Malaysia-born actor Christopher Lee wins second Golden Bell Award for HBO Asias Workers

Lee, 50, dialled into the prestigious television awards show - Taiwan's equivalent of the Emmys - from Singapore when his category was announced.

"Ah, I'm so happy," he exclaimed via video from the Marina Bay Sands hotel.

In an emotional acceptance speech, he thanked his family - actress wife Fann Wong and their seven-year-old son.

"I want to thank my wife, Fann, and my son, Zed. In particular, I'm really thankful to my wife. It is because of your dedication and your unconditional support that I feel at ease acting and filming dramas outside."

Lee was a hot favourite in his category going into the night. He thanked the cast and crew of the HBO Asia drama and said the win was special as it is the first drama he has filmed speaking largely in Taiyu, the Southern Min dialect. The series revolves around a group of happy-go-lucky blue-collar labourers.

This is Lee's second Golden Bell Award. He won Best Actor in a Drama Series in 2014 for family drama A Good Wife. In an Instagram story posted by his management Catwalk Asia, Lee can be seen popping champagne after his win.

Workers was a big winner in the mini-series category, bagging the Best Mini-series Award. Lee's co-star Simon Hsueh also picked up an award - for Best Supporting Actor in a Mini-series or Television Film category.

But that was not Hsueh’s biggest win of the night - the former rapper of Taiwanese band Da Mouth also picked up Best Actor in a Drama Series for period drama Born Into Loving Hands. This marks a memorable entry into the Golden Bell Awards for Hsueh.

The Best Actress award in the same category went to Chung Hsin-ling for her role in the family dramedy U Motherbaker. The same series also won Best Supporting Actor for Darren Chiu.

Meanwhile, The Magician On The Skywalk (2021) won Best Drama Series, Best Director for a Drama Series as well as Best Newcomer for its 12-year-old lead Lee Yi-chiao. It also took three more awards for lighting, cinematography and art and design. Its six trophies made it the biggest winner of the night.

The fantastical drama is set in a now-demolished Taiwan shopping mall and tells the story of children living in the 1980s.

In his speech before he presented the final award, famed Taiwanese director of Seqalu: Formosa 1867 (2021)  and head of this year’s judging committee Tsao Jui-yuan said: “There are people who left, to go over to the mainland but we are here and we are working hard. I’ll like to tell our government to start considering really responding to our film and television industry so that those who decided to stay can see hope.”

The Golden Bell Awards was broadcast live on Hub E City (StarHub TV Channel 825) on Saturday. It will also be available to stream through StarHub TV+ from Oct 5.