Hong Kong — Media outlet Apple Daily has reported that Hong Kong actress Kate Yeung has been working as a security guard at a university for the past year.
Yeung, 36 debuted in showbiz in 2002 and has an impressive portfolio. She was once nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Horse Awards and Hongkong Film Awards for her role in 20 30 40. Anyhow it seems that the pandemic and ensuing lockdowns have affected Yeung’s career really badly.
Apple Daily spoke to Yeung and she told the media outlet that she is now working as a security guard. Even before the pandemic started, Yeung had worked part-time in a variety of jobs, from making candles in a workshop, to being a waitress in a restaurant, and as a florist too. The reason why she picked up part-time jobs in these industries was that she wanted to understand more about the service industry. However, the main reason she became a full-time security guard is the pandemic.
“When the pandemic was at its worst, many restaurants were closed, so I felt like I needed to look for a full-time job. When I stayed home and looked at the news, I felt really fearful and ill at ease, and the future seemed bleak. The pandemic has caused much of my work to be cancelled, so, instead of staying at home and letting my imagination run wild, it’s better to look for a job. Because the pandemic was really bad at that time, I chose to work at a university as a security guard. It’s been about a year since I first started.” she said.
The actress shared that she did not mind being a security guard and having different life experiences will help her to improve as an actress too.
“I joined showbiz at the age of 16, and I actually don’t know much about the world outside of acting, and that’s not very good for me as an actress,” she said, adding that she’s gotten to know loads of people from all walks of life in the past year.
Nevertheless, Yeung will be leaving her security guard job now that she has landed a role in an upcoming drama.
“I have to start filming in July, and I do feel a little unwilling to quit,” she said, adding that she’ll continue working till the end of the month.
She went on to share that her sleep schedule improved vastly while she was working as a security guard.
“As an actress, our schedule is not fixed, and we work even on weekends and public holidays. [When I worked as a security guard] I woke up at 5am every day, and though the workload was heavy, I was better at managing my time. I worked hard, and took good care of myself, while filming for YouTube on my days off. It has been a very enriching experience,” she said./TISG