Kara Hui, 66, Recalls Being Humiliated By TVB Hairstylist Who Asked: “Who Are You? Are You The Lead?”

You'd think an actress with multiple Best Actress awards under her belt would be well-respected in showbiz.

But that wasn't always the case for Hong Kong actress Kara Hui, 66.

The veteran star recently recalled being humiliated by a TVB hairstylist who looked down on her because she wasn't playing a leading role.

She was so upset she couldn't stop crying while getting her make-up done.

Speaking to host Chen Luyu on Chinese talk show Beyond Trending, Kara said the incident happened around 2005, when she returned to TVB after her movie career hit a slump.

Despite being a Best Actress winner, she found herself playing supporting roles.

"They called us D-listers. Actually, I wasn't really a D-lister. I was the third female lead," she recalled.

On one occasion, the cast was preparing to head out for a promotional event, with the bigger stars given priority for hair and make-up.

Kara waited patiently for her turn, but by the time the other actors had boarded the bus, she still hadn't had her hair done.

With the bus about to leave, a production assistant called to hurry everyone along.

Meanwhile, the hairstylists were sitting around eating melon seeds, reading newspapers and chatting.

Kara approached one of them for help putting on her hairpiece.

"I said, 'Excuse me, could you please hurry and help me? The bus is leaving,'" she recalled.

Instead, the hairstylist rudely shot back: "Who are you? Are you the lead?"

Ouch.

Kara was furious.

"I thought to myself, 'When I was playing leading roles, you were nowhere to be seen!'" she said.

After all, she'd won her first Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress for My Young Auntie in 1982.

A supervisor eventually stepped in to help her put on her hairpiece, but Kara was so hurt by the encounter that she broke down in tears.

"It was basically impossible to apply make-up to my face because the tears just wouldn't stop," she recalled.

"It was like someone had turned on a tap. The tears just kept streaming down."

Thankfully, those difficult days are now behind her.

Kara went on to win two more Hong Kong Film Awards for Best Actress in 2010 and 2017, a Golden Horse Award for Best Actress in 2017, and TVB's Best Actress award in 2019 for The Defected.

Her story struck a chord with netizens, who lamented how differently people are treated in showbiz depending on their status.

"That's how the world works. People treat you differently depending on whether you're famous or not," wrote one.

Another commented: "The entertainment industry is all about fame and fortune."