Ada Choi Role Summary
- This comment was probably first posted on Yushy's New TVB Series board .
- The message has not been changed.
- Posted middle of 2001.
- Probably in reply to a comment that Ada's TV roles are always confident and opinionated.
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I have not seen Shades of Darkness so I don't think I can comment on that series. It's no secret that I am a huge Ada Choi admirer. One of the reasons why I like her is because I like her acting and her versatility. I don't really see Ada's roles as being all that similar.
The Revelation of the Last Hero (1992) - have not seen, heard she does not play a good character here.
The Buddhism Palm Strikes Back (1993) - have not seen, heard she does not play a good character here.
All About Tin (1993) - have not seen, saw the preview, looks like she's all soft here (maybe a flower vase role.)
The Link (1993) - ooohhhh.... she's very very good at playing very very bad. I like her performance here a lot.
SO, that's 3 bad roles at the beginning of her career, of which she is extremely good in The Link.
After which followed a series of soft, flower-vase roles before 1995's Romance of the White Hair Maiden which was her first major role. She plays the White Hair Maiden in RWHM which is an eccentric, often cruel but at times emotional character. I liked her performance in this series but I actually don't like this series because I didn't like the lead actor and the script is atrocious.
Then there was Justice Pao in 1995 which I don't think I've seen, so can't comment on that.
After that it's...
- File of Justice V (1997) -- begins as an innocent, naive, insecure Mainlander. After Lee Tong arrives in HK she becomes a prostitute. She's impulsive, indecisive, neurotic, lively and a little wilful. Not terribly opinionated, actually Lee Tong is quite flexible. Although Lee Tong does gain confidence after she leaves the Mainland, she suffers a huge blow at the end of the series and her confidence level plummets. I really enjoyed watching her in this series.
- Unnatural Born Killer (1997) -- didn't see, can't comment
- Secret of the Heart (1998) -- an orphan who grows up to become very money-minded. Diana is a little selfish & calculative in the beginning. Later she learns the value of love and friendship. Diana is an intelligent but not highly educated person. She is not terribly impulsive unlike Lee Tong. She's also not all that lively or wilful. She is rather decisive though. When she does decide to do something, she'll do it. I liked Ada here too.
- Healing Hands (1998) -- Jackie is a nosy person who likes to meddle somewhat in other peoples lives. This is probably the first time Ada's played a really opinionated person. Once she decided that a person or situation is a certain way, it takes a lot to change her mind. Jackie is also intelligent, a professional, can be stubborn, mostly quite selfless and quite bold. I really liked her performance in this series too.
- A Matter of Business (1999) -- Plays a rather prim and proper woman who is fairly conservative. Not highly educated but does work in an office. Not really opinionated, more principled than opinionated. Not really pro-active and not really that confident a character. Her character is very blunt, very frank and hides nothing, I actually enjoyed this series but I know it's style of comedy will not appeal to all.
- At the Threshold of an Era (1999-2000) -- Teen Ling starts out as a very impulsive and fairly lively character. She mellows somewhat later on in the series when her character returns to HK to help Lik (Louis Koo.) Fairly pro-active in the beginning, even Lik couldn't stop her from doing stuff. Later in the series, her character suffers a series of tragic events leading to a huge loss in confidence, something her character never trully recovers from. I actually think she handled her complex character rather well.
- Healing Hands II (2000) -- After Jackie's recovery, her character seems to be more content to live life. She's a lot more mellow than Jackie in HH. While not exactly insecure, she does, however, rely on others more than she would have in HH I.
- On the Track or Off (2001) -- this is actually Ada's kindest character in recent years. Ah Yi is childlike, innocent, naive, kind hearted and giving. Being the middle child in a single parent family, Ah Yi is actually insecure and easily manipulated by her older sister whom she views as an authority figure. She can be stubborn and opinionated but only if she really believes in a cause or a cause of events. Although she does mature and gain confidence as the series progresses, Ah Yi is still not strong enough and succumbs to her emotions towards the end of the series. I also liked her in this series. I thought she was good as the immature, childlike Ah Yi who is forced to grow and forced to be stong.
Armed Reaction III (2001) -- I haven't seen this series but I've seen the preview, the opening theme and several daily trailers. Her character seems to be happy, lively, strong, temperamental, stubborn, confident, possibly unreasonable and possibly opinionated.
There are only 2 series where I'll actually consider her character to be confident and opinionated - Healing Hands and Armed Reaction III.
Actually, her roles in her films are more varied then her TV roles but I'm kind of tired so I won't go into them.
Basically, Ada's played a range of characters. Even the characters she's played in the 1997 to 2001 period aren't all that similar. Not all of them are confident and/or opinionated. The only similarity, IMO, is that they all have some backbone, although they can't all be considered stong. None of those characters, even Ah Yi, is trully wimpy. I actually like that. I don't really like wimpy women characters unless the script calls for it. And I really dislike wimpy women characters which have no reason to be wimpy or are unreasonably wimpy.
enjoy