#SHOWBIZ: HK actor Sammy Sum once lived on RM27 a day
HONG KONG: Actor and businessman Sammy Sum, renowned for his role in the 2014 crime drama Line Walker, has spoken candidly about the financial difficulties he faced during the initial years of his career at TVB.
In a recent interview with fellow actress Lee San San on her YouTube programme, the 42-year-old disclosed that his monthly salary was once as low as HK$6,000 (RM3,243).
Of this, HK$4,000 (RM2,162) was spent on rent for a flat in Tsim Sha Tsui, leaving him with just HK$2,000 (RM1,081) to cover all other living expenses.
To make ends meet, Sum undertook part-time jobs, occasionally borrowed money from friends, and limited his daily expenditure to no more than HK$50 (RM27).
"I used to walk from Tsim Sha Tsui to this barbecue shop in Mong Kok to buy two meal boxes for HK$20 (RM10) each.
I was surviving on HK$50 a day," he recalled.
"As long as I had a bed to sleep on, I was fine. I could chase my dreams with a simple heart, and that alone made me happy."
Sum, who joined TVB in 2006, first gained recognition for his performance in the 2011 series Lives Of Omission.
His breakthrough arrived in 2014 with the crime drama Line Walker, which earned him a nomination for Most Improved Male Artiste at the TVB Anniversary Awards.
The actor subsequently signed an exclusive deal with Emperor Entertainment Group in 2022, after his TVB contract expired in July 2021.
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