We spoke to the cast of upcoming Channel 8 drama 'In The Name of Love' Pierre Png, Bryan Wong and Julie Tan on their filming experiences with one another and their personal 'love dramas'.
Find out more about the 'almost naked' scene from Pierre Png, Bryan Wong's views on romance and the one actor Julie Tan hopes to work with in the future!
Romantic man Pierre Png
It’s hard not to agree that Pierre Png stays as one of the most romantic men we’ve met. He lights up at the mention of his wife, Andrea De Cruz and is never shy to show how much he adores her.
The self-proclaimed romantic guy believes that “you should love the woman you can’t live without.” Now give that man a crown already!
After all, most will remember the actor making headlines in 2002 when he donated part of his liver to then-fiancee De Cruz. He had done many things in the name of love, and let us in one of his love encounters during his younger days.
“The next biggest thing I’ve done for love when I was younger, to allow a girl that I was crazy in love with to come back to me time after time she was heartbroken or when she broke off with her boyfriends. I became someone for her to confide in; a shoulder to cry on. That lasted for a good three years when I was in school.”
In upcoming Channel 8 drama In The Name Of Love, Png plays antique shop keeper Song Xing Ren who is involved in a complicated love triangle between two women (played by Felicia Chin and Julie Tan).
Png was crowned Best Actor at the Star Awards earlier this year for his villainous role as Hei Long in period drama The Journey: A Voyage. When asked if his win was a boost of morale, the actor called it a ‘double-edged sword’.
“It has given me the confidence, at the same time given me the pressure to want to up that performance, or to play a character.”
In one of the scenes of this romance drama, he had to ‘strip’ to become a nude model in front of nearly 20 people on set, including the cast and crew.
“I was just short of one clothing to be nude! It was quite embarrassing because sitting there all by yourself and being totally nude was not easy. Not only was it cold, but I had the entire cast and crew looking at me,” he recalled.
“Throughout the whole scene, I was thinking how to minimise the agony but I just gave up and said ‘I’m already here, whatever you want to do with me, just go for it.’”
Julie Tan is ready to give it her all
Conquering the world one step at a time, 21-year-old Julie Tan is all ready and has planned out her route to international stardom.
She shared that she has dreamed big since her teenage years. Despite numerous let-downs and discouragement from others along the way, this young starlet proves to be an upcoming headliner to look out for.
She has appeared in various dramas, movies and variety shows including a trip to Korea where she rub shoulders with K-pop idols. Tan even travelled to Beijing earlier this year for a movie shoot and is ready for more. She added: “At the age of 25, I hope to be stable in China and hopefully break into Hollywood at the age of 30.”
“These are goals for myself and even if I don’t fulfill them, at least I know I’ve tried!”
Tan plays Xiao Shan in In The Name Of Love, a homeless girl who falls for Png’s character after she had been taken in to work for him. Due to the huge age gap between the two, Tan admits there were scenes where she felt ‘awkward and weird’.
“Pierre is much older than I am and have always respected him as someone senior. While filming romantic scenes together, I felt it was a little awkward but when we became so immersed in our characters, those feelings just slowly went away,” the 21-year-old actress explained.
She’s been paired up with many actors such as Png, Elvin Ng (It’s A Wonderful Life), Daren Tan (That Girl In Pinafore), Ian Fang (96 Degrees Cafe) and most notably with Xu Bin (Gonna Make It) where they were nominated for Favourite Onscreen Couple at the Star Awards and even had a couple nickname ‘JuBin’.
Well, if there’s one actor that Tan hopes to collaborate with - it’s Taiwanese hunk Allen Chen, whom she calls ‘talented’!
She said: “There was once where I went to visit Xu Bin during his shoot, I noticed Allen through the monitor. I was amazed by his performance and thought ‘why have I not worked with him?’ He had a really strong performance and I was blown away by it!”
“If there’s a chance, I would really hope to work with him in the future, be it my brother, friend or lover.”
Bryan Wong enjoys the sorrow
“When you are at your most vulnerable, you are at your best,” says veteran host-actor Bryan Wong.
“Beyond that smiley exterior, I do enjoy sorrow because it’s through sorrow that I feel I’ve really lived. When you are experiencing sorrow, you have been reduced to almost nothing… and that enables you see things in a very different perspective.”
Wong also shared that there will be major ‘emotional breakdown’ scenes for his character in the upcoming drama and cited those as one of the challenges.
“It’s not a pretty sight; with the tears, and mucus in front of the camera, but I so, so love that challenge,” Wong, brimming with glee as he recalls those heart-wrenching scenes.
“I like playing characters will a lot of conflict so it’s not something that is just one-dimensional.”
In terms of romance and relationship, the actor chooses to be the one who ‘gives love’ than being the ‘receiver of love’. He said,: “I don’t think I’m a very good receiver because when I see myself as a receiver, that means probably the other party loves me more than I love the other party.
To be loved is definitely a blessed and fortunate thing to have, but I’m that kind of person that believes every relationship should be giving it your all.”
(View more photos from the press conference here!)
In The Name Of Love also stars Felicia Chin, Ann Kok, Zhu Hou Ren, Hong Hui Fang, Ben Yeo and Priscelia Chan, and screens of Monday - Friday, 9pm on Channel 8.