Jessica Hsuan Still Working Hard at the Top

[Oriental Daily 23/09/06]

Still sitting comfortably as the top female artiste at TVB after 13 years, Jessica Hsuan will be terminating her management contract with TVB next month and moving to a 'per-series' contract basis for two years. Never having ventured outside of the TVB shadow before, Jessica says candidly that she is will miss them, but the recent changes in TVB structure has left her unable to adapt and forced into this decision.

Since entering the industry, Jessica has always been in a management contract with TVB. Although in recent years, there are many big names such as Gigi Lai, Charmaine Sheh and Myolie Wu who have joined the TVB family as contracted artistes, for top female Jessica, the news of her decision has been the focus of attention. In a telephone interview, Jessica admits that she has made this move, but says that the relationship with TVB is still okay and if she was unhappy, should would not sign any further contracts with them. Asked if TVB had negotiated hard with her to keep her on their books, she admitted that they were very sincere and covered many angles, but in the two years that discussions have been held, there have been many changes internally and she felt she would not be able to accommodate.

Talking of life outside TVB, Jessica says directly: "Of course I will miss them because I have never left them since I entered the industry and they give me a lot of security under the shadow of the big tree. However, my work will be in the hands of Carrie Ma (ex-TVB Artiste Department Assistant Manager). She has looked after me at TVB for ten years now and she totally understands me from head to toe." After leaving TVB and giving up the top lady position, will her chances of an award at the anniversary show fall too? Jessica says: "I will not think too much about these things. There is always a time to part and it should not be about these things. The question is whether we are compatible. I am not out to achieve anything in particular, I just want to be more comfortable and do the work that I like in order to get on with life." Although Jessica has made this decision, she has still got a lot of attention from TVB and she will still be working hard in the forthcoming 60-episode epic drama "Changing Times".

Jessica has had stomach problems recently and after having a check up, the doctors have found she is suffering from helicobacter pylori, a bacteria that can cause infections in the stomach. She says: "I wasn't feeling very well when I was filming in Singapore and after a scan, they found this condition. However, the doctor says that I should be fine after a further two weeks on medication."

http://orientaldaily.orisun.com/ent/ent_a58cnt.html