[Interview] Can't hurry me on love: Hong Kong TVB actress Charmaine Sheh.

[Interview] Can't hurry me on love: Hong Kong TVB actress Charmaine Sheh.
Cr. - http://www.asianewsnet.net/

Hong Kong TVB actress Charmaine Sheh is perfectly content with her current bachelorette status.

Even though many of her celebrity counterparts have tied the knot or had babies recently, she insists that she feels no pressure to do the same soon.

In an interview with The Straits Times at the Shangri-La Hotel recently, Sheh, 36, says in fluent Mandarin: "I am happy for all of them but, no, I don't feel any pressure to move on to the next stage in life myself.

"What I do have to complain about, however, is that I have to give out so many hongbao as gifts. I'm on a hongbao roll these days."

She quickly adds with a chuckle: "I am not too worried though because I am confident I will get all that money back one day when it is my turn to get married."

Sheh, who says she is not dating anyone at the moment, was previously linked romantically to fellow TVB stars Kevin Cheng and Ron Ng.

Some of her famous friends who got married this year include singer-actress Karen Mok and fellow TVB actress Sonija Kwok, while actress Ada Choi and actor Raymond Wong became first-time parents.

Fortunately, Sheh says, her mother is quite easygoing when it comes to her love life and has not been bugging her about marriage. Her father died when she was five years old.

Having said that, she concedes that dealing with her paternal grandmother on the subject is more "difficult".

"My grandmother is 98 years old this year, so I can understand why she would want to see me married off soon," she says.

"But every time she starts asking me about marriage, I will try to push my brothers to her instead and get her to focus her attention on them.

"Both my brothers are married, so they can talk to my grandmother about all the marriage-related things that they want."

Sheh was in town to attend the Asian Television Awards, where she bagged the Best Actress in a Leading Role award for her portrayal of a spoilt princess in the period comedy series Can't Buy Me Love.

Though she says she "truly enjoyed" playing that part, she is eager to "break new ground" and play a villain.

"I really want to play a baddie. Like a really, really, really bad one.

"I'm not sure why I haven't been offered such a role yet but I think I might be proactive and ask for it soon."

Sheh, who signed a full-time acting contract with TVB in 1997 after placing third in the Miss Hong Kong beauty pageant that year, has since become one of the most recognisable faces on Hong Kong television.

She has appeared in more than 30 TVB drama serials, including the hit period drama War And Beauty (2004).

Her multiple, cross-generation roles in the drama Maiden's Vow (2006) won her the coveted TVB Anniversary Best Actress Award.

In May this year, however, she decided not to renew her contract with TVB and shifted her focus to mainland Chinese productions. Working hours in China are shorter than at TVB and the pay is reportedly higher too.

She is open to acting in TVB shows on a per- drama contract.

Asked if she left the Hong Kong station to pursue more money, she adamantly denies it, saying: "I did it because I wanted to try something new.

"Anyway, I will still do TVB dramas when I am given a good script, so it's not like I left TVB completely. For me, it's more important to go with a story I like and find a role that I want to play."

She pauses, then says with a laugh: "And for those people who keep on saying that TVB doesn't pay well, it's not true. Its salary can still buy you a flat."