Golden Bell Awards: Introduction to the Nominees For Best Actor. Two Veterans and Three Youngsters

Every time 張晨光 Chang ChenGuang transforms or changes his style, he takes home a Golden Bell Award-- just to prove that "he can." After he won his first Golden Bell Award for his role in 京城四少 [Jing Cheng Si Shao] [The Four Brothers of Peking], he went for a big change, clenching his teeth and learning to speak Taiwanese (Hokkien / Minnan). The result of his effort? He earned another Golden Bell Award, this time for his performance in FTV's Taiwanese language drama, 日正當中 [Ri Zheng Dang Zhong] [The Sun is In the Center]. He was able to stand on stage ("tai") for his very first Taiwanese ("Tai") performance! After filming his share of Taiwanese language dramas, Chang ChenGuang signed on to film CTS' 歡喜來逗陣 [Huan Xi Lai Dou Zhen] [Your Home Is My Home] and appeared on the list of nominees for the Golden Bell Award yet again; his name is not missing on this year's list. Your Home Is My Home is actually a comedy; Chang ChenGuang plays 黃飛鴻 Huang FeiHong's descendent, a fortune teller named 黃輝鴻 Huang HuiHong. For many actors, acting well in a comedy is much harder than acting well in a tragedy; Chang ChenGuang proves once again, however, that it is still the "old" ginger that is the "spiciest."

Meanwhile, 雷洪 Lei Hong is "caught between" his big wife and his little wife, 劉秀雯 Liu Xiu Wen and 朱慧珍 Chu HuiZhen, in the Taiwanese language drama 娘家 [Niang Jia] [Family Home]; he also has to deal with the troubles of his sons and daughters. In real life, Lei Hong is also a "big man"-- with four wives and seven sons. In order to prevent his house from becoming a hothouse for trouble, Lei Hong even set a rule: "I won't spend the entire night in any one wife's bedroom." Perhaps because he identifies so strongly and personally with his character, Lei Hong was able to deliver a high-quality performance which captured the hearts of the audience. Lei Hong began filming at age 20; now, he is already 60. Five years ago, Lei Hong received a Golden Bell Award for Best Male Supporting Actor (for his role in 李岳峰 Li YueFeng's 家 [Jia] [Home]); if, this year, he takes home the big prize-- for Best Male Actor-- one can say confidently that, the older he gets, the more smoothly things go for him.

Since Eddie Peng YuYan's debut, he has already been nominated for both the Golden Bell Awards (for 2005's 我只在乎你 [Wo Zhi Zai Hu Ni] [Only You] and the Golden Horse Awards (for his 2007 movie, 基因決定我愛你 [My DNA Says I Love You]). Although he has yet to take home an award, he has at least proven that he doesn't rely solely on his handsome face. In this year's 我在墾丁*天氣晴 [Wo Zai Ken Ding*Tian Qi Qing] [Wayward Kenting], Eddie brought to life a sunny boy-- the "fine weather" in Kenting-- who uses all of his passion and enthusiasm to move the dismal and gloomy "rain never stops" girl played by Janine Chang JunNing. He successfully shed his "Western" style and flavor, a result of his growing up overseas and was able to grasp and portray the subtle nuances of a man who grows up because of love.

張 善為 Chang ShanWei is famous for hosting children's entertaiment shows and variety shows; when filming the Hakka educational drama 菸田少年 [Yan Tian Shao Nian] [Tobacco Field Youth], there certainly were a few "exaggerated" instances and situations. However, he was quickly able to change his 苗栗 MiaoLi county accented Hakka into the 美濃 MeiNong township accented Hakka required by the drama and script, and he successfully took on the role of the handsome young 阿發 AhFa. In one scene, he dreams of the girl he loves, resulting in a "wet dream." The next morning, when he wakes up, he is so disoriented and alarmed that he hurriedly thrusts his soiled underpants into his bookbag. Chang ShanWei was able to bring out that type of awkward, embarrassed, and disheartened perfectly. Although filming for the drama has already wrapped, Chang ShanWei has not yet been able to "walk out" of his role. He keeps asking the staff, "Should we film a sequel?"

In the Hakka drama 大將徐傍興 [Da Jiang Hsu PangXing] [General Hsu PangXing], 溫昇豪 Wen ShengHao plays a real person from Taiwan's past and history. Actually, in the beginning, Wen ShengHao was only interested in playing the early, younger days of Hsu BangXing; he didn't want to be "made up" as the older Hsu. In the end, however, he challenged himself with a plot that took him through youth, middle age, and old age. In a scene so simple as getting up and out of bed, the combination of Wen ShengHao's facial and body expressions was amazing and exceeded all expectations.