'That's my personal life': Christopher Lee responds to public comments about his 'sloppy' looks

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Christopher Lee was considered one of the heartthrobs of Mediacorp for his looks and fashion styles.

However, some viewers noticed that, in recent years and especially on his currently airing talk show Dishing with Chris Lee Season 2, he appeared different, and more specifically, "sloppy".

In response to these comments, the 52-year-old actor said in a report published by Lianhe Zaobao today (June 27): "I don