Charmaine Sheh “Almost Died” When She Went Without Sleep For 5 Days While Filming A TVB Drama

Despite "knowing nothing about acting" when she first started, TVB had high hopes for her and Charmaine landed her first lead role in 1999 period drama The Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain.

However, producers were worried that she would not be able to handle the pressure of being a leading lady, so they arranged for her to play Mark Kwok’s wife in drama Time Off first to familiarise herself with acting. But due to her lack of experience, Charmaine was unable to immerse herself in the role and could not cry when the scene demanded it.

Things did not improve on Flying Fox of Snowy Mountain. Charmaine revealed she was criticised for her poor acting and soft, squeaky voice. “[The crew] said my voice was very soft and light, and the sound man said ‘Can you speak louder’. I replied ‘Okay’, but I was still very soft,” she recalled.

In her 14 years in TVB, the Hongkong actress starred in numerous dramas and is one of the few actresses to win Best Actress twice: in 2006 for rom-com Maiden’s Vow and in 2014 for Line Walker. But looking back, she admitted that filming wasn't easy.

“We shoot the outdoor scenes in the day and in the studio at night. If you are the lead actor, you will have both studio and outdoor scenes, [so you can be filming] for 16 to 18 hours [a day]. This is why they say that those from TVB are all made of iron,” she shared.

“I feel it’s very good training. After going through that, when you go out into the world, nothing fazes you."

In fact, TVB's 'training' was so good, she once went without sleep for five days when filming 2003 period drama The Voyage of Emperor Qian Long to Jiangnan.

“I almost died, I was close to dying, really,” she said, adding that after that incident, she “just could not put on weight” regardless of how much she ate. And we thought it was because of this reason.

Since leaving TVB in 2011, Charmaine has been furthering her career in China. Even though she’s now regarded as an A-list actress there, she says that doesn’t mean she's guaranteed the best roles. “I may be in the top tier in China, but I don’t always get the good dramas ‘cos it is very competitive [there] and I can’t speak Mandarin [well],” she said.

But she did land a role in the hugely popular Story of Yanxi Palace, which catapulted her career to a new peak. Makes all that hard work and sacrifice worth it.

Photos: HK01.com, Charmaine Sheh/Weibo