Acting out her true self

Much like every young girl, actress and Miss Chinese International 2012 Kelly Cheung Hei-man once dreamt of being a pageant queen.

But she dismissed the idea as she grew up.

Not particularly talkative or outgoing, she preferred hanging out with her guy friends and played in a jazz band in high school.

"I was never one of the pretty and popular kids," she recalled. "I hung out with all the boys, and we would sit on the lawn [in Chicago] and play the guitar."

Though not extroverted, Cheung was a born performer - she often hogged the microphone during family karaoke sessions.

"There was always something in me that led me to where I am now," she said.

Despite her surprising decision to enter beauty pageants, Cheung came to love modeling and now acting.

"Modeling was perfect for me because I didn't have to talk. I didn't really have to show my personality," she explained.

"And acting is actually the opposite of showing my personality. It is the perfect facade to put on because it's never really you."

Outside of work, Cheung is dubbed a "gaming goddess" by people online for her livestreams. "I've always loved gaming because I have a younger brother and we grew up playing video games," she said.

"People like to watch me playing video games, which was weird for me at first, but I'm really thankful that actually a lot of people got to know me from that."

Relocating to Chicago with her family at 10, settling in a new country wasn't easy.

"When I first moved there, I had to overcome the language barrier, so that was tough," she recalled. "Kids are mean at that age. They would make fun of my accent."

Luckily, she had support from 15 cousins, as they were the last of her dad's family to move to the country. "I'm thankful to have my cousins to accept me into life in America."

Cheung's favorite memories from her time in Chicago were the many family gatherings over barbecue, hotpot and potluck dinners.

"It's a life that I enjoyed. Even when I came back [to Hong Kong] on my own, I still love spending time with family."

Back in Hong Kong, she was scouted and started modeling. The childhood dream of pageantry crossed her mind again.

"Pageants were something I didn't think about until I started modeling," she said. "If I won, I could have a title attached to my name, then I could get more jobs."

Her first title was Miss Chinese Chicago. From then on, it was one contest after another.

She went on to represent Chicago in the 2012 Miss Chinese International pageant and was crowned at 21, and then represented Hong Kong in Miss World 2012.

"Even after I won, I was still planning on going back to modeling. I wasn't sure if I wanted to do TV, because I didn't like to talk to people and I didn't speak Cantonese well."

But under her parents' encouragement, she joined TVB as a host for Pearl's Dolce Vita in 2013, and landed her first acting gig in 2016.

"I didn't seek after acting because I felt like I still had a lot to learn while I was hosting," she said, adding she felt if she was given a big role at the start, she wouldn't have been able to handle it well.

"My personality is to just go with the flow. I am not super aggressive and I don't like to commit to any one plan. If something comes [along] I will try, I think that's always been how I am and somehow that has led me here."

Her spontaneity has yielded success. Her latest role is in the TVB hit Legal Maverick II, where she plays Eva Shaw, an antagonist turned into the male lead's love interest.

"Eva is dear to me because I feel for her. She's very closed off and emotional - she has a lot of thoughts and feelings, but doesn't know how and is afraid to show it."

She saw her younger self in Eva. "As an actor, you try to find similarities between you and the character. Everyone has all these facets, it is just a matter of how much."

While Eva was the villain at the beginning, Cheung never saw her in an antagonistic light. Instead, she understood her intentions."I guess if people tell me that they don't like her, then I have done my job," she joked.

She is also glad that the audience has taken note of Eva's progress. "I'm not afraid to say that I improved a lot; I think I did a pretty good job. But in terms of awards, it's a bit early for me to get best actress. I would be happy to just get into the top five."

Though her character was always chasing the male lead, she revealed that some of her favorite scenes were with Owen Cheung Chun-long, who plays Gogo, Eva's admirer.

"Though not in the script, I think Eva is a smart girl. She knows how much Gogo has done for her and how true his love is for her."

The finale of Legal Mavericks II will air on TVB Jade at 9.30pm on December 24.

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