By Han Wei Chou, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE: What do murder, multiple personality disorder and pole dancing have in common?
They are all things Singapore actress Jeanette Aw will be delving into when she plays Yang Nianqing, a real mean bi***, I mean witch of a woman who suffers from mental illness, in the upcoming Channel 8 blockbuster drama “Breakout”.
The “Little Nyonya” star has walked away from her warm and fuzzy roles she had done so far to become the personification of evil and a stone cold killer in her new show.
“I would say she is quite evil. In the sense that she is quite cold-blooded and she kills without hesitation,” said Aw enthusiastically during our chat at a fitting session for the drama.
In all her excitement, she even blurted out a huge spoiler: “I even killed my ***! Er, I don’t think you can write that.”
The actress explained that she was getting tired of all the “flawless” characters she had been asked to play and yearned to do something different. She had been waiting for just such a role “for a very looong time”, her voice deepening comically as she emphasised the word ‘long’.
“I mean for as long as I remember, my roles have been like that! I’m like the girl who has to support the whole family.
“I’ve always got like some problematic sisters or brothers that I have to take care of, and sometimes it’s like [I have a] single parent and my parent has got like some gambling problems or something,” she said as she tried unsuccessfully to contain a bout of laughter.
Aw, who actually studied psychology and theatre in university, started reading numerous books on multiple personality disorder and even watched DVDs about this mental illness in order to better portray her character’s internal struggles.
She will also play her character’s mother, which brings the total number of personalities Aw has to take on for this show to five.
“I think I am going to come out of it like really psycho!” she joked.
Pole Dancer
Besides being a murderous lady, Aw said that her character in “Breakout” was also a “wild child” that goes clubbing and pole dances, “indulging in a world of her own”.
“It (pole dancing) is just a means of ‘escape’ for her,” explained Aw.
And yes, Aw had to take pole dancing lessons to prepare for her role too. She had the bruises to prove it.
“The only thing my instructor told me, ‘Be prepared to get bruises’. And true enough, I did get them,” said the 31-year-old.
Aw is an experienced dancer but even she admitted that pole dancing is quite a bit of work.
“I think the difficulty is in strength control. You need to have very strong core muscles to balance your whole weight through the swings and turns. It was also my first time, so it is something totally new.
“It is a workout definitely! I think it really helps to tone the body too. So anyone looking out for a dance or workout can consider this!” said the actress, taking care to point out that the notion of pole dancing as a sleazy activity is just a popular misconception.
“When I watched the [pole dancing] performance on ‘One Moment of Glory’ (a televised talent competition in Singapore), it changed my impression of it (pole dancing) totally. I only have respect for the people who learn it and go on to do all those difficult stunts,” said Aw.
“I wanted to see if I could learn the really difficult moves like the inversions and all, but the production team said it wasn’t necessary.
“I think I’m kind of disappointed!” she said with a laugh.
Daddy’s Girl
When Aw is not busy killing, clubbing and pole dancing in “Breakout”, the actress, who described herself as ‘a Daddy’s Girl’, told me she is a home body and goes home every single day.
“I don’t go out partying at night; it has never been something that I do,” she explained.
Has she ever been a bad girl?
Aw became a little coy when I posed the question to her and looked skywards as she searched her memory for any interesting events, before coming up with a rather tame reply.
“Actually, I don’t think so. I think … as bad as I would have been, would have been kind of like experimenting with different stuff. Like a little bit rebellious when we were in school,” she said with a girlish giggle.
“But I think that happens to everybody. You know, I mean like when I was in university, I had like blue hair and, blue contacts, stuff like that. But it was just like trying something new, I wouldn’t say that I was bad in that sense,” replied Aw, looking genuinely embarrassed.
“And it was just streaks (of colour in her hair),” added the Caldecott Princess as a shy smile spread across her face.
“Breakout” airs from 6 December, every weekday at 9pm on Channel 8.
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