PUBLISHED ONAugust 21, 2024 9:05 AMByYeo Shu HuiWhen local actor Zhang Zetong first met Jeanette Aw for an interview for the entertainment series Just Swipe Lah in 2021, he would never have thought that they would play mother and son three years later in the upcoming drama Emerald Hill.
Back then, when he met the 45-year-old actress outside a film studio, he was visibly nervous. Bowing to her, he said: "Nice to meet you for the first time, hello, hello."
Even before the 31-year-old conducted the interview, he told the camera: "I am feeling a little nervous, but I don't know what I'm nervous about."
Fast forward to this year, when Zetong attended the first script-read for Emerald Hill, where he plays Huang Zuye to Jeanette's Yamamoto Yueniang, he still felt the same way.
"To be very frank, I was quite nervous when I met her for the first script-read. I didn't know what to expect. On the surface, she seems to be quite a stern person, and of course she is behaving that way because she's really professional with her craft, which I understand," he told AsiaOne during a set visit to Melaka recently.
"There were moments when I didn't know if I should be cheekier or more playful, in case she finds me unprofessional."
However, his perspective of her changed after Jeanette initiated a separate session with him in May, so that they could discuss their characters better. He shared that Jeanette was "very nice" and he got to know her better personally as well as her advice on playing their scenes together.
'It was a very unimaginable shift'
When asked what the best piece of advice he received from her is, Zetong said the one that would stick with him "forever" is "a long-lasting role is one that is the hardest to interpret".
"I think when she said this, she meant that plain and simple-looking characters are usually the hardest to figure out because they are just there and they are doing things that the audience would expect," Zetong explained.
While he revealed that he didn't actually understand what it meant when he first heard it, he came to a realisation as he was playing Zuye, where he had to portray all of the latter's struggles.
Reflecting from his interview with Jeanette in 2021 to playing family now, he said: "I think it was a very unimaginable shift and I did not expect to be able to act with her, especially when I know that she's not doing as much drama these days compared to previously. So this is a rare chance for me to act alongside her on the same screen."
Zetong also shared that his chemistry with Jeanette came naturally, which he attributed to her professionalism.
"I think the chemistry was right off the bat. She has a very amicable presence, she was very friendly and warm, and when the cameras started rolling, she became my mum immediately. She gave me warm and motherly care… and I want to react appropriately.
"Therefore, there wasn't a single ounce of awkwardness, not a moment where I had doubts and thought that she is not my mum. I went into the character immediately with her and that was very nice. It was not something you get every day on set," he said.
While he had doubts at first about whether he would be able to portray Yueniang's son, Jeanette's presence and energy while performing convinced him that he would be able to do a "pretty good job" to match up with her.
Channelling 18-year-old Zetong to Zuye
Zetong also shared that when playing Zuye, who is an 18-year-old fresh graduate helping with his mother's business in Melaka, he channels the energy from his younger self.
When he was 18, he was in his second year of junior college with an "innocence" and "hopeful" about life.
"There was this sparkle in my eyes and I remember thinking that the world is my oyster and I am here to claim something of mine. I was a young man with a lot of hope and ambitions and I think that would be the energy that Zuye has as well," he said with a smile.
Emerald Hill centres around Zhang Xinniang, who roams the streets with her adoptive mother Ah Zhu (Chen Liping), cheating others to survive.
When Xinniang is around 10 years old, Ah Zhu brings her to the wealthy Zhang family living on Emerald Hill and claims that she is Jinhe (Hsiu Chieh-kai) and his wife Li Shuqin's (Jesseca Liu) long-lost daughter Anya.
As Xinniang (Tasha Low) grows up in the family, she secretly remains in contact with Ah Zhu, sometimes stealing things for her, unaware that Shuqin knows of her deeds and that she is not the real Anya.
In the process, she meets Bai A'li (Tyler Ten) and Zuye, who become her love interests.
Watch our E-Junkies video for our interview with Zetong and Romeo Tan.
There will also be more interviews with the actors of Emerald Hill in Batu Pahat.
Emerald Hill also stars Zoe Tay, Aileen Tan, Chen Huihui, Chantalle Ng, Romeo Tan, Dawn Yeoh, Shaun Chen, Elvin Ng, Desmond Ng, Herman Keh, Zhu Zeliang, Zhai Siming, Priscelia Chan, Juin Teh, Jernelle Oh and Seow Sin Nee, and the series is expected to premiere in the first half of 2025.
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