Sheren Tang
Sheren Tang Shui-man is a Hong Kong actress. She is best known for her roles in the mega-hit Hong Kong TVB drama series War and Beauty, as well as La Femme Desperado, The Family Link, Rosy Business, and No Regrets, being the first Hong Kong actress to win the Best Actress Award in two consecutive years for the latter two.
She joined TVB in 1985, beginning her acting career as the female lead in the series Legend of the General Who Never Was ''. Throughout the late 1980s, she rose to fame for her roles in many popular Hong Kong television series including wuxia dramas, New Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre and Ode to Gallantry. She joined the television network ATV in 1996, filming several series including The Good Old Days and I Have A Date With Spring.
Tang returned to TVB in 2000 and gained massive popularity for her role in War and Beauty. She became the first actress to win TVB's My Favourite Powerhouse Actress Award two years in a row for this role and for The Threat of Love 2. Tang continued to outdo herself with her roles in Rosy Business and No Regrets, which won her multiple awards in various countries. She has since appeared in Chinese series including New My Fair Princess and Star April before returning to Hong Kong television in 2018, filming a series for ViuTV released as Till Death Do Us Part''.
Early life and education
Tang was born in 1966; her mother was 17 at the time. She was left with her paternal grandparents as a baby and her parents divorced when she was 5 years old. She has one paternal half-sister. Her ancestral hometown is Nanhai, Guangdong. Tang attended Heep Yunn School from primary to high school. She rarely saw her parents when she was growing up and credited her conversion to Christianity in 2005 in mending the estranged relationship between them later in her adulthood. She was later made president of the Hong Kong Artistes Christian Fellowship where many Hong Kong artistes including her co-stars are also members.In 1984, with a nomination from Andy Lau, Tang joined TVB's 13th training course, which was the first year TVB reduced the course from one year to half a year, splitting the course into two semesters. Tang was in the second semester along with Kitty Lai, Aaron Kwok, Maggie Shiu, and Michael Tse. Both her paternal grandparents passed within a couple years after she joined TVB training classes, with her grandfather dying before her first drama had been broadcast.
In 1991, she went to the United States on a student visa to study interior design while continuing to film for TVB during her study breaks. During this time, she considered quitting the acting industry and moving to the United States permanently. However, when she returned in 1994, she ultimately decided to stay in Hong Kong and continue acting, as there were more interesting roles for women being offered at the time.
Career
1985-1995: Rise to fame at TVB
Tang joined TVB's 13th training class. After her graduation in 1985, having only done a few commercials, Tang was cast in her first role as female lead in The Legend of the General Who Never Was replacing original lead Maggie Cheung who was asked to take over Barbara Yung's remaining scenes in Battlefield, and King of Ideas a.k.a. The Feud That Never Was soon after Yung's death. Tang would go on to play first or second leading roles in the first few years of her career, sometimes touted as Barbara Yung successor due to Tang's comparable beauty, and look.Tang was cast in comedy series Happy Spirit where she acted alongside Carol Cheng as her younger sister. She starred as Chow chi-yeuk in New Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre, the 1986 adaptation of The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber novel. She played Ching Yuet Yue in Police Cadet 1988, the second sequel to the widely popular Police Cadet series.
In 1989, she was featured in five series, three of which she starred alongside Roger Kwok; The Vixen’s Tale, I Do I Do, and The War Heroes. That same year she was cast in Ode to Gallantry, a Wuxia comedy based on the famous novel, where she starred as the character Ding Dong, reuniting with Police Cadet and New Heavenly Sword and Dragon Sabre costar Tony Leung. In 1990, she was cast as Fong Hei Tung in the series Friends and Lovers alongside Teresa Mo. Tang had let producers know that she was interested in working with Mo if given the opportunity prior to her casting and has stated that she is extremely grateful to have been cast in the series.
Her first supporting role was in the 1994 series The Intangible Truth where she starred as the sister to Roger Kwok’s character. The role was originally a guest role but subsequently became a significant character for the first half of the series. That same year, Tang played Tong Man Yung, best friend to Amy Chan’s character in popular series at the time, Fate of the Clairvoyant and starred as Kam Yik Lin in the comedy Filthy Rich.
