ARTICLE

When you Wish Upon A Star

By InCinemas / 24 Oct 2014 (Friday)

…Your dreams come true!
Well, that’s what Disney taught us when we were younger. For some of the main cast of MediaCorp Channel 8 drama 3 Wishes, dreams really do come true.

“I watched her shows from young and have dreamed of working with her someday. It was the best feeling ever to play her daughter because she is such a great actress,” said Julie Tan.

24-year-old Shane Pow couldn’t agree more, adding: “The first time I saw her, I was a little star-struck! I mean it feels like I’ve hit the jackpot. What are the odds that her comeback film after 6 years will be this!”

If you have not guessed who this bloody-good actress is, it’s none other than Huang Biren, who makes a comeback in ‘3 Wishes’ after a 6-year hiatus from the entertainment industry.

“I left the company to take care of my children and I am happy to continue to do that… but now that they are older, I will take some time off to do what I like, which is acting,” said the mother of three. She added: “I was comfortable and really happy during filming of this drama. It made me realise that acting is my cup of tea.”

Huang plays the wife of Thomas Ong in the drama, with Pow being the eldest son, Tan the Kpop-crazy daughter and Tan Jun Sheng as the youngest son who struggles for his PSLE.

It’s the first time Huang and Ong plays a couple, despite the many times they appeared in a drama together. “We have been in the same show before, but to act as husband and wife, this is the first time and I'm glad that the chemistry was really there.”

Perhaps the greatest misconception of the 3-time Best Actress winner was that she was ‘cool’, ‘fierce’ and a ‘very serious person’.

Rising starlet, Tan said: “At first, I was kind of afraid of her… we were quite distant as I just didn’t know how to break the ice but after a while you see her cute moments! She will joke around, take care of us and she…. she’s just awesome la!”

To Huang’s defence, she didn’t know that the younger actors felt ‘pressurised on set’ because of her. “I didn’t know that! Nobody told me,” she quipped, adding: “I believe at the beginning they didn't feel at ease because they didn't know me well as I left (MediaCorp) for quite a while. They didn't have the chance to meet or even exchange greetings with me so to suddenly to call me ‘mummy’, or ‘Lao Po’ (wife) can be awkward I guess?”

“I'm older and I think it's my responsibility to take the first step to break the ice with the new actors. I like to share and communicate with the cast members, just like any other family will do.”

Another notorious ‘icebreaker’ among the cast members is Ong, who also believes that the bond fostered among the ‘family’ is important. “A lot of scenes happen in our ‘house’, so it’s very important for us to stay as a family, if not the show will fail. It’s the love in the family that pull us together.”

On how he managed to pull six other (including ‘grandparents’ played by Zhu Hou Ren and Jin Yin Ji) cast members together, “It’s sincerity’,” said Ong. “If you’re true and sincere in showing care and concern, they will naturally feel it and reciprocate the same feeling towards you.”

The ‘family’ were so close-knitted that they even went on a trip to Bangkok together after filming wrapped! In addition, Huang brought back the small 5R-size family portrait home!

“I’m very attached to them! We actually had one big family portrait on set but on the last day of shoot, it was kapok-ed (took away) by Thomas! So I took the small one and placed it near my bedside so that when I wake up every morning, I’m able to see ’them’.”

3 Wishes premieres on Monday 27 October, 9pm on Channel 8!

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When you Wish Upon A Star