Hollywood for Edison?

Electric New Paper
By Chang May Choon

HE has declared that he would 'step away' from the Hong Kong entertainment scene 'indefinitely'.

But can Edison Chen really stay away from the limelight?

What's next for the artiste, after the sex scandal that leaked intimate photos of him with female stars including Gillian Chung, Bobo Chan and Cecilia Cheung?

Chances are, Edison would just shift his base to Hollywood, since he has already been trying to establish himself there as an actor.

He can easily count on his boyish looks and lopsided smile. And he speaks English, since he is born and bred in Vancouver, Canada. He headed to Hong Kong in 1999 to venture into showbiz.

However, he has yet to snag any memorable Hollywood role.

Who remembers that Edison starred in The Grudge2 in 2006?

Even with his upcoming Batman film The Dark Knight, things are not likely to change much since he plays only a cameo role.

Maybe his 'I quit' statement is just his desperate effort at winning public sympathy.

Netizens and fellow showbiz personalities have labelled his act of fleeing the country after the scandal broke as irresponsible, so Edison returning to Hong Kong to apologise in person and announcing his departure from the scene is the right thing to do.

It would be too easy to sympathise with this 'poor boy', whose private photos have been reportedly stolen from his laptop and exposed to the public.

Yet, his apology could work against him as well.

In a poll by popular portal Sina.com.hk, about a third of the 6,210 respondents felt that he was 'putting up a pitiable act and trying to get sympathy', while about 7per cent found his apology 'unforgivable' and that he 'deserved it'.

Then, there was another third who felt that Edison 'showed enough guts and was sincere' and about 20per cent felt he is 'worth forgiving and will continue to support him'. The rest were split between the options: 'He could go Hollywood' and 'No comment'.

Whether he means what he says and stands by his plans is anyone's guess, but it could be a good time for him to leave Hong Kong.

Word has it that the triads want his head, and he might end up with more enemies than friends after this saga.

OUTING THE REST

Declaring that 'I took most of the photos' is as good a silent confirmation of the identities of the seven female stars exposed so far.

The list also includes Rachel Ngan, Candice Chan, Mandy Chen and Edison's current girlfriend Vincy Yeung. Except for Gillian, who has resumed work after admitting earlier that she was 'naive and silly', the others have so far remained silent.

Is it fair to them that Edison's admission outed them?

Mr Ngiam KH, managing director of Rock Records, which was supposed to release Edison's new Cantonese record, has this to say: 'There could have been a better way of dealing with it than to confess that he had taken most of the pictures. He should have kept that as a 'grey area' to protect the victims (the actresses).

'Regardless, he is in a no-win position. No matter what he says, people will still bug him.'