According to The Starspeaking on Hong Kong actress Lee San San’s YouTube show, Sum shared that when he first joined Hong Kong broadcaster TVB, he earned a monthly salary of HK$6,000. Of that, HK$4,000 went toward renting a small subdivided flat in the Tsim Sha Tsui neighborhood, leaving him with just HK$2,000 for all other living expenses.

“To get by, I’d walk from Tsim Sha Tsui to Mong Kok to buy two barbecue meal boxes for HK$20 each,” he said. “I was basically living on HK$50 a day. I kept that up for almost seven years.”

To make ends meet, Sum also worked part-time and occasionally borrowed money from friends. Despite the financial strain, he stayed committed to his acting career.

“As long as I had a bed to sleep on, I was fine,” he said. “I could chase my dreams with a simple heart, and that alone made me happy.”

Now 42, Sum began his journey at TVB in 2006 after auditioning for the company’s TVbeople talent program, earning a two-year contract along with six other winners. He later graduated from TVB’s 22nd Artiste Training Class in 2007 and began appearing in dramas.

His breakthrough came in 2014 with the hit crime series “Line Walker,” which earned him a nomination for Most Improved Male Artiste at the TVB Anniversary Awards.

Earlier this year, Sum made headlines when fans spotted him working as an Uber driver. He later explained he had taken up the job after a “seven-figure” investment in a gym business failed to turn a profit.