ambassador for Japanese cosmetics brand Clé de Peau Beauté, a position she’s held since early 2018. But how, one wonders, does she manage it all with such grace, such poise and such an unusual lack of personal turmoil?
“I joined a youth drama group when I was growing up, which I absolutely loved,” says the 35-year-old, who grew up near Birmingham in England’s West Midlands. “We learnt about acting in theatre, film and television. I made some lifelong friends there and that’s where I had auditions for professional work.”
At the time, Jones says, she didn’t have aspirations for a Hollywood career. School and schoolwork took precedence, even when it came to her youth group. “I never knew if I’d be able to act professionally, it was just something that I loved doing,” she says. “It was always such good fun and I loved the camaraderie around it.”
Jones continued acting throughout university, appearing in student plays, as she pursued a degree in English literature at the University of Oxford’s Wadham College. Now her portrait hangs in the college alongside fellow alumnae, including actress Rosamund Pike and author Monica Ali, a testament to the school’s “changing faces”.
Following her graduation, Jones appeared in a number of television movies and series in the UK, including one episode of Doctor Who. But before long the big screen came calling. After bit parts in films such as Brideshead Revisited and Chéri, she was cast as the star in The Tempest, directed by Julie Taymor, and Like Crazy, directed by Drake Doremus.
“Like Crazy was a huge experience. Working with Anton Yelchin and Drake Doremus was one of the most extraordinary acting and life experiences I’ve had,” Jones says. “It was the first time I improvised on camera, which I relished.”
It was reported that Doremus and co-writer Ben York Jones put together an outline, 50 pages long, and had Jones and Yelchin improvise off it. Her performance garnered a number of international awards, including Best Female Newcomer at the Empire Awards, Breakthrough Actor at the Gotham Awards, a tie for Breakthrough Performance from the National Board of Review, and a Special Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival. Doremus must have also been pleased, considering he cast her in his next film, Breathe In, opposite Guy Pearce.
Breathe In was released in 2013, but it was following year that could be considered Jones’s breakout. Besides appearing in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as Felicia Hardy, aka Black Cat, she captivated audiences as Jane Hawking, first wife of renowned physicist Stephen Hawking, in the biopic The Theory of Everything. A slew of award nominations followed, including Best Actress at both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.
But Jones is quick to point out that she’s in it for the craft and the challenge, and not the awards or accolades. Over the years, she’s appeared in several plays and is still fondly remembered for her recurring role as Emma Carter in BBC Radio’s long-running soap, The Archers.
“The most important thing,” she says, “is the story you’re telling rather than the medium. Narrative is everything.”
Indeed, Jones has been known to throw herself into a role, whether she’s playing the villain to Tom Hanks’s protagonist Robert Langdon in Inferno or championing women’s rights as legendary Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in On the Basis of Sex.
"I definitely like a challenge and I have to feel creatively invested in the story. I have to care about that person I’m playing in some way. I usually go for things that I can’t stop thinking about a couple of days after reading the script."
Once she decides on a role, Jones goes all-in. “I really enjoy researching a character and understanding the world from their perspective. Physical prep is key, too -- how does that person move?” she says. “Also finding the look is very important: trying on wigs, different costumes. There’s a huge amount of collaboration with creatives in the hair, make-up and costume departments. The approach is both external and psychological. Understanding what motivates that person: Why are they behaving in a certain way? Why are they making certain decisions?”
When it came to her latest big-budget, box-office sensation, Jones found herself studying kung fu among other “forces”. Rogue One saw her introduction as resistance fighter Jyn Erso in a critically praised portrayal that left audiences clamouring for more: the Kids’ Choice Awards, Teen Choice Awards and MTV Movie Awards all nominated her in categories such as Choice Sci-Fi Movie Actress and Favorite Butt-Kicker.
Jones followed up her Star Wars turn by embracing the life story of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the American attorney who championed women’s rights all the way to a seat on the US Supreme Court. “I adored playing Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” she says of On the Basis of Sex, which was released at the end of last year. “I often think of her as someone I would most like to be like!”
