Joanne Peh, Chen Hanwei and Desmond Tan debate stereotype that Mediacorp dramas are 'all the same'

Are local dramas "all the same"? Is the flak received by Singapore shows warranted?

Some of the Best Actor and Best Actress nominees for the upcoming Star Awards — Desmond Tan, Rui En, Kym Ng, Joanne Peh, Jeremy Chan and Chen Hanwei — were posed such questions by host Lee Teng.

In the first episode of Beyond The Script season two uploaded on Mediacorp Entertainment's YouTube channel on Friday (April 12), the 39-year-old said: "I'm sure you're all not strangers to the stereotypes people have towards Mediacorp dramas.

"People tend to say, 'That's so Mediacorp'. They have an impression that all Mediacorp shows are the same, and that stereotype actually prevents people from watching our dramas."

Hanwei, 54, who is nominated for his role in the dialect drama Whatever Will Be, Will Be defended the network: "Firstly, Mediacorp works quite closely with our government. We do have the responsibility to deliver positive and correct messages in our programmes."

He added that actors were not trying to be "defensive" and were still striving for a "breakthrough".

Joanne, who is nominated for her role in Shero, gave a take that had Lee Teng suggesting she should run for political office.

"We are considered a pretty small industry, and our industry is closely linked with the market," the 40-year-old said. "The reason why other countries' dramas or movies are so entertaining and well-produced is because their country's economy supports them very well.

"Many times it really depends on whether the country's economy prioritises the media industry."

She added that it was important for the economy to "trust" that their media industry could "bring about positive impacts to the country".

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"Then naturally there will be more efforts to build up the media industry in Singapore," Joanne concluded. "But if the economy doesn't want to invest in the media industry, there's really no point in us debating on what else we should do."

In the same vein, Desmond added that, when viewers watch overseas dramas that are critically acclaimed, they may only be "watching the top few dramas of that country", which they then compare to local dramas.

"Actually, we produce quite a substantial amount of content but we do have quality ones out of this amount," the 37-year-old, who is nominated for All That Glitters, said.

However, he said that when he goes out for a meal, aunties may ask him: "It's been a while since you've acted in a drama right?" when a show he's in is currently airing.

He added: "It goes to show that they don't really tune in to the television nowadays."

"I've also met with such situations frequently," Lee Teng said. "They'd say, 'I haven't seen you on TV for a long time', and I'd tell them, 'More like you haven't been watching TV right?'

"The aunties will say I'm right."

Rui En is nominated for her role in Oppa, Saranghae!, Kym Ng for Till The End and Jeremy Chan for All That Glitters for Star Awards 2024.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtcsRb_Ckko&ab_channel=Entertainment-Mediacorp[/embed]

Star Awards 2024 will be telecast live on Channel 8, Channel U, mewatch and the Mediacorp Entertainment YouTube Channel on April 21, with the Walk of Fame taking place from 5pm to 6.30pm, and the award ceremony from 7pm to 10pm. The behind-the-scenes livestream Backstage Live will be shown online from 3.30pm to 10.30pm.

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drimac@asiaone.com

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