Chilam Cheung (張智霖) may not like the idea of acting alongside his wife Anita Yuen
(袁詠儀), but doing reality shows is a completely different story. “I get
to be myself with herself. Every new thing we try becomes an important
moment for us,” said Chilam.
Recently, the actor guested on an episode of Christine Ng’s (伍詠薇) cable talk show Miss Five: Taste of Life
<伍姑娘真識食>. Being friends for many years, Christine and Chilam
talked candidly throughout the show and revealed many interesting
tidbits of their own lives.
On the episode, Christine admitted to
Chilam that she was almost “sponsored” by a wealthy businessman when she
first debuted. With a smile, Chilam said he never received such sponsor
offers before, but joked that he is open to it. “If that person gives
me $500 million I’ll consider it.”
Together for over twenty years, Chilam
and Anita secretly married in 2001 and had their son, Morton, in 2006.
Though Chilam and Anita starred as a couple in the Taiwanese drama The New Judge
<草民縣令> in 2001, they have been hesitant to act alongside each
other ever since. Chilam even professed that he would never act with
Anita again.
“When we act together, it gets even more difficult to get out of character,” explained Chilam. “We shot a fighting scene together once, and we couldn’t get out of character. We stayed mad at each other even after work.”
However, Chilam and Anita broke their
work and family barrier and decided to try doing reality shows together.
The couple are currently regulars on the Chinese reality show With You All the Way <一路上有你>, and have been so for two seasons.
Asking if they agreed to do the variety
show because of money, Chilam admitted, “Money was never the issue. It’s
different from acting. In reality shows, we get to be ourselves. Every
new thing we try becomes an important moment for us.”
When speaking about his 9-year-old son
Morton, Chilam happily said, “He told me that he has a girlfriend and is
already thinking about having kids of his own. He wants to earn enough
money to take care of his family!”