Jeanette Aw wants to 'manage expectations' for her role in The Little Nyonya spinoff

When local actress Jeanette Aw announced on Instagram in January that she would be reprising her role as the iconic Yamamoto Yueniang in the upcoming The Little Nyonya spinoff drama Emerald Hill, it threw fans and viewers into a frenzy.

Neither the 44-year-old nor viewers expected to see Yueniang on screen again, 16 years after her story came to a conclusion in early 2009.

However, while viewers hope to see more of her in the upcoming drama, Jeanette clarified that she is only making "guest appearances".

"I think I want to manage expectations," Jeanette told AsiaOne at the imaging session for Emerald Hill recently.

She will be portraying Yueniang as a successful businesswoman in her 40s, and while she does not have a lot of scenes in Emerald Hill, her appearance will not be brief. She will start filming in around July.

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 Li Shuqin's (Jesseca Liu) long-lost daughter Anya.

As Xiniang (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 she is not the real Anya.

In the process, she meets Bai A'li (Tyler Ten) and Yueniang's son Huang Zuye (Zhang Zetong), who become her love interests.

[[nid:680950]]

On playing mother-and-son with Zetong, Jeanette shared that the challenge is for the 31-year-old to play an 18-year-old.

She added that she would be meeting with Zetong soon to discuss their characters' relationship.

"I don't think it's going to be a real issue for me because I have played mother roles before and it's not new to me.

"But I think Zetong needs to overcome the mindset that he's got to play how old or how young and all that, and he just needs to believe he's that role," she said.

'You need to put your heart and soul into the craft'

The Little Nyonya was a local blockbuster when it aired between late 2008 and early 2009 with the highest viewership rating in Singapore in 14 years. It was also the first Singaporean Chinese drama to be dubbed in Malay and aired on Malay-language channel Suria.

Over the years, it also had other achievements internationally, with Netflix acquiring its broadcasting rights in 2016 and a Chinese remake of the drama with the same name aired in 2020, starring actors Xiao Yan as Juxiang and Yueniang, and ex-Mediacorp actor Dai Xiangyu (formerly known as Dai Yangtian), reprising his role as Yosuke Yamamoto.

With such success from the first drama and high anticipation for Emerald Hill, we also asked Jeanette for her advice to the younger actors who would be playing leading roles in the upcoming drama.

She shared: "I feel generally as an actor, you need to put your heart and soul into the craft. There are too many distractions now with social media and maybe sometimes their focus is on creating content, rather than really building and strengthening the craft of acting.

"I think that a lot of heart and soul needs to be put into reading the script, building your character and making sure you do your job well."

[[nid:671559]]

Jeanette also shared that when she starred in The Little Nyonya then, she "didn't think so much".

"We never thought about this as a blockbuster. The whole team, crew and actors, we really just wanted to deliver. We had outstanding actors and actresses, and a fabulous production crew.

"It's not a singular effort. It's always teamwork that shows the kind of sincerity and effort that goes into [the making of the series] and the audiences will be able to feel that.

"I feel that maybe the focus [for the younger actors] should be more on, 'I want to do this well' and to really deliver and not having the pressure [of it being a blockbuster]," she expressed.

'They were feisty women'

For local actress Priscelia Chan, participating in Emerald Hill as majie (domestic helper) Ping Jie has been a "great honour" for her.

"I am really looking forward to it. It's a very big honour and I hope that I will do this role well as Ping Jie, the head of the majies," she expressed, adding that it has been a while since she acted in a period drama.

Ping Jie is the direct caregiver to the matriarch of the Zhang family Liu Xiuniang, played by local veteran actress Zoe Tay.

The 45-year-old shared that she is also looking forward to working with Zoe again, having last appeared together in the local medical drama You Can Be an Angel 4 in 2022.

"She is a sisterly figure whom I respect… I'm really thankful because she is very supportive and encouraging so I think I'd be very comfortable working with her again," she shared.

[[nid:681789]]

While preparing for her role, Priscelia researched about majies and grew to appreciate them.

She said: "All the little details actually helped me to realise that the intensity and depth of their resilience and determination are really admirable. It gives me even much more respect for this trade and in that era, these women were really amazing.

"They were not conventional. They chose not to get married and went to a new place to earn money… As I read more and more of their stories and histories, I realised they were feisty women. They were so strong and tough, and they had to protect themselves.

"I really admire that, so I hope that in this drama I can bring out the strength and beauty of these women in that era."

Emerald Hill, which starts filming in May, also stars Shaun Chen, Romeo Tan, Dawn Yeoh, Chantalle Ng, Ferlyn Wong and Zhang Yaodong. It is expected to premiere in the first half of 2025.

ALSO READ: Did Korean hit drama Queen of Tears change ending for Kim Ji-won's character?

yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

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