Now in post-production, Jones’s next film follows the story of pilot Amelia Wren (played by Jones) and The Theory of Everything costar Eddie Redmayne as they embark on an historic hot-air balloon expedition. “We’re all deeply proud of the film and it was an incredibly innovative story,” she says. “It’s not like anything anyone’s ever seen before. I adored its originality.”
Making so many films back to back doesn’t leave time for much else, although Jones enjoys “swimming, reading, cooking, seeing friends, and going to the theatre and art exhibitions”. She’s also open to looking beyond acting to a more behind-the-scenes role. “I love being involved in all stages of making entertainment. Having studied English literature at university, it feels very natural to be reading books and articles and thinking, could this be a good film or television programme?” she says. “I love exploring this side of production.”
Also keeping her busy is her work with Clé de Peau Beauté, for which she not only serves as muse and spokesperson but also gets involved in its various advocacy and philanthropic programmes. This year saw the establishment of the Power of Radiance, described by the company as “a multi-year philanthropic commitment that honours inspirational women from around the world whose advocacy for women and girls’ education has led to positive long-term impact on lives”.
“It’s an incredible project to be a part of and a highlight was the Power of Radiance event, where women from all over the world were brought together to discuss and celebrate the importance of female education,” Jones says of the global launch event in March in Tokyo honouring the programme’s first Power of Radiance Award recipient Muzoon Almellehan.
Almellehan fled Syria in 2013 and is the first individual with refugee status to be a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador. She spent three years living in refugee camps in Jordan, where as a 14-year-old she went from tent to tent convincing families that their daughters needed an education.
“Muzoon is an extraordinary woman, and her fight for equal education is breathtaking,” Jones says. “She’s articulate and warm and a very strong woman -- an inspiration to be around.” While she may be the “face” that sells Clé de Peau Beauté to audiences around the world, Jones’s involvement in the Power of Radiance programme underscores the fact that she’s much more than meets the eye.
"Beauty is about looking after the inside as well as the outside. It’s about figuring out what makes you feel you and not being afraid to be that person. It’s not always an easy path but true beauty comes from that self-belief."
The post Oscar-Nominated Actress Felicity Jones on the Art of Film and Personal Beauty appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.
‘Still Human’ Stars Anthony Wong and Crisel Consunji on Their Roles of a Lifetime
Anthony Wong Chau-sang cuts a curious figure. The Hong Kong star has arrived for his Prestige cover shoot looking relaxed and ready for action but his attention has been taken by the full-to-overflowing assortment of collectibles that surround us.
They are distinctly “Hong Kong”, ranging from an aluminium-sided drinks fridge of the kind still used in crusty village corner stores to posters of film stars whose names have long faded into history. They’re used for such purposes as the backdrops for vintage-style wedding photos, or for fashion shoots (like ours), and Wong has for the moment been taken by a set of drinks glasses that seem to have transported him elsewhere.
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Jacket by Cerruti 1881 and Shirt by Ermenegildo Zegna[/caption]
“I can remember seeing these sorts of things many times but I’m not sure they were actually in my own home,” says the 57-year-old, smiling. “You know this is a bit like looking at my own history.”
Such reflections have been common for Wong over the past few months. He reveals he has spent a lot of time lately – “Really, a lot!” – thinking back over his life.
Word started to spread about his most recent film -- the drama Still Human from first-time local director Oliver Chan Siu-kuen -- at this year’s Hong Kong Filmart industry gathering in March and about how Wong’s role in it would provide a timely reminder to Hong Kong of his talent.
Arguably, Hong Kong has never really had an actor so able to master the range of roles Wong has taken on, and been acclaimed for, across more than 200 films. Three times a Best Actor winner at the Hong Kong Film Awards, Wong has tried his hand at everything from an utterly psychotic serial killer (Ebola Syndrome, 1996) to a social activist (Ordinary Heroes, 1999), to a simmering triad thug (Vengeance, 2009). His oeuvre makes for a line-up best described as enigmatic, a phrase quite often used when people are trying to pigeon-hole the man himself.
We’re here today as a direct result of that latest star turn from Wong, as the curmudgeonly, wheelchair-bound man who forms a bond with the caregiver played -- to equal acclaim -- by first-timer Crisel Consunji.
