ARTISTE SPOTLIGHT
TVB Princess - Bernice Liu
Bernice Liu caused a stir recently by posing in a rather
risqué outfit for a tabloid magazine.
Is TVB's princess trying to break the
mould?
As the middle child of three, Bernice Jan Liu (Bik Yi) was born 6th January 1979. She was born and raised in Prince Rupert,
British Columbia on the west coast of Canada along with her mother, father, younger brother and older sister.
Bernice has many talents ranging from dance, to martial arts and of course,
acting. She has been dancing since she was young, has 6 years of experience in tae kwon doe with a
blue belt and 2 years of kickboxing. Bernice completed 3 years of schooling at the University of British Columbia in the commerce
program before entering the Miss Chinese Vancouver pageant in 2000 where her stardom commenced. Known at the time as an obvious
threat to win, Bernice was indeed the took the title and went on to represent Vancouver in the Miss Chinese International
pageant in Hong Kong. At the international pageant, Bernice was thought to have a disadvantage because of her
weak spoken Chinese but with her 5’7” frame, gorgeous figure and competitive
attitude, Bernice won the favour of the judges and was
crowned the winner for 2001. As many of you know TVB often offers contracts to their pageant winners and since Bernice loved
to be on stage and had never tried acting, she decided to give it a shot. Her first appearance was a guest star in the popular
drama “Golden Faith” but her the big break came in 2002 when she played the princess in the well known long-running ancient
costume situation comedy “Virtues of Harmony”. Bernice has also had leading roles in the series “Survivor’s Law” and also the new family comedy
“Love Bond”. She will be in the third instalment of the well-rated doctor drama “Healing Hands” which is yet to be aired and is
currently filming a mystery drama called “Destiny Is You” (Yuen Loi Si Nei) alongside veteran actors Michael Miu and
Michelle Yim.
Having been dubbed “Princess” after her character “Virtues”, in the past 4 years,
fans in Hong Kong and overseas have
grown a liking to Bernice. They have all fallen in love with her sweet smile and happy-go-lucky personality. She is not only
a talented dancer but from her experiences over the years, she has learned a
lot, whether it is being on stage, acting in series and movies or even singing,
making her singing debut on the “Virtues of Harmony” soundtrack released in 2002 with a duet with Frankie
Lam. Her other opportunities to show off her singing talent was in the 37th TVB Anniversary Show where she sung a duet with
Raymond Lam and also in her latest series “Love Bond” where took part in singing the sub theme song
alongside Moses Chan, Michael
Tao and Kenix Kwok. In the summer of 2004, Bernice was asked to appear in some concerts of Canto-pop King Sam Hui. Not only
did Bernice get to dance on stage but she got another opportunity to sing appearing as “Tsim Sha Tsui
Susie” to accompany Sam's classic song. Having done so well, Bernice was rumoured to be one of the favourites of the audience and also
of Sam himself.
Princess On and Off the Screen
As well as being known for her talents and her sweet smile, Bernice has also been known as the rumoured girlfriend of
Hawick Lau and most recently, the rumoured girlfriend of Moses Chan. Rumours obviously started in filming “Virtues of Harmony” with Hawick and “Love Bond” and “Healing Hands 3” with Moses. With both male actors, Bernice believes that having Hawick grown
up in Canada and Moses in Australia, they have a westernized bond but is still insisting they are just friends. As she grew up
in Canada, Bernice imagined herself working at a big office company. Not just that, but she pictured herself marrying and
starting a family at age 24, but after entering the industry, her plans have
completely changed. Now that she is 26 and her career
is just starting to blossom, Bernice says she is very focused on her career and that her love life will come always come after
it. She also says because having grown up in Canada, her Chinese is not that great, she has to work extra
hard to keep up and she has to
thank her father a lot for helping her put all her scripts into pinyin.
Away from the industry, Bernice has still kept up her dancing and has used Pilates to help her stay fit. As Bernice has always
had an interest in musicals and movies. Her favourite movies include: “Singing in the Rain”, “Showgirls”, “Schindler’s List”,
“A Beautiful Life”, “Chicago”, “Moulin Rouge”, “City of Angels”, “Amelie from Montmartre”, “Dirty Dancing”, “Titanic”, “8 Mile”
and “Thelma and Louise”.
Bernie on Bernice
After watching all her series and reading news about her, I really admire Bernice. I first took a notice to her when I
watched “Virtues of Harmony”. It did not hit me that she was the one who won Miss Chinese Vancouver in 2000 until later
on. Sure I knew there was a girl who had won Miss Chinese Vancouver and Miss Chinese International and that she almost has
same name as me, but I did not pay much attention. When I finally realized it, I thought, “Wow that is really neat. She is
from Canada and she is famous in Hong Kong.” As I started to watch “Virtues of Harmony” more and more on Canada’s own
Fairchild TV, I developed a liking for Bernice. I thought she was really cute and sweet looking. I have seen her fan websites,
I have read numerous news articles on her and every time I do, I grow a stronger admiration for Bernice each time. I know that
she is beautiful; I know that she is talented, but those are not the reason I admire her. I admire Bernice for her hard work and
determination. Since the days of her pageants, I have noticed that Bernice has always been confident with what she does. She is
willing to do most of what TVB wants her to do including the numerous charities she has took part in and I think Bernice’s
Chinese has definitely improved since I first saw her Miss Chinese International interview. She has to work extra hard to get
her Chinese right for all her series and with the help of her family and co-workers I think she has shown just that. Having
just finished watching “Love Bond”, it is definitely starting to become Bernice’s breakthrough series considering the high
ratings and popularity in Hong Kong. I enjoyed it myself especially the pairing with Moses so hopefully you did too!
I am very much looking forward to seeing more of Bernice in the future and I hope that her popularity will continue to rise.
Also, be sure to tune into her latest series “Love Bond” and wait for the releases of “Healing Hands 3” and “Destiny Is You”.
Article by Bernie
Picture sources: TVB.com, TVB Weekly
return to main page