'We had days with thousands of fans near the set': Florence Tan on her first Chinese drama in 3 years

Whenever ex-Mediacorp actress Florence Tan or her businessman husband Jack Liu travel for work, they would send messages saying "I love you" and "I miss you very much" in their family group chat, which they share with their twin daughters, Novea and Viola.

Speaking to AsiaOne in an interview recently, the 46-year-old, who is mostly based in Hong Kong and Shenzhen now, said that it's their way of making sure they live every day with no regrets.

"No matter what happens in the future, we would tell each other whatever we want to say in our hearts today, so that we would not live with regrets the next day. Whatever we want to say, we will say it today. Whatever we want to do, we will also do it today," she shared.

Living every day with no regrets and trying out everything boldly is also very much aligned with the message behind Florence's new Chinese modern drama The White Olive Tree, which she is currently filming in Sichuan.

The drama, which is adapted from a novel of the same title, centres around an explosives engineer Li Zan, played by upcoming Chinese actor Chen Zheyuan, who meets journalist Song Ran (Liang Jie) in the fictional war-torn East Country after rescuing her from danger. As their relationship develops into something more, a sudden bomb attack separates them and sends them to tougher times in life.

Returning to China after the attack, they lose contact and each undergoes their own difficulties. Li Zan feels guilty for his friend's death and Song Ran experiences controversy for a photo she took in the East Country. After reuniting, they heal each other through companionship and protection.

The drama is slated to release on streaming platform iQiyi in 2024.

'It teaches us to treasure those around us'

As the drama is currently still in production and expected to complete in February next year, Florence told us she is unable to reveal the name of the supporting character she plays, only that it's a citizen of the East Country.

Florence, who started filming in September, said: "The character I am playing in this drama is quite tragic. When a person is in extremely miserable circumstances, their reaction towards the situation may be different. In fact, they may appear calm instead of crying and screaming, because they are in extreme sorrow.

"I had a lot of discussions with the director and the actors about the reactions that a person would have when they are in extreme grief. There can be many reactions for a scene. It's challenging for me and gives me a lot of room for thought."

Florence added that this is her first drama since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and she appreciates the message behind the storyline, which she finds very inspiring.

"The producer, who is also the scriptwriter, wants to convey a strong message to the audience, especially young people, to encourage them to try out everything boldly and do what they like.

"The drama also emphasises a lot about kinship, friendship and love and to treasure them well. Because this is a war drama, where everything can end when a bomb goes off, it teaches us to treasure those around us," she shared.

She also shared that Novea and Viola, 15, are fans of the novel and the actors, and were "very excited" when they first heard that she is participating in the drama adaptation.

"I also told Zheyuan and Liang Jie that my daughters really like them… And they sent their autographed photos to my daughters. They were really sweet," she added.

'We had days with thousands of fans waiting'

The White Olive Tree is Florence's second modern drama in China since Tears of Woman, which aired in 2014.

She added: "I love participating in a modern drama because it is challenging. It is so close to our real lives, so there is a challenge of having to portray it convincingly and naturally."

Florence also shared that she likes breaking away from her previous characters.

"I like it when the audience doesn't expect that the characters are portrayed by the same actress. When netizens leave such comments on my Weibo account, I am very happy because I managed to get rid of the shadow of my characters from previous dramas and immersed myself in a new role," she said.

Besides the motivational plotline, Florence shared that she is also impressed with the production team's attention to details with the set and props.

She said: "The props are very detailed and Westernised. The production team rented a piece of land to build the set for East Country, which includes the streets and buildings. When I filmed costume dramas in the past, it would usually be in Hengdian World Studios and the production team would block a street to film, but this time it's different, we had the whole area.

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"The filming location was revealed on Douyin and it's blocked now. We had days with thousands of fans waiting near the set for the actors."

Florence also added that the director's filming styles and expectations for actors also enhanced her acting skills to another level.

"We used to think that if we speak our lines slowly, the audience may become bored and switch channels. However, for this drama, I learnt that when we speak our lines slowly, we can also digest the meaning of this dialogue to reflect on the lines and the emotions associated with it," she elaborated.

"This allows me to better portray the character's change in emotions, which can also touch the audience and make them continue watching the show because they want to know what happens next."

'My understanding of love is different now'

The portrayal of love in the plot also made her reflect on her own family.

Florence said: "I think because of my age, my understanding of love is different now. In the past, I felt that love should be directly expressed. But now I think love is about how much we are willing to give to each other and how much we can invest in each other.

"For example, my husband is usually very busy with work… but every year he would take a few days off to accompany us on family trips. He would also ask about our needs and wants and spend weekends with us.

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"What he needs most is time actually, he could have gone to play golf with his clients, continue working on his business or catch up on his sleep, but he chooses otherwise and watches dramas together with us and strives to spend more time with us during weekends."

When asked if she has any plans for Novea and Viola, who are currently studying in Hong Kong, to enter the entertainment industry, Florence shared that they are open to their daughters trying out new things.

She said: "They grew up on film sets because I would bring them along when I was filming in the past. The producers have seen them before. If there are good scripts and my daughters have time during their school holidays, I would encourage them to try out. Actually, it's not just in showbiz, their father used to bring them to Venice annually on business trips before the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We would usually bring our daughters along even when we are at work because we are very close with them. They are very well-behaved, nice and sweet. They don't cry or make trouble… I have been able to travel with them to Malaysia and Singapore alone since they were two years old… They are very impressive."

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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

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