[2025.02.16] PHILIP KEUNG LEARNS TO HOLD DOWN HIS TEMPER AND BE CONSIDERATE

Although Philip Keung and his wife Yin Ning have arguments on the set, their husband and wife relationship has not been affected

Playing two roles at once, Philip Keung and Jessica Hester Hsuan make laughter together
courtesy of mingpao.com

Philip Keung Ho Man and his wife Yin Ning collaborated for the first time as husband and wife on the Lunar New Year's film HA HA HA HAPPY NEW YEAR. Although the two had arguments, their relationship was not damaged. Used to being an actor, Keung Ho Man also "leveled up" to also be the producer this time. He understood that the success of a movie required the joint efforts of many people behind it, so he learned to be considerate and hold down his temper. Yin Ning admitted that she had selfish intentions as a screenwriter this time, tailor-made a script for her husband for him to play two roles by himself. He was also able to bust out his inner comedic genes, so she hoped that the audience would see her husband's breakthrough and have more aspects.

The Keung Ho Man starred and co-produced with his wife Yin Ning HA HA HA HAPPY NEW YEAR was released on the second slot of the Lunar New Year. The film was their first husband and wife collaboration and Yin Ning's first time as a screenwriter. Many people in the circle do not like to work as a husband and wife or a couple team, fearing that arguments would affect the relationship. Hak Jai felt the same way, but in the end his wife's enthusiasm moved him. "Not just husband and wife, friction from good friends working together would affect the friendship. This collaboration was my wife's idea. She said that she would write a story for me to play. At first I thought she was joking; but the more she wrote, the more serious she became. She even contacted producers in Hong Kong and Malaysia, and finally asked me if I could do it. I was really shocked."

As Hak Jai expected, arguments would happen on the set. He would say out of frustration, "Whatever you say!" Yin Ning said, "I like him like that the least; when I asked him for his opinion, he said that whatever you want, this is not the way to solve the problem." Hak Jai explained, "I gave a lot of opinions, but she said that none were useful." Yin Ning continued: "They really were useless, we couldn't connect. I wrote the script so I know best, when we couldn't connect mistakes would occur." They ultimately left the decision to the director.

Yin Ning believed that working together as husband and wife had its good and bad. She joked that the advantages were saving on transportation money and time and facilitating communication, but the disadvantage was losing personal time. When he worked on a movie before, she was able to take time off. Now she had to complete the behind the work work and even had to go to the set to watch him in production. Hak Jai said that working with people who were too familiar with him, he could not throw tantrums and and had to "hold down" his temper. Indeed they had more friction, but he would very soon forgets it. Would they resist working together again? They said "no" in unison, Yin Ning felt that her husband has made progress after serving as a producer this time. He used to only start from the perspective of an actor, but this time he realized that behind the success of a film was a lot of people who have worked hard at the same time and learned to understand.

Yin Ning admitted that she was selfish and wrote a script for her husband to play, because he has played many roles but he has never tried to play two roles by himself. He played both the good and evil roles, which was quite challenging and allowed his acting skills to reach another level. "I watched more than 100 movies, integrating different elements into one and then adding the strange thoughts of my husband from when he was a child. All of which were written into this script now. I am satisfied with my husband's performance, and I hope the audience can see the other side of Keung Ho Man. He hasn't acted in comedy for a long time, actually he has a lot of comedic genes." Hak Jai expressed that for one person to play two roles was a little difficult, basically he had to appear in every shot and did not get to rest. He said: "I used to be very cheerful, I don't know when I started to be unable to accept my smiling face. Maybe I was too involved in acting, so much so that I couldn't even relax with my family. Now I have to learn to relax slowly."

Yin Ning revealed that if she would write a script for her husband again, he might not be the lead. She wanted him to promote newcomers with auxiliary roles, just like the music video of HA HA HA HAPPY NEW YEAR. She also arranged for him to cooperate with newcomers, "The music video cannot be described as perfect, but to give newcomers more opportunities; if I haven't tried how would I have reference and progress."

Hak Jai joked that he was addicted to being a producer, and he learned a lot of behind-the-scenes knowledge from it. He also thanked the cast and the crew for the help, and he especially admired his wife's calmness in handling matters, "My wife told me to learn to let go, because many things cannot be changed; I can only accept it." Yin Ning said, "When he encounters difficulties during filming, he would be very nervous and not know what to do. I would tell him to calm down, stop for a while, think about it, God will always open another window for you, and then you can do it." Yin Ning had zero knowledge of filmmaking, like a sponge she has been constantly learning and absorbing. She said that she still had room for improvement and must continue to learn.