TVB's ugliest male star - Xa Bao La: Being poor can't do a funeral for his mother, being shunned by colleagues

It seems that TVB actors, no matter how talented, have to succumb to a common problem - low wages. The following male stars are no exception, but leaving TVB has made his life much worse.

As a "green leaf" actor of TVB (a supporting actor), Xa Bao La faced many difficulties to be able to maintain her livelihood. He has participated in many big projects such as Bich Blood Sword, Thien Do Long Ky, Bao La Troi Troi, Loc Dinh Ky... However, his remuneration after each film is too low, less than 7 million VND for each film. 1 project (according to QQ) cannot help the life of the star born in 1959 to change the page. Dissatisfied, Xa Bao La left TVB, looking for acting opportunities everywhere to continue to nurture her passion, as well as to support herself and her family.

Xa Bao La came to TVB's rival - ATV but then failed. Limitations in appearance and beauty made him unable to get a good role, even more regressive than before. In a time of poverty, he was invited by the famous action star Yasuaki Kurata to Japan to film. Realizing this was a rare opportunity, Xa Bao La agreed. He participated in a project called Cong Phu Tieu Tu, but then was asked to play a hot scene with 5 beauties at the bar. Xa Bao La immediately refused, did not want to film because it was not in the commitment and script.

As a result, the male star was forced to act in a movie by a movie investor holding a baseball bat. He recalled and shared: "I can't complain when I'm alone in a foreign land. They can say that I had an accident, got hit by a car to cover it up."

After that, Xa Bao La returned home with all hopes collapsed. So he decided to retire.

Xa Bao La worked many manual jobs to support his family, at an age when he should have been able to relax as a senior in the profession. Xa Bao La worked as a janitor, to a painter to protect. His salary at that time may have been higher than that of TVB, but it was still difficult to cover the expensive expenses.

In 2012, his mother passed away. He did not have enough money to take care of his mother, so he had to rely on sponsors and friends. Many people even hung up the phone and cut off Xa Bao La because they were asked to borrow money. "Going to heaven is difficult, begging others is even harder," the actor recalled.

Pushed to a dead end, he called Tang Tinh Minh, then an employee of TVB. Tang Tinh Minh sent a sum of money to help Xa Bao La. An unnamed person at the station also asked Tinh Minh to give Xa Bao La 30,000 HKD (90 million VND). The gratitude of the old collaborators moved the actor, grateful until now.

It was not until the last 2-3 years that male star Loc Dinh Ky was temporarily stable with a job as a health monitoring specialist.

Recently, Xa Bao La suddenly returned to the entertainment industry in the acting competition program Infinite Transcendental Class. In the program, he had the opportunity to invite some young actors to join him in recreating Loc Dinh Ky as a contest. However, when Xa Bao La proposed, almost no one joined him. Partly because of his age, partly because of his poor reputation, Xa Bao La was completely ignored, to the point that he had to "fire" the atmosphere of shame by fixing his glasses.

Later, Hua Wei Chau was the first actor to accept to join him, but because there was only one person, the Loc Dinh Ky competition could not take place. Leaving all her work to participate in the contest, she did not expect Xa Bao La to receive a bitter result, and had to leave in sadness. However, many viewers have praised the male star U70 for his poise, intelligent way of talking, showing remarkable life experience. In particular, the sentence "I spent 20 years playing a supporting role, and if someone still misses me 20 years later, it's a success" touched netizens.

However, back to reality, perhaps the entertainment industry has once again "teased" Xa Bao La's sincerity, extinguishing the dream of conquering the acting peak that he had failed to pursue... especially until now, next to him is still his family, an invisible strength for this talented but unlucky artist to continue to nurture happiness.

At the end of May 2019, the organizers of the Taipei Film Festival announced that Xa Bao La was nominated for "Best Actor" in the short film category for The Old Man and the Dog. When contacted by a number of Hong Kong newspapers for an interview, the actor always chooses a location at the market where he works.

Xa Bao La said that she has not been a market guard for a long time. Every day he gets up at 4am to go to work. His job is messy, from keeping order to fixing clogged pipes, solving when old people and children get lost, catching thieves...

Xa Bao La loves her job, never feels lowly. He considers this job his main job, sometimes playing small roles in movies and TV shows.

When knowing the nomination "Best Actor", Xa Bao La was confused and did not believe it. "That night, I lay down thinking what would happen in the future, how would I meet other people? But then I told myself not to work too hard to think about what to do, I still get up at 4 am to go to work," he said.

In The Old Man and Dog, Xa Bao La's character is an old man with terminal cancer. In the midst of trying to find an end, his grandson brings back an abandoned dog. The old man and the dog found warmth in each other, giving each other the motivation to live.

According to HK01 on December 25, the 63-year-old artist recently quit her job as a security guard to go to Hangzhou, China to film Memories Beyond Horizon - a TV show about the necessary skills of an actor. He was isolated for eight days, then worked with his team for three days. Despite having to be isolated, Xa Bao La is happy because of the high remuneration. "Working for three days, I get a six-figure salary, you can't earn that much in Hong Kong," said the actor.

Xa Bao La said that because of a business trip, he and his wife - Inday - rarely left each other. The artist hopes to earn more money to organize a wedding to compensate for his wife, buy her a diamond ring. The two lived together for 30 years, had a son, Inday from the Philippines, went to Hong Kong to work as a maid.

The actor said that Inday and him experienced the most painful days of his life. Thanks to his wife's company and encouragement, he felt warm. In the early 2000s, after her contract with TVB expired, Xa Bao La lost her job and relied on social allowances to get by. A few years later, Xa Bao La's 5-year-old grandson (who has a daughter with his ex-wife) died in a traffic accident, making the actor even more miserable.