[2024.11.30] THE LAST DANCE'S KATRINA CHAN HOPES TO PLAY THE LIVING WITH LINES

THE LAST DANCE broke through the box office of HK$ 100 million, Dayo Wong and Michelle Wai thank the audience for their support.
courtesy of singtao.com

Katrina Chan says being recognized after 8 years in the business is a little hard to take, but at least people know now of her existence in Hong Kong show business

Katrina Chan is the model for the cadaver "Hei Man" in THE LAST DANCE

Katrina Chan says seeing her "posthumous photo" in the mourning hall is like an out of body experience
courtesy of mingpao.com

The Michael Hui Koon Man and Dayo Wong Tze Wah starred, Anselm Chan Mou Yin directed film THE LAST DANCE (POR. DEI YUK) has broken through HK$ 100 million box office in just 20 days of release. The leading actors received the good news and personally expressed their gratitude to the audience. Tze Wah god stated that

Tze Wah said frankly: "Actually when the box office has reached half of what it is today long ago, I already felt that I would be able to answer to everyone and breathed a sigh of relief. Even more surprising was hearing that many people got inspiration and encouragement from this movie, and even hearing that some people have taken a step by from the gate of hell and restarted their journey. Thank you to the audience for the encouragement you have given us. I also wish the people on the same ride would able to be energize themselves and properly savor the scenery along the way."

Hui Koon Man pointed out that he quite agreed with a dialogue in the film, "Why care about when to get off the ride, why not properly enjoy the scenery along the way." He believed that Hong Kong was now facing difficulties. Through the good performance of THE LAST DANCE, he hoped that the industry would work together to make good movies.

Currently in Australia to attended THE LAST DANCE premiere there, Michelle Wai Sze Nga thanked the audience for their support from overseas. "I am so happy, so excited, this moment is unforgettable. Thank you to all the audience for stepping into the cinema again to support Hong Kong films, achieving this result truly hasn't been easy. I hope to be able to share it with our team!"

Having worked closely with Chan Mou Yin, Tommy Chu Pak Hong wrote a long article to share his feelings. "The performance of THE LAST DANCE so far, whether it is at the box office, the degree of discussion, and even the audience's praise for yours truly has been really encouraging. For me personally, what I am most grateful for is that I can feel from each audience appreciation show and viewer review that THE LAST DANCE has succeeded in achieving its most artistic efficiency. She has become a channel for most viewers to express their emotions and reflect on life. I would like to express my gratitude to all the audience, their support and spreading the word have also helped us to successfully help many lives move on; and enabled our team's hard efforts to be of use and serve the audience."

An excited Catherine Chau Ka Ye also shared a post, "I'm so excited to be able to share THE LAST DANCE, a movie with a message, which is particularly inspiring as an actor. I know that many viewers have already brushed up three or four times on this work, very supportive of this film that the directors and actors worked together in unity. I think this movie has life, and I can't forget that many viewers who said that they were relieved because of this movie at audience appreciation shows. Thank you very much to so many viewers for your support, and for taking the initiative to share this movie on social media platforms!"

Modeling for the female corpse "Hei Man" in the film, special contract actor Katrina Chan Pui Yan said that she obtained the opportunity to perform in THE LAST DANCE through an intermediary company. Although she knew that she would just model for the mold and she did not have to personally perform as a corpse, she did not mind because she has paid attention to foreign special effect makeup. She really wanted to experience how to become another person through special effect makeup and it was also an opportunity to be recognized, so she agreed without thinking about it. "I didn't worry about bad luck after playing the dead body. I am a Christian, I have a very open view of life and death and I also want to know what state I will be in after death." She said that the process of pouring the mold was not hard, but there was a sense of fear. "First I 'slicked back' my hair and put on a skull cap, and then my entire face was covered with a thick green material. I was so scared at the time, it was pitch black. There was a sense of pressure, and with my allergy I was worried that I would not be able to breathe. The chemical effect pouring the mold created made the material pressed against my head, I felt like I was being strangled around my neck. Then the plaster was poured. The whole process was more than two hours."

Although Chan Pui Yan did not need to "show her face", her hands had a big close-up shot. She joked that after watching THE LAST DANCE she felt that her "fingers" performed well. "It was difficult. Because as soon as I breathed the shot was done for, I had to hold my breath for half a minute to two minutes as soon as the cameras rolled. At first I didn't know how to control, any slight movement led to frequent bad takes. Having to maintain a static state is truly not easy." She joked that when she saw her "posthumous photo" in the mourning hall, she felt like an out-of-body soul. This scene left a deep impression on the audience, which Chan Pui Yan said that she did not expect. "There was no acting and no dialogue, but the audience actually noticed my existence. It was so magical, just like coming back to life after death."

The movie had a famous saying, "The living has to break hell, and the living has many hells." Chan Pui Yan said that she has encountered a lot of "hell", and she had to break through the difficulties. "Since I was little my goal is to be an actor. Back then when I studied fashion design in New York, the process was very difficult. Because my parents had high expectations for me but I was not interested in this subject, I minored in drama. However my parents, boyfriend and friends didn't understand and strongly opposed to me being an actor, so I suffered from emotional illness. I hesitated about my own wishes and felt that life had no meaning, like I was living in hell. After graduating I returned to Hong Kong, I participated in the ViuTV talent show "GOOD NIGHT SHOW - CM QUEEN. The screenwriter minded that I sounded official and didn't reveal any secret, which made the show less entertaining and made me more and more lost. I was another hell."

After GOOD NIGHT SHOW - CM QUEEN, in 2021 Chan Pui Yan decided to go to the United States and Australia to re-learn drama, and did a 17 show run of a play in Australia. She played 5 roles by herself, which was very satisfying. A company there signed her and gradually her self confidence returned. She again returned to Hong Kong to find a stage that belonged to herself. She was very happy to have her current boyfriend's and parents' support. With her passion for acting, she has recently attended directing classes, drama classes and dubbing internship classes, "I am equipping myself for opportunities I haven't had yet. I really like acting, when I was little I often went to the movies with my parents. I really like the feeling of everyone focusing on watching the movie in the pitch dark theater, which brings everyone into another world."

Before Chan Pui Yan performed in THE LAST DANCE, she had guest appearances in I STILL REMEMBER (YI CHI YUN SUN), THE GOLDFINER (GUM SAU JI) and WE ARE FAMILY (CHOOK JO GA YUN). Now she is 30 years old and she is finally recognized, she admitted that she started late and could only slowly catch up. She understood that she could not reach the top in one step. She said, "THE LAST DANCE really helped me break the hell. I entered the industry in 2016, and waited 8 years before someone recognized me. Actors who entered the industry in the same year as me have all been on the top, like Lam Ka Hei (Locker) and (Neo) Yau Hawk Sau; which for me was a little hard to take. I don't know what the film will bring me yet, but at least people know that I Chan Pui Yan exists, and I hope that even more directors will give me the opportunity to play a 'living person' with dialogue."