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Coat by Alexander McQueen[/caption]
Both actors are being shot, separately and together, and their ease at interplay reflects an obvious closeness the past year has brought, as the journey has taken them from pre-production, to the filming, to the release and on to the reaction to Still Human as it swept the 2019 Hong Kong Film Awards, garnering the Best Actor Award for Wong, Best New Performer for Consunji, and Best New Director for Chan.
“I never really expected it, to be honest,” Wong says, as he waits for his turn in front of today’s cameras to begin. “I didn’t have much on with work. It’s been that way for a while. But I read the script and I just liked it. I didn’t really ask for any money. I thought it would be a small film, nothing more. Now look.”
Still Human has exceeded all expectations since its April release. It was made on a next-to-nothing budget but has returned a few million dollars for investors, giving a beleaguered local film industry a welcome boost of confidence as small Hong Kong filmmakers increasingly find their work buried under a flood of foreign blockbusters.
Back at the start of May, Wong and Consunji, along with director Chan, arrived in Udine, Italy, for the Far East Film Festival unsure of how their film might be accepted by an international audience. They walked away with the festival’s top prize.
Wong also picked up the festival’s Golden Mulberry Award for outstanding achievement, later posting on social media that the Udine experience had been the greatest of his life.
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On Crisel: Top by Celine, Dress by Bottega Veneta | On Anthony: Coat by Cerruti 1881, Shirt and Trousers by Ermenegildo Zegna[/caption]
“This has really been out of all my imagination and all my expectation,” Wong says. “I’ve really been able to feel a truth in the applause, a respect, and that has been really touching.”
Local media have claimed 2019 to be the year that marks Wong’s triumphant return, but if he was hiding anywhere it was in plain sight. There’s been a procession of supporting roles, as well as parts on TV and in theatre, the medium that gave Wong his start.
What has made Wong relatively anonymous, at least in media terms, has been the lack of fanfare surrounding his recent work, ever since an apparent ban was placed on him by Chinese authorities for his support of the 2014 Occupy Central protests.
“I don’t really know,” is Wong’s explanation. “You know, I’ve never officially been told anything. Nothing. So I’ve just been carrying on, you know, living my life.”
Little wonder Wong came out in support of the local community, as it’s one that has always returned the love, ever since he first appeared on the big screen in the Angie Chan-directed My Name Ain’t Suzy back in 1985.
Wong grew up in Wan Chai with his mum, his English father having left when he was a small boy. He worked his way through classes at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts before training at the TVB Studios -- as has been the case for so many Hong Kong actors -- turned him into a ready-made star. Roles in such seminal local hits as John Woo’s Hard Boiled (1992) and the multiple award-winning Infernal Affairs (2002) saw the city take him to heart.
Those hearts were touched with the story of Wong reuniting with his father’s side of his family last year, brought together via social media. His father had passed away but Wong found he had brothers, and a new sense of his own identity.
“So much has happened to me lately,” he says. “I’ve found a new family that I didn’t know I had. It’s like a new chapter for me now, like I’ve turned a page.”
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Jacket by Cerruti 1881 and Shirt by Ermenegildo Zegna[/caption]
Crisel Consunji’s story is almost as old as cinema itself. “It’s sometimes hard to believe it has happened, and all so quickly,” she says. But Tinseltown was built on the belief that dreams can come true, that people can be plucked from obscurity and turned into stars. Just look to the classic 1937 drama A Star is Born, with a young Janet Gaynor playing the actress who appears out of nowhere to become an overnight sensation. There have been three repeat performances, starring Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand and, most recently, Lady Gaga as the unknown hopeful who rises to the top.
Those films, it must be noted, were all about pure fantasy. What lifts the story of Consunji out of mere fiction and into modern reality -- and what gives it a distinctly Hong Kong flavour -- is how she landed her first film role and how the 34-year-old Philippine actress has reacted to the commotion that’s swirled around her debut.
In Still Human, Consunji plays a domestic helper coming to terms with an often difficult relationship with the man she’s employed to care for. But before she won the role -- and before she was named Best New Performer at the Hong Kong Film Awards and was nominated for Best Actress -- Consunji had given the entertainment industry away. Her life for years had become focused instead on the early learning centres she’d opened in Hong Kong with her husband. But then Consunji was discovered, famously now, via Facebook.
