[2023.11.01] PLAYING A STRICT FATHER GIVES RONALD CHENG A HEARTACHE

Ronald Cheng praises "son' Sean Wong as smart and a good actor
courtesy of mingpao.com

Ronald Cheng Chung Kei and Sean Wong Tsz Lok in TIME STILL TURNS THE PAGES (NIN SIU YUT GEI) played father and son. Earlier they promoted the film together. Ronald this time held back his funny nature to play a strict father who even physically punished Tsz Lok. With two children of his own, he admitted that he could not bring himself to hit a child. After the rehearsal on the set, he did not feel well inside. "I have made action films and would accidentally hit people, so I was afraid of hitting him. Before hand I had to check everything, ensured that Tsz Lok had protective padding. I would hit myself with the props to see how much they hurt. Then during the shoot I would know how much force to use. Tsz Lok instead told me to hit hard, which would be more realistic and no bad take. In the end we still shot it twice. I was chasing him to hit, and he was able to coordinate. The result was great."

Ronald has asked director Nick Cheuk Yik Him, Papa in the film was highly educated and a lawyer. How could he treat his own children like this? The director said that the strict father character had bipolar disorder, could not control his own emotions. When he was little he too was abused by his father, with beatings and cigarette burns on his arm. Ronald said, "The story didn't talk about my relationship with my father, but if you watched in detail you would see my arms had scars. That tantrum scene in the bathroom was all because I couldn't control my emotions."

In real life, Ronald could not use physical punishment on his children and has not been strict. He has been the exact opposite of his character in the film. "I wouldn't force them to learn to play the piano or anything. If they are interested they would naturally learn. Children would definitely be mischievous, there is no need for physical punishment. I would explain, each time I have told them to do their homework they would pretend not to hear. They wouldn't move until the 10th time. I would do the same, they would ask me 10 times and I still would say wait. Let them see how it feels. Then they would be obedient."

Changing from his genre, Ronald denied that he wanted to transition. He joked, "Very few people ask me to play a drama role, and I haven't played a father at different eras. Since the director dared to use me, of course I have to make it. However the production made my heart ache, for now I wouldn't let the children watch it so they don't know Papa can be so mean." TIME STILL TURNS THE PAGES was a "First Feature Film Initiative" project, so its production budget was limited. Ronald supported new director Cheuk Yik Him and only took the symbolic transportation allowance.

Tsz Lok although took scolding and beating from "Papa", he did not feel rough because his co-star took care of him like a son. Tsz Lok said, "In one scene 'Papa' hit me until I cried and I couldn't leave the character. The director and my Mama said let's call it for the day, but I insisted on continuing the shoot. Because we still had several scenes we haven't shot yet, I didn't want to hinder the production progress. My eyes were swollen from crying. The staff gave me ice, but the director in the end didn't use this scene."

Ronald praised Tsz Lok as smart and a genius. "When I was at Tsz Lok's age I was still a doofus." Tsz Lok with TIME STILL TURNS THE PAGES was nominated for this year's Golden Horse Award Best Supporting Actor. Ronald was happy for his "son" and hoped that he would win; Tsz Lok treated the nomination like an award already and did not dare to think about winning. Winning the 32nd Hong Kong Film Awards and the 49th Golden Horse Awards Best Supporting Actor with VULGARIA (DAI JOOK HEI KET), Ronald joked, "Back then I also won after thinking like that."