Through the years, native actress-singer Rui En has performed a gamut of roles – from powerful cop to grief-stricken widow to a psychiatrist who turns evil. She was final seen on the small display as a reformed Ah Lian in Channel 8 drama The Heartland Hero (2021).
Her newest on-screen persona, nonetheless, hits particularly near dwelling.
Within the upcoming Mediacorp drama, fantasy romance Oppa, Saranghae! – her first tv mission in two years – she performs Qi Qi, a single profession girl on the cusp of 40 who persistently places her love life on maintain for work, however faces ageism within the office and grapples with loneliness in her life.
In a fantastical twist, she pulls her favorite Okay-drama main man (Kim Jae-hoon) out of the tv. In the meantime, the heart-throb portraying this character (additionally performed by Kim) is in Singapore and in a relationship with Qi Qi’s colleague (Tasha Low).
Oppa, Saranghae! premieres on April 12 and airs on Channel 8 at 9pm on weekdays. It’s also out there on demand free of charge on mewatch from Friday.
Rui En, 42, who will not be married, instructed The Straits Occasions after a non-public screening session of the present at KAP Mall’s EagleWings Cinematics on Monday that she was drawn to the function as she felt it was a posh character.
She stated: “For a lot of girls my age, I really feel ageism is a subject that could be very relatable and actual.”
She will relate to how others have sure opinions of ladies previous a sure age.
“If you’re not married, you form of don’t match into that mould – there are particular assumptions made, or conclusions arrived at, that aren’t truly (primarily based on) reality.”
Rui En declined to disclose her relationship standing, however added: “I’ve by no means seen worth in doing issues for the sake of it. So, I’m not about to go on the market and power one thing which may not be proper as a result of I’m 40-something and I must get married and have youngsters.”
One key distinction is that Rui En, in contrast to Qi Qi, will not be lonely.
She stated: “If it’s a must to depend on one other human being to not really feel lonely, I believe that could be a shedding proposition. Individuals are at all times going to allow you to down.
Singaporean actress Rui En performs Qi Qi (left), a profession girl on the cusp of 40 who persistently places her love life on maintain for work.
Credit score: MEDIACORP
“I believe I’ve managed to have a full sufficient life with out a husband. I did sufficient interior work and requested myself the troublesome questions, and it (loneliness) someway has gone away from me.
“I’ve realised that despite the fact that society may assume, ‘She’s in all probability lonely’, it doesn’t matter what individuals assume.”
Whereas Oppa, Saranghae! is impressed by Okay-dramas, its South Korean facet is in no way necessary to the home-grown star.
For one factor, she has by no means visited South Korea, neither is she a fan of Okay-dramas or Okay-pop. The truth is, she didn’t do any analysis on South Korea for this mission.
As a substitute, to painting her character’s on-screen obsession together with her beloved Okay-drama idol, she tapped her curiosity in books.
Mediacorp drama Oppa, Saranghae! stars (from left) Kim Jae-hoon, Rui En, Tasha Low and Meixin.
Credit score: LIANHE ZAOBAO
“I believe fangirling could be over something, equivalent to an creator or podcaster. What Okay-drama is for individuals, books are for me. I disappear into them and escape into the web page.”
For some time, the voracious reader was hooked on mountaineering books, equivalent to Into Skinny Air: A Private Account Of The Mt Everest Catastrophe (1997) by American creator Jon Krakauer. She stated: “Though I’ve no intention of climbing a mountain, there was one thing about these individuals climbing mountains which I discovered relatable.”
Singaporean actress Rui En stars in Oppa, Saranghae! with South Korean actor Kim Jae-hoon.
Credit score: MEDIACORP
Not too long ago, she has additionally had her nostril in thrillers, equivalent to The Golden Couple (2022), a novel by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. “I do know individuals who want to look at Okay-dramas to decompress. For me, it’s studying.”
Rui En needs Qi Qi wouldn’t idealise a starry-eyed imaginative and prescient of affection, typically perpetuated by Okay-dramas.
“She is making an attempt to get to that time the place she doesn’t really feel lonely. And I needed to undergo that as nicely, so I don’t really feel sorry for her. I believe that there’s at all times a journey, and that journey is painful however crucial.”
Rui En (left) and South Korean actor Kim Jae-hoon (proper) in Oppa, Saranghae!
Credit score: MEDIACORP
In any case, she acknowledged that escapism does have a spot in individuals’s lives. “As an actress and public determine, I hope individuals can placed on a drama I’m in, or a music I sang, and escape into it.
“As a girl in her 40s and whose ardour is psychological well being, I hope to be somebody others can look to and who makes them really feel much less alone.”
Oppa, Saranghae! premieres on April 12 and airs on Channel 8 at 9pm on weekdays. It’s also out there on demand free of charge on mewatch from Friday.
This text was first printed in The Straits Occasions.
Supply: Her World