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Jacket by Miu Miu, Top and Trousers by Dior[/caption]
“A callout was being sent around the Philippine community in Hong Kong and one particular friend said, ‘I think this has your name on it,’” says Consunji. “It was the nth time that I had received it so I thought, ‘Whatever, let’s go and see what happens.’”
Consunji’s talent won her the part but it sounds as though fierce determination was among the deciding factors. Once she’d read for the role, Consunji realised it was one that would help build on the conversation -- both in Hong Kong and across the world -- about the role domestic helpers and caregivers play in modern society. Then, there was no saying no.
“I really felt, after speaking to [director Oliver Chan] Siu-kuen, that here was a director who wanted to produce a narrative that was fair, that was empowering,” she says. “It wasn’t going to portray my people as people who didn’t have the opportunity to take hold of their lives on their own. Part of the push factor was thinking: what if someone took on the role and didn’t have an understanding? How would the story be portrayed? When the discourse began, who would be responsible to actually give a bit more of an accurate description of the topic? After reading the script I felt like I wanted to be involved, even if I didn’t get the part.”
Consunji’s own narrative begins with a stage career during childhood that took root with Manila’s Repertory Philippines theatre group. Film, back then, was never a factor.
“Those days, there wasn’t a lot of mobility from one medium to another,” she says. “Now, across the world, it’s more fluid. Before, if you worked in the theatre you were labelled, and there weren’t many independent films. My family always told me to remember that this might not be my life or my livelihood. There just weren’t the opportunities.”
At 23, Consunji moved to Hong Kong to take up a role at Disneyland and she would perform there for around three years in such productions as High School Musical.
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On Anthony: Jacket by Cerruti 1881, Shirt and Trousers by Ermenegildo Zegna, Shoes Anthony's own | On Crisel: Outfit by Fendi[/caption]
It’s the type of all-round grounding -- acting, singing, lead roles and support -- that directors cherish. Someone able to fill any vacancy, and with a passion for their craft. It was that emotion -- passion -- that drove Consunji towards the next chapter in her life when she decided her life was ready for a new challenge, and when she talks about working with children it’s impossible not to be swept up in the thrill she finds in helping shape young lives.
“As an artist you live and breathe wanting to bring a little more empathy into the world -- and that’s why I got into teaching,” she says. “That’s how we can make a difference. At our centres every day is a new day and every day is special. Entrepreneurship in Hong Kong is really tough. It really is sleepless nights. Hopefully now I can find a happy medium as I want to do both -- work at our centres and be an actress again. This whole new world has opened up so it’s made me wonder if there’s something here that will allow me to stay true to my values. Now that I’m here I want to learn more.”
Sit with Consunji for any length of time and you’ll walk away convinced that’s how, despite all the acclaim that has followed her debut film role, she seems to have remained so grounded. Over a break during our cover shoot, she recounts how, on returning home to Hong Kong after travelling to Italy for the Far East Film Festival, the mother of one of her students rushed up to her, super excited.
“She said to me, ‘You must be so proud!’,” recounts Consunji. “And I’d been so swept up in the film that I thought she must have been talking about that. But she was talking about the opening of our new school. She didn’t know about Italy or the awards, she was more concerned with real life. So, you know, in terms of getting carried away, I think I’ll be fine. The other side of my life keeps my feet on the ground.”
Photography Ricky Lo | Creative Direction and Styling Anson Lau | Hair Jean Tong for Crisel, Taky Chung for Anthony | Make-up Angel Mok for Crisel | Grooming Jolinn Ng for Anthony
The post ‘Still Human’ Stars Anthony Wong and Crisel Consunji on Their Roles of a Lifetime appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.
Getting to Know Film & TV Actress Eleanor Matsuura
In Prestige Online’s “Getting to Know” series, we ask our favourite personalities what they’re like outside of work — and get a little more personal.
She’s played Yumiko on The Walking Dead and Baron Chau of Into the Badlands, starred in Wonder Woman alongside Gal Gadot and MI-5 with Kit Harrington -- but off-screen, actress Eleanor Matsuura takes on the role of down-to-earth super mum who enjoys bad TV as much as the next person, and still fan girls over the big stars she encounters. Between filming and family duties, we caught up with the British-Japanese actress to find out what she’s up to when she’s not in character.
