For years he's been the lightning rod of media criticism due to the numerous links with his female co-stars. But these days, Joe Ma's hitherto tainted image has been scrubbed clean, and he's even gotten the seal of approval from the allegedly difficult Anita Yuen, his co-star in the drama Born Rich.
"I read that she's a very difficult person, but in fact she's very meticulous and cheerful. Our chemistry is very good and we seldom had NGs (no-good takes). Because of that we often wrapped up early!" chirped the Hong Kong actor.
Joe was in Singapore on Tuesday to promote the new serial, which features an ensemble cast including Gallen Lo, Ray Lui, Kenix Kwok and Nancy Sit. In it, he plays an all-too-perfect good guy, a bank executive whose romantic interest is Anita.
Previous reports showed that Joe's good feelings are two-way. Anita commented that despite initial apprehensions, she found her co-star to be easygoing and counts him as a personal friend. The two actors, who each have a son, even discussed parenthood.
He laughed, "What she's going through now, I've gone through before!"
The 41-year-old father has come a long way in rebuilding his reputation in the public eye. His image took one battering after another as rumours about his involvements with co-stars like Michelle Ye, Charmaine Sheh, Flora Chan, Kenix Kwok and Sonija Kwok, piled up.
In 2005, his wife Cheung Sau Lan even took their 10-year-old son and left for France after he was exposed for having an extramarital affair. Joe publicly addressed his mistake and flew to France to salvage the marriage.
These days, the Hong Kong press calls him "a renewed man", something he says he has to thank them for.
But the former policeman joked, "Actually my co-stars nowadays are people I've worked with before. So there's nothing more for [reporters] to talk about!"
The renewed family man says the secret to maintaining his marriage now is spending more time with his loved ones. On his son, "We've always been more like good friends than father-and-son. He even tells me what to do and what not to do!"
"I read that she's a very difficult person, but in fact she's very meticulous and cheerful. Our chemistry is very good and we seldom had NGs (no-good takes). Because of that we often wrapped up early!" chirped the Hong Kong actor.
Joe was in Singapore on Tuesday to promote the new serial, which features an ensemble cast including Gallen Lo, Ray Lui, Kenix Kwok and Nancy Sit. In it, he plays an all-too-perfect good guy, a bank executive whose romantic interest is Anita.
Previous reports showed that Joe's good feelings are two-way. Anita commented that despite initial apprehensions, she found her co-star to be easygoing and counts him as a personal friend. The two actors, who each have a son, even discussed parenthood.
He laughed, "What she's going through now, I've gone through before!"
The 41-year-old father has come a long way in rebuilding his reputation in the public eye. His image took one battering after another as rumours about his involvements with co-stars like Michelle Ye, Charmaine Sheh, Flora Chan, Kenix Kwok and Sonija Kwok, piled up.
In 2005, his wife Cheung Sau Lan even took their 10-year-old son and left for France after he was exposed for having an extramarital affair. Joe publicly addressed his mistake and flew to France to salvage the marriage.
These days, the Hong Kong press calls him "a renewed man", something he says he has to thank them for.
But the former policeman joked, "Actually my co-stars nowadays are people I've worked with before. So there's nothing more for [reporters] to talk about!"
The renewed family man says the secret to maintaining his marriage now is spending more time with his loved ones. On his son, "We've always been more like good friends than father-and-son. He even tells me what to do and what not to do!"
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