In difficult year, Tosh Zhang and Jayley Woo dig deep within themselves

After four movies, if he hasn't grown from an ah boy to a man, Tosh Zhang certainly does so in his latest role.

The Singaporean actor joins the second season of web series So Bright as Xiao Di, a rock musician with a secret love for hip-hop music.

He told AsiaOne in an interview yesterday (Oct 14) that this is "the most depressing character" he has ever played.

"Something bad happens to him and he loses someone for whom he has feelings."

He added, "I had crying scenes where I had to draw a lot of emotions from personal experiences and it can get difficult to maintain a low mood, so whenever I had sad or crying scenes I tended to avoid talking and joking around with the other cast members."

So Bright 2 picks up from where season one left off and continues to follow the relationships among the main characters and their musical pursuits.

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The show is produced by mm2 Entertainment and Sentang Entertainment, and will premiere on Viu on Oct 25.

This is the first time mm2 Entertainment is collaborating with Viu, a pan-regional video streaming service available in 17 markets.

With his background in music, you would think starring in a musical would be a piece of cake for Tosh, but the 30-year-old revealed that rapping was what "caught [him] off guard" during filming.

"Rapping is something I do, but this time the lyrics were all written by the scriptwriters and were all in cheem Mandarin, so I had a hard time delivering the lines.

"When I delivered the lines, my emotions were not there. When I had emotions, I couldn't deliver the lines. So, it was a lot of hard work," he admitted.

Apart from making music, Tosh was a YouTuber before he shot to fame in the Ah Boys to Men film franchise.

What does he miss doing that he can't as a celebrity?

"Clubbing," he said with a laugh.

"When I was younger I could go to the club or dance floor with my friends. But if I do it now, I will feel awkward and not be able to have fun because people will keep looking at me."

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A PUBLIC FIGURE

Tosh knows the feeling of being under the watchful eye of the public.

He recently stepped down as a Pink Dot ambassador over derogatory tweets he made about the LGBT community a few years ago.

He admitted to us that he's still learning how to be a public figure.

"It's a learning process.

"I can receive a hundred comments that are positive, but if there is one comment that is very bad, somehow I will notice that more.

He added, "Now, I just tell myself to focus more on the love than the hate."

Another new So Bright cast member who has been in the spotlight this year is Jayley Woo.

Her boyfriend, fellow actor Aloysius Pang, was killed in an accident during reservist duty in New Zealand in January.

Asked how she has been dealing with life, "Be in the moment" was a phrase the 27-year-old used several times during our interview.

"It's all about perspective. When I find myself feeling down and stuck in a deep dark hole, I try to switch that thought around or even embrace it.

"I tell myself, 'This is not the end,' and to go through with it because avoiding will make it worse."

In So Bright 2, Jayley plays Zi Qi, the romantic interest of the protagonist played by Aden Tan.

DEALING WITH INSECURITIES

The actress also credited her twin sister Hayley as a major pillar of support throughout the year.

However, she admitted that their similarities in the same industry is a source of insecurity as well, especially for this project.

"Growing up I always heard comments like 'your sister is better at singing' and being compared, and I'm used to it, but the comments also get ingrained in my mind that during [song] recording, I couldn't bring myself to sing."

Things are changing, though.

Jayley revealed that she hopes to release a single with her sister by the end of this year.

As for Tosh, he hinted that the curtains could be coming down on the Ah Boys.

"Ah Boys to Men 5 is definitely in the works. It could happen next year. I think having a fifth instalment is a good way to end things with a bang."

The cast of So Bright 2 will be appearing and performing at a premiere at Downtown East on Oct 19. Click here for more details.

claralim@asiaone.com