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SINGAPORE: From being a charismatic teacher in “The Morning Express” to a bespectacled buck-toothed nerd in “Love Me, Love Me Not”, MediaCorp actor Chen Hanwei has never shied away from breaking new ground when it comes to his on-screen images.
Just when I thought Chen would not be able to top his latest image as a frumpy househusband complete with Phua Chu Kang-inspired curls and an unflattering potbelly in the upcoming series “Daddy at Home”, the versatile actor proves that he will stop at nothing to get into characters.
For his role as a wide-eyed kampong boy in the upcoming drama “The Best Thing In Life”, the 40-year-old actor went to the extent of having his front tooth extracted.
Okay, I’m exaggerating just a tad. He removed the crown and not a healthy intact tooth, but still, that’s quite a sacrifice, not to mention, courageous of Chen to flash a set of not-so-perfect teeth on national television. Most actors would have just opted to use tooth wax to black out their pearly whites.
Now, that’s professionalism and dedication of the highest level.
When I met up with the actor on Tuesday, I was greeted with a ‘toothy’ grin revealing a chipped front tooth.
According to the show’s producers, no violence was involved in Chen’s latest transformation.
Apparently, the actor had chipped his tooth during a fall in his teens and had a crown fitted to cover the gap. So all he needed to do was to remove the crown, and then have the dentist add a small fake tooth for that “chipped” effect.
“I took off my crown to portray a more lifelike representation of my character, Wu Fu, a naïve and kind-hearted boy brought up in a fishing village in Malaysia and has never step foot on Singapore,” said Chen.
He added that his latest image should not be seen as a form of sacrifice or disfiguration, in fact, he felt it was necessary for him to do so to enrich his character and reflect the current state of the Malaysian society.
“This also portrays a real situation in Malaysia where some families do not have enough to do their teeth,” said the Malaysian-born actor, who is now a Singapore Permanent Resident.
Since the turn of the millennium, Chen has been capturing viewers’ attention with his extreme transformations.
“I am not normal. Just throw to me the weirdest or quirkiest character and I will gladly accept them,” said Chen, admitting that he is crazy and has a penchant for roles which demand more than just acting.
Some might attribute it to luck that the award-winning actor has been handed meaty roles time and again, but it is in fact his creativity and dedication that make every role he takes on a success.
When he first received the script for “Daddy At Home”, there was no mention about the character’s image or hairdo. It was all down to Chen’s conceptualisation and observations he made at the heartlands and HDB void decks.
“When I first received the script, it was only stated that it was an ‘uncle’ role. I went back and conceptualised the image, worked on the dressing, and tried to come up with the image,” said Chen, who took a three-year break to try his hand at image styling.
“I also observed their mannerisms, the way they walked. There were times when I just popped up behind them and imitated them,” Chen told Channelnewasia.com.
The tanned and athletic actor also goes online to search for new ideas on the appropriate image, mentality and mannerism for his respective roles. He will then try it out in front of the mirror to see if it fits the particular character.
“If I can’t convince myself, how can I convince the audience?”
In his 20 years in showbiz, Chen has worked his way from being a ‘calefare’ (an extra) to the leading man. According to him, the motivation to do well becomes stronger with each year and he hopes that he can be an inspiration to the younger actors.
“I am trying to be an example to the younger actors and tell them not to be so bothered by their looks. If you want to be an actor, you have to throw away the glamorous aspect and be daring enough to change your image then the audience will be surprised by the transformation. That’s what an actor is supposed to do,” said Chen.
Despite playing a diverse range of characters in recent years, there is one role that Chen covets more than the anything – a drag queen with a psychological problem.
The straight-forward actor fired the first salvo when he commented that the actors who have cross-dressed in past MediaCorp series don’t look convincing and he is confident that he has what it takes to pull of a masterstroke.
“My legs are pretty slender so when I put on a mini-skirt or a dress, the end result should be pretty good,” Chen said confidently.
Judging from his track record, I can’t wait for that day to arrive.
- CNA/il
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