Those who were at Yishun Central 1 last Friday (Aug 2) afternoon would have seen two young men at a durian stall in white singlets. As a female customer bargains for a good price, she settles on purchasing the durians if one of the young men takes his singlet off.

Eager to make the deal, the stall owner urges both men to take their top off. As the men accede to their boss's request—albeit reluctantly—to show off their figure, more customers flock to the stall, attracted by the sights and deals.

While you might be wondering what stall and promotion this is for, it's actually part of a scene in upcoming local drama Uniquely Ours. Local actors Zhai Siming and Chase Tan were baring their chest on screen.

Speaking to AsiaOne at the filming location that day, Siming shared: "It feels a bit awkward actually. I didn't know what the crowds were going to be like… I was a bit nervous."

The 27-year-old shared that he had been preparing himself physically since he was cast for the drama in May.

"I started to eat a clean diet and go to the gym more often, about five times a week," he said.

The day before he shot the scene, Siming also visited the gym twice and reduced water intake. On Friday, he went for a jog at 5am before his call time at 7am.

In Uniquely Ours, Siming plays Zhao Ruiyang, who frequently gets into disagreements with his father Zhao Ziyao (Li Nanxing). When Ziyao loses his job and money from investments, Ruiyang decides to rent out a room in their home to single mother Lin Minchen (Ya Hui) and her child, unaware of the bad blood between Minchen and his father.

Ruiyang also receives help and earns fast cash through his trusted friend Keith (Chase), unaware that the latter actually harbours ill intent towards him.

'I told myself to just do it'

To prepare for the scene, Chase shared that he had put in a lot of effort for it since May.

"I was very out of shape during the imaging. I didn't know that I would need to go topless for this drama when I was cast… During the imaging, I was quite upset because I knew my figure wasn't ideal and I have to wear tight-fitting clothes. So I told myself that I need to go on a diet and to the gym," the 34-year-old said.

After months of healthy eating and exercise, Chase shared that he had slimmed down and the jeans he had worn for the scene that day had been altered three to four times since the imaging session.

"People who had known me had been asking why I slimmed down," he added.

When asked about his experience filming such a scene for the first time, Chase said: "I was nervous and scared, but I told myself to just do it. Whether it looks good or not, I have already tried my best to go on a diet and exercise. That's the best I can do."

As he had wrapped filming that same day, Chase shared that he would be rewarding himself with some of his favourite food including bak chor mee, Hokkien mee and char kway teow, but in moderation.

"I wouldn't go back to [my dietary habits] previously because I am quite used to my diet now. I would give myself a few cheat days and try to maintain my figure, since I have already slimmed down," he said.

No nudity

As the scene centres around the young men agreeing to unusual work requests, we also asked Siming and Chase if they had met with such a situation in their line of work before.

Siming shared that when he was working as a model, there would be jobs that required him to go shirtless in shopping malls to advertise events or products.

"I won't do those because I feel uncomfortable to be half-naked in public and don't feel that it's necessary," he shared.

Chase, who was a former national basketball player, told us he had participated in such a task before for a Valentine's Day event when he was a model and distributed items in a shopping mall.

"I was fit at the time and confident because I played basketball and trained in the gym frequently. I did it together with friends, so it was fun and we were still young at the time and didn't think too much about it," he laughed.

Both of them added that it's different from acting because they are playing characters and are willing to perform within reasonable means, but they also agreed that they won't go nude for their roles.

"I think no matter what we do, it's all for our roles. I wouldn't exclude myself from doing it, but I think the maximum extent for me is that I wouldn't go nude [for a role].

"For others, such as an action scene, I know that the director would take care of us, so I am not worried about it. Just be professional and do it," said Chase.

Uniquely Ours, which also stars Phyllis Quek, Pan Lingling, Richard Low and Desmond Ng will premiere on Dec 23, 2024 and air on weekdays at 9pm on Channel 8. It will also be available on demand for free on mewatch on the same day.

yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

No part of this article can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.

For more original AsiaOne articles, visit here.