Local actor Christopher Lee triumphed at the prestigious Golden Bell Awards, winning Best Lead Actor for his turn as a workaholic husband fighting to salvage his marriage in the hit family drama A Good Wife.
In front of a thousand-strong crowd of starlets and thespians, in the cavernous halls of Taiwan's National Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall on Saturday night, he received his first acting accolade outside of Singapore - at what is known as the equivalent of the Emmys in Taiwan, no less.
"I might have looked calm while filming, but I was sweating buckets inside," he said with a grin of the challenging role he played while accepting the award.
After running through the usual list of thank-you's, the final one was reserved for his spouse, Singaporean actress Fann Wong, who did not attend the ceremony with him: "Thank you for everything, and for giving me such an adorable baby."
The Malaysian-born ex-MediaCorp actor is now based in Taiwan.
The Golden Bell evening contained twists and surprises for the other nominees.
Despite being widely tipped as a hot favourite, family drama Sun After The Rain took home only three awards out of 12 nominations, including the dramatic lead actress and supporting actor nods.
Teenage romances such as Amour et Patisserie were completely shut out, while nostalgic Hakka drama Lonely River bagged the Best Supporting Actress and directing wins.
Gritty street drama Boys Can Fly took home a writing award and the coveted Best Drama Series for its portrayal of troubled ex-convict youths struggling to eke out a living, while the hotly contested Best Variety Show award went to popular music-and-dance show Super Night Club.
Veteran host Sam Tseng went from presenter to winner when he was honoured as the Best Variety Host alongside his Genius Go Go Go co-host Hsu Nai-lin. But even without his regular partner-in-crime on the night, he kept up a steady flow of banter, not forgetting to rib his co-presenter for the evening, Selina Jen of Taiwanese megaband S.H.E.
"Variety shows allow our audience to escape reality, and to indulge themselves in a lot of fun. It takes a lot of work to do that well… so they did right to give me this award," he said to much applause and laughter from the audience.
Top Golden Bell winners
Best Drama: Boys Can Fly
Best Actor: Christopher Lee, A Good Wife
Best Actress: Chung Hsin-ling, alias Pink Pig, Sun After The Rain
Best Supporting Actor: Chen Bor-jeng, Sun After The Rain
Best Supporting Actress: Isa Hsieh, Lonely River
Best Variety Show: Super Night Club
Best Host: Hsu Nai-lin and Sam Tseng, Genius Go Go Go