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What’s a normal weekend like for you?
When I’m in Atlanta [for The Walking Dead], we don’t shoot on the weekends, which is amazing. So weekends are for a bit of line learning, bit of reset and thinking about what shooting schedule I have for next week. But also, I have a family, so my family come with me everywhere. I have a one-year old daughter, and my husband and daughter travel with me when I shoot the show. The weekends are spent with them where I’m being a mum, doing mummy stuff.
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What’s on your playlist?
Good question! Trying to pick my favourite song on my playlist would be agony -- I can’t do that. It would be like "Dessert Island Discs" or something, but I listen to music all the time. I like music when I’m driving to work to film, driving on set to get me in the mood or character. I pick playlists for every kind of moment in the day to match my mood. At the moment, I’m actually going through lots of old music like The Beatles and old Bowie albums; I’m literally going through them album by album because we don’t listen to albums anymore. It’s actually kind of cool to listen to something as a complete concept album, how it was meant to be heard. There’re so many things, so many beautiful albums which I just haven’t appreciated for a long time because you just hear the songs and get used to that. It’s been really cool going back and listening to them as a whole piece.
When you’ve got a night off mum-duty, what are you most likely to order at a bar?
I’m a really big fan of Negroni Sbagliatos -- a Negroni with Champagne. It’s amazing. Other than that, really good wine like a nice white wine or Pinot Noir.
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What’s your guilty pleasure?
Really bad rom-coms, bad TV, and movies from the '80s, probably because when I was a kid I just adored watching them. Any time one was on the telly, I would get completely sucked in. I love them!
Tell us something not a lot of people know about you?
I don’t speak Japanese. A lot of people assume I can because I'm Japanese. It's really awful, but I did try a couple of times to get a tutor to teach me. I got fairly far but then, if you’re not keeping up all the time, it's really, really hard. I’m just terrible at it. My sort-of dream is to get a job in Japan where maybe I live there for a year or two, then I can start picking up the language. I just feel so guilty for saying that because I should be able to speak Japanese.
What are your plans for 2019?
Well, I’m returning to The Walking Dead and the season is ready to go. I think if season 10 gets picked up, I’m sure I’ll be returning to that. That’s kind of the next thing. I’m also doing a play in London, so I’m just finishing that up -- that’s been going on for the past couple of months, which has been lovely. It's nice to come back to London and do something completely different from the madness and intensity of The Walking Dead. Depending on what happens with my return to Atlanta maybe there’ll be more theatre, maybe there’ll be more telly -- who knows really.
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Have you ever had a fan-girl moment?
All the time! I’m terrible, I am constantly in such admiration for other actors. Whenever I join a cast or I do something new and meet a hero of mine, I’m always completely delighted and overwhelmed. I’m working with an amazing actress called Celia Imrie at the moment, and she’s just been in everything [Nanny McPhee, Calendar Girls, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel]. I literally tell her every day that I’m in love with her and obsessed with her. But my big fan-girl moment, which is maybe kind of ‘oh my god’ I can’t say anything -- would probably be Dani Dyer [The Business, Human Traffic]. It's weird how much I’m obsessed with him. He’s doing the next Harold Pinter play that’s coming into the theatre after ours and he came to watch our show a couple of weeks ago and I just sort of ran away. I can’t talk to him because I love him too much. I admire people so much, and I’m always worried I’m going to make a fool out of myself -- I either do or I make an escape.
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Who was the last person you called?
The last person that I called was probably my husband -- not that interesting. Not that my husband isn’t that interesting, he is, but you know, we speak all the time. The thing about being married and having a kid is that your phone is just constantly with you at the side of your ear. We call each other all the time with updates -- 'she’s done this, she’s done that'. We’re constantly FaceTime-ing.
What was the last meal you had?
The last meal that I had was vegetarian ramen last night before the show. It was really good, like proper Japanese food.
The post Getting to Know Film & TV Actress Eleanor Matsuura appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.
The Feminine Mystique of Actress Zhao Tao
The feted film actress explains how she's able to fully become the complex women that she portrays on screen.
The post The Feminine Mystique of Actress Zhao Tao appeared first on Prestige Online - Hong Kong.
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