Popular ‘80s Taiwanese Singer Fang Wenlin Couldn’t Find Work For 2 Years; Even Got Rejected By A Producer When She Asked For Help
For those not in the know, the star was outrageously popular in the ‘80s.
Toh Ziyi
26 May 2022 at 15:00
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Fang Wenlin'80s
For veteran Taiwanese star Fang Wenlin, 56, showbiz can be best described as a long and winding path.
The singer-actress first made her debut as one-third of girl group Feiying Trio in the '80s, alongside fellow stars Annie Yi and Donna Chiu. Back then, Wenlin dazzled with her sweet demeanour and girl-next-door looks.
Wenlin's in pink, while Annie's in blue and Donna's in yellow.
As a singer, she released a total of 10 albums between 1987 to 1998, before taking a step back from the spotlight to focus on married life after tying the knot with fellow singer Yu Guanhua in 1996.
Unfortunately, their marriage ended in divorce, after Guanhua was caught cheating in 2006.
From left to right: Wenlin's mum, Wenlin, and her two daughters.
Wenlin managed to get custody of their two daughters, and began life anew as a single mother.
She also started focusing on acting instead. In 2005, she picked up a Golden Bell Award for Best Actress. However, Wenlin was faced with an inexplicable slump in her career soon after.
During a recent appearance on Taiwanese television producer Wang Weizhong’s radio show, Wenlin shared more about her struggles.
Weizhong and Wenlin.
For two long years, Wenlin could not find any work. As a result, she had no income at all.
The singer-actress fretted over why no one “was looking for her”, before deciding to summon up the courage to cold-call a well-known producer.
Wenlin then asked the producer, who worked as an artiste manager as well, if they were interested in signing her. However, she was faced with a polite rejection from the producer.
Thankfully, her fortunes took a turn for the better after that.
After hearing Wenlin’s story, Weizhong could not help but exclaim incredulously: “But Fang Wenlin was outrageously popular back in the day!”.
Unfortunately, that’s just how showbiz works.
Weizhong shared that he could relate with Wenlin's woes.
He added that whenever young people ask him if showbiz is a viable career, he would reply: “When you’re popular, it’s full of hardship. When you’re not popular, it’s very tough as well. The period when you’re in-between the status of being ‘popular' and ‘not popular’ is the toughest. If you feel like you’ll die if you don’t join showbiz, only then [should you] give it a try.”
