Hong Kong director and comedic actor Stephen Chow held a public casting call for his upcoming film Mermaid on Monday in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province.

Thirteen candidates joined the competition for the female lead; among them, six were chosen to continue in the audition process.

Recently, there has been a lot of online public criticism from many celebrities on Chow's personal life and working attitude, followed by the criticism from Tiffany Chen, producer and wife of China Star Chairman Charles Heung.

Chow seemed unconcerned with the criticism, and focused on the casting process of his upcoming film. He was full of smiles Monday while surrounded with hopefuls for the lead female role.

Neither did Chow's fans seem fazed by the buzz, coming to the site in waves and often shouting their support.

Mermaid is slated for a 2015 release.

(CRIENGLISH.com September 16, 2014)