In 1995, Tang played Joyce Yan, a forensic pathologist in File of Justice IV, the fourth installment of the popular File of Justice series She also starred as ICAC officer Poon Wai Yan in the female-led drama Corruption Doesn't Pay, alongside Esther Kwan and Kiki Sheung.
1996-1999: Move to ATV
In 1996, Tang signed a one-year contract with ATV, filming over 200 episodes in a span of one to two years. She starred in the 1996 adaptation of I Have A Date With Spring as Yiu Siu Deep. While the drama did not attract many viewers in Hong Kong, it was a huge success in mainland China and the series has acquired a cult following. The role is considered one of her earlier representative works in China and Tang has continued to appear on dozens of variety programs and award shows performing songs from the series. She also reunited with costars Amy Chan, Kiki Sheung, and Maggie Shiu in one of the few popular ATV series The Good Old Days. She was also in the drama Interpol released in 1997. When her contract with ATV ended, she went on to act in several Taiwanese drama series. In 1998, she also appeared in Liang Po Po: The Movie as a foreign talent from Hong Kong that is engaged as an expert to impart knowledge of the triad to local gangsters like Liang Po Po. In 1999, Tang played a supporting role in the widely popular film Fly Me to Polaris.2000-2008: Return to TVB and ''War and Beauty'' Popularity
In 2000, she returned to TVB and starred in the weekend drama series The Threat of Love, which featured a new plot every episode. It grew to be popular among audiences, particularly for a weekend drama and was praised for its unique and progressive storylines. A sequel was released in 2003.In 2001, Tang starred as a film director, Koi Ying-Jing in Screen Play and as Koo Yiu in the period drama Country Spirit. She went on to play supporting roles in the 2002 drama Good Against Evil and 2003 teen drama Aqua Heroes. Tang appeared as Su Tian Xin in the 2003 Taiwanese series Eternity: A Chinese Ghost Story which featured a large cast from mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
In 2003, she won the My Favourite Powerhouse Actress Award at the TVB Anniversary Awards for the various roles she played in The Threat of Love 2. In 2004, she repeated her win for this award and also won one of the Favourite Television Character Awards for her role in War and Beauty.
Her acting in War and Beauty as Yu Fei, an initially favoured consort who eventually falls from power, was critically acclaimed, making her a hot favourite for the "Best Actress" award in 2004. However, she did not win, with the award being given to Gigi Lai instead. Voting was closed the night before the awards ceremony, with Tang leading by a landslide; thus many people concluded that the "Best Actress" award would surely go to her. Tang, instead, went home with the My Favourite Powerhouse Actress Award. This attracted a lot of public backlash, which prompted the ICAC to conduct investigations into the award show. Her loss is considered and remembered as one of the biggest snubs in the awards show history. Tang said that although she felt a tiny bit of disappointment at the time due to the abundance of support and stated "anyone can get affected by people's words", she also said that she performed her best which audiences recognized and that is already enough for her, comparing an award to a dessert, something that is extra.
She expanded her career to mainland China in 2005 starring in two series. In the same year, Tang starred as So Sam in the costume drama The Prince’s Shadow and was also in the suspense film Slim Till Dead. She made an appearance in a flashback scene as the mother of Dragon played by Donnie Yen in the Hong Kong film Dragon Tiger Gate in 2006.
In 2006, Tang starred as a tough marketing CEO Hilda Hoi, in La Femme Desperado, which ranked number 1 in Hong Kong viewership ratings that year and won the Best Drama Award at the TVB Anniversary Awards. Tang was also nominated in the Best Actress Top 5 category and the My Favourite Female Television Role Top 5 category. In 2007, Tang went on to star in The Family Link where she was once again nominated in the Best Actress Top 5 category. The drama was ranked number 1 in average Hong Kong viewership ratings that year and was nominated for Best Drama at the TVB Anniversary Awards in 2007. That same year she also played a role in The Drive of Life, a TVB and CCTV joint grand production.
She starred as Kelly Yim in Your Class or Mine in 2008, reuniting with her File of Justice and Screenplay costar, Bobby Au Yeung. That same year, in addition to Rosy Business, Tang also filmed two Chinese series.