Actress Meixin goes from crying every day to starring alongside Elvin Ng

When people tell her that they want to be a star, Meixin would ask: "Why do you want to be a celebrity? Is it because of the fame? Is it because of the money?"

Because it's not easy to be one and she knows it well.

After all, the 33-year-old freelance actress has been in the showbiz industry for more than a decade and is yet a household name.

She would also let them know that if they don't have a "strong heart" to weather the criticism and court of public opinion, they can forget about being a celebrity.

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Speaking to AsiaOne yesterday (Oct 17) to promote the upcoming concert Yesterday Once More, Meixin spoke of how she entered showbiz unwittingly at 20 and went through a minor bout of depression.

Yesterday Once More is a Chinese singalong concert organised by J Team Productions and mm2 Entertainment.

It will feature an ensemble of familiar local faces belting out classics from the 1970s to the 90s, such as Jack Neo, Mark Lee, Henry Thia, Marcus Chin, Suhaimi Yusof, Tasha Low, getai stars Wang Lei, Desmond Ng and Lee Pei Fen, as well as Meixin.

On her trying time as a starlet, Meixin said: "My company was very strict on everything. I couldn't take the stress."

For example, when she leaned back against the chair with her legs slightly off to the side, she would get chastised for it.

"They would snap, 'Can you sit properly?'

"I'm also a very bubbly person and I laugh very loudly, but they would also ask, 'Can you laugh softer?' Everything is about image, image, image," she recounted.

She reached a breaking point where she would go home crying every day.

And she was just 21 at that time.

"I was such a bubbly person but I was crying at home every day. I didn't even know why I was crying. I was just thinking, 'Why am I like this? Why? Why?' It was just a lot of whys.

"Finally, at 24, I told my company that I wanted to go back to school and I didn't want this anymore," she revealed.

She added: "I was willing to give up everything. I just wanted my happiness. No matter how much money they gave me, I didn't want it."

Now, she's in a much better place with her career after making her mark in China as the female lead in the 2009 drama Guangdong Master.

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Meixin has been seen on local shows such as Channel 8's Dear Son-in-Law (2008) and Channel U's The Illusionist (2009). She also had a role on the 2016 police procedural drama C.L.I.F. 4.

Recently, she was cast as one of the female leads in Jack Neo's movie Not So Long Time Ago, the third instalment in the commercially successful Long Long Time Ago series. Filming has wrapped and it's slated for release next month.

"I was lucky," she said, as she attributed the upward trend of her career to meeting the right people at the right time. The singer-actress also told us that she has signed on to J Team and they'd handle her film and hosting engagements.

The vivacious actress even disclosed that she starts filming for a new series today, opposite hunky actor Elvin Ng. This is the first time the duo are working together even though they were part of the cast of C.L.I.F. 4.

"He's really handsome," she gushed slightly.

As for her part in Yesterday Once More, Meixin will be performing some classics from her favourite singer, Teresa Teng. When asked whether she felt a generational gap, she said there wasn't because she's always had an "old soul" and liked to "sing oldies".

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"My father likes to listen to Teresa Teng so when he's playing the songs, I'm also listening to it. So it's not awkward for me to sing such songs because I feel that it's a flavour of that time. I'm quite excited to sing it for my father.

"But he has seen my performance so many times that he's probably bored," she laughed.

However, she thinks the concert will be special and nostalgic for the audience.

"Those songs belong to their era and they can sing along to the songs of yesteryear. I think it'll be a very fun and relaxing night. Maybe they'll be able to relate to some songs because of some experiences they've gone through.

"And when they listen to the song, it'll allow them to relive the good times and I believe it'll be a very touching experience," she said.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Channel U is defunct.

AsiaOne is the official media for the Yesterday Once More concert. It will be held at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre on Oct 27 at 7.30pm. Tickets can be bought here.

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bryanlim@asiaone.com