If you watched The Little Nyonya (2008), you may remember the dashing Japanese photographer Yamamoto Yousuke played by Dai Yangtian, now known as Dai Xiangyu.

The 38-year-old actor left Mediacorp following his performance in the 2012 drama Poetic Justice to develop his career in China, where he also married actress Chen Zihan in 2016.

AsiaOne caught up with Xiangyu recently when he flew over with Chinese actress Yelena Shaw for the international premiere of Sisterhood, a Chinese remake of the legendary local drama Samsui Women (1986).

It was the first time Xiangyu returned to Singapore since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He shared about his life in China: "I just go with the flow, since I don't necessarily have a lot of autonomy in the roles I take up."

When asked if he would be keen to return to Singapore, he replied candidly: "Singapore didn't invite me. I kept coming to Singapore to promote shows but Singapore hasn't invited me back for filming [since I left]!"

Nevertheless, he added: "I would love to come back."

Yelena chipped in from the side: "It means, people in Singapore, please invite Xiangyu back, he really wants to return!"

In a previous interview with local Chinese daily Shin Min Daily News, Xiangyu asked how his past co-stars Elvin Ng, Desmond Tan and Jeanette Aw are doing, so AsiaOne asked if he would be meeting up with any old friends on this visit.

"I don't have any good friends in showbiz," he replied frankly. "I am concerned about how [my former co-stars] are doing, but my good friends are all from outside showbiz.

"My trip is a bit rushed this time even though I hope to [meet up with them]."

After joining Mediacorp in 2007, Xiangyu quickly rose to become one of the leading men in local dramas, starring in Chinese dramas The Little Nyonya, Together, Breakout and Poetic Justice.

He won Best Newcomer in Star Awards 2008, was nominated for Best Actor in 2010 and 2013, and won Top 10 Most Popular Male Artistes in 2010 and 2013. After working on Together, No Limits and Breakout together, he and Elvin Ng were at one point considered to be the male versions of Zoe Tay and Fann Wong in their popularity.

'I caught a fever and was hospitalised'

Sisterhood, similar to Samsui Women, is a drama about the struggles of samsui women who moved from Samshui in China to Singapore in the 1930s in order to earn more money and support their families back home. Specifically, the samsui women partook in construction work, including physically tedious tasks like moving bricks, carrying wooden planks and mixing concrete.

Xiangyu plays Kuang Haisheng, a small-time gangster and Yelena, 26, plays Ouyang Tianqing, a samsui woman who is also Haisheng's love interest. Both previously acted as a couple in the China version of The Little Nyonya (2020).

Without revealing spoilers, Xiangyu shared about his most memorable scene in the show: "There was a scene in the rain that knocked me out such that I landed in the hospital. Since Shanghai is very cold, I caught a fever and was hospitalised."

Yelena responded: "My most memorable scene was one where our two characters first met. It is a stark contrast to what happened in The Little Nyonya. The audience who watched the latter might be quite shocked... They will be curious to see what develops between them."

She added on the struggles of samsui women: "I understand that they carried 50kg of cement every day. There was even a samsui woman who was past the age of 100 and was still able to carry 50kg of rice… Some modern women can't even carry a pail of water!

"They persevered because they wanted to support their families, I find that admirable."

Having worked together twice now, the co-stars' impressions of each other have changed from their first meeting.

Xiangyu joked that Yelena has grown to be more daring now, even changing her WeChat display name to "rebellious person", while Yelena said that she has discovered more of Xiangyu's fun and childlike side after thinking he was "serious and strict" when they collaborated on The Little Nyonya.

Both had food on their minds when they were in Singapore

While Xiangyu previously said he misses popiah, Yelena tried it on her trip here, along with char kway teow and fried carrot cake.

She also shared that she would love to try Nyonya dishes.

Sisterhood is streaming on iQiyi.

Watch our E-Junkies video for the full interview.

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jolynn.chia@asiaone.com

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