“I received a message on Facebook asking me to audition for the role, and then one day they told me that I was chosen. The first thing that popped up in my mind was that it could be a cybercrime,” recalled the model-turned-actress in an interview with famous host Carol Do Do Cheng Yu-ling. “It gave me quite a scare as I had no experience in acting. I booked myself an air ticket to escape to Thailand right away and cried by myself in the hotel room for two days.”

Wong added that she never thought about becoming an actress. It took her a few days to digest the news, adjust her state of mind and accept the challenge.

Being popular not only in Hong Kong but throughout the whole of East Asia since the early 1980s, Mui was a triple threat – she was a hugely talented singer, dancer and actress. Undertaking the role of a music and acting legend was no easy feat for any actor chosen to portray the beloved Canto-pop star.

“I did a lot of research before I made up my mind to act in the way I did,” Wong told STYLE. “And I used half a year to train up my skills in acting, dancing and singing.”

It was no secret that Mui’s childhood was mired with hardships, as she grew up in a single-parent home after her father died at a young age. As a child, the budding star would perform on stage with her sister Ann Mui Oi-fong at the Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park.

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Wong’s childhood was actually similar to Mui’s. Her parents separated when she was a child and she took a part-time job at the age of 14 to help earn a living for her mother and younger brother.

“My childhood was not easy as well, and that shaped my personality. I think what Mui and I have in common is that we both had a rather tough childhood. In terms of personality, we are straightforward and like to take care of others in a sisterly way,” said Wong.

“I grew up in a single-parent family and because of this, I cherish what I have, especially the people in my life. This sort of strong emotion helped me to get into the character and into scenes related to separation between loved ones in life or death more easily.

“I felt sorrow every time after shooting those scenes,” continued Wong, who has a seven-year-old daughter. But she made sure not to bring these intense emotions home. “I needed some more time to calm myself after shooting and usually cried alone on set before going home.”

Wong tried her best to portray the legendary Canto-pop singer, emphasising that the star is irreplaceable. “I am not Anita Mui,” said Wong. “Portraying her is not about imitating an idol, it’s more about the inside than the outside.”

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As a newcomer to acting, Wong is grateful for her various professional mentors – music producer and composer Chiu Tsang-hei, dance choreographer Maverick Mak (aka Shing Mak) and the late veteran actor Dick Liu Kai-chi – who were all there to guide her.

Among her respected mentors, she says she was especially grateful for Liu, who died of gastric cancer in March this year, as he taught her a lot about the acting craft. Liu told her that although an actor might not be perfect in every scene, they should take the imperfection and turn it into motivation for the next scene.

“The performance will become real only if you believe that it is. Bear it in mind that the role, the setting, your feeling are all real. Then the audience will feel it, too,” Wong said, recalling what Liu had taught her.

“I hope that one day I will have the chance to work with them because they are all earnest and proficient performers,” she said.