Jeanette: “Fann was screaming all the way…”
MediaCorp TV, Kwok Kar Peng
Stars Fann Wong, Jeanette Aw and Shaun Chen got a taste of winter skiing when filming for new drama Jia Ru Zhe Shi Zhen brought them to the sub-zero ice chamber of Snow City in Jurong. The change from filming under the scorching sun may be a breath of fresh air too chilly to handle… We brave the cold to bring you this behind-the-scenes story.
We have had enough of grotesque armpit sweat marks on our T-shirts and scraps of perspiration-soaked tissue paper stuck glaringly on the foreheads. Determined to put such undignified nightmares behind us, we decided it’s time to head West.
Tropical folks like us dig winter, and when we were given the option to cover the filming of new drama Jia Ru Zhe Shi Zhen (translated as If This Is Real, see end of article for drama synopsis) either at Snow City, Jurong, or by a roadside under the unpredictable elements, guess which one we chose?
Oh brrrr…… Winter (Not-so-)Wonderland
Located next to the Science Centre and Omni Theatre at the west side of the island, Snow City is the only place in Singapore where one can frolic in -7 C° climate and snowboard or ski. The latter was the reason why we and the crew and stars of the drama – Fann Wong, Jeanette Aw and Shaun Chen – were there last week.
Filming took place in three parts of Snow City – first the reception area at the front of the centre, then the open lockers/changing area at the back of the centre, and lastly the snow chamber. Temperatures dipped lower as we moved deeper into the centre; by the time we were at the open changing area, most of the crew members were already wrapped snugly in winter jackets and hoods. And on this rare occasion, it’s alright to drink on the job!
When Heaven freezes over and turns to Hell
blame it on Winter Sonata and Choi Ji Woo, and all those Hollywood movies containing giggly and inane snowball fights for romanticising sub-zero activities. How fun could it be, when in -6.9 C° conditions, my lips become so numb my speech is slurred and darn it, mucus dribbled down my frozen nose without my knowing it?!?
It was nevertheless gratifying to realise I wasn’t the only one to suffer from the affliction; Shaun – hero of the drama – admitted abashedly that his nose was watering too. I of course didn’t have an assistant to wipe the offending glob away for me.
Fann, on the other hand, looking so aww-shucks-cute with the snuggly polar bear hat around her head, looked ever at ease in the bone-chilling chamber. “This is considered okay already; temperatures in China are much, much lower! Moreover, I can’t wear gloves or hats like this while filming period dramas there!” she told us, with a slight shiver in her voice, most probably from the cold. “The winter jacket actually keeps me quite warm. I feel quite lucky already because it’s not a cold day today and I don’t need to film here for, like, three months.”
Most importantly though, the lady came prepared: she wore long johns underneath the winter jacket and stashed heat packs in her shoes and knees. “As long as my head and feet are kept warm, the rest of my body would be fine,” she added.
And to keep her snowy complexion in prime condition, Fann would take a hot bath, drink lots of water and do a facial masque when she gets home.
Jeanette’s scene in the snow chamber that day came much later, close to midnight, at a time when we were all ready to throw in our winter jackets and shuffle home to burrow deep into our blankets. In our conversation earlier that day, she told us of her filming experience in Snow City the day before.
“I can’t take the cold… so yesterday, I wore thermal wear, a woolen sweater, a fleece jacket and then a winter jacket… but it still wasn’t enough!! Probably because we were just standing there filming dialogue scenes so it gets very cold, rather than actually skiing. When I was saying my lines, I realized I was speaking really hard because my mouth was numb!” Jeanette recalled amidst bursts of laughter.
The snow chamber may have been the coldest place Jeanette has filmed in but the one experience that still gets her teeth chattering in chilly remembrance was when she was in Taiwan filming the idol drama Kiss From A Toast Boy II (Tu Si Nan Zhi Wen II) in 2002. “The cold currents were blowing in and I think the temperature dipped below zero degrees Celsius as well, but that was worse than now because it was supposed to be a summer drama, meaning we were all dressed in summer clothing! It was so cold….” she moaned but again interjecting her account with loud chuckles.
Ski-yikes!
For this scene in the drama, actress Xinhui (played by Jeanette) takes up skiing lessons from love interest Shixuan (played by Shaun), also the boss of the ski shop. With her personal assistant (PA) on urgent leave, Xinyu drags her elder sister Xinyu (played by Fann) to be her PA for the day.
The three artistes, together with Julian Hee who plays a ski instructor in the drama, underwent skiing lessons from Emeline Tan, head of the skate school at Snow City in preparation for this scene. So, who’s the best student?
“Jeanette!” Emeline chirped immediately. “She’s talented in skiing because she’s very natural and although she’s scared, she takes in everything on a snap. When I teach her something, she just does it… although she’s very teh (kittenish) hehe……
Fann is also talented, given the fact that she’s only had one lesson so far. She screams all the way down the ski slope; her boyfriend (Christopher Lee, of course), who came to support her, asked her, ‘Are you here for skiing or screaming lessons?!’”
(Jeanette, Shaun and Julian had gone for around five skiing lessons of three hours each while Fann only one because she was in China.)
Jeanette bore testimony. She told us gleefully, “She would scream from the top to the bottom of the ski slope; and then when her skis got stuck in the travellator bringing us back to the top, she screamed again! So basically, she’s howling from top to bottom and from bottom to the top again! It was quite funny…”
Well perhaps Fann had reason for the ear-splitting shrieks; Shaun, although very thrilled that he learnt a new skill without forking out a single cent, told us of his scary but minor accident on the ski slope: “From the top of the ski slope, I slid all the way down and crashed into the wall below! My skis came off but luckily I wasn’t hurt. It didn’t put me off skiing though. The sport is really quite fun; I got the chance to be an instructor to Ah Jie leh hahah!”
Jia Ru Zhe Shi Zhen is still under production and is tentatively scheduled to debut in the second half of the year. The drama also stars Terence Cao, Zzen, Zhu Houren, Richard Liu and Jin Yinji. Watch this site for more interviews with Fann Wong and Jeanette Aw!
About Jia Ru Zhe Shi Zhen
The drama tells the story of two polar opposite sisters Xinyu and Xinhui (played by Fann and Jeanette respectively) who switch bodies under a genie’s magic spell and are thus forced to live each other’s life. The body of the pretty actress Xinhui now shields the soul of the shy Xinyu, while Xinyu’s body, with a red birthmark over her left temple, is now resided by Xinhui’s proud and demanding soul. Just imagine the ‘culture’ shocks they will experience!
(For this scene filmed at Snow City, the two sisters have yet to switch bodies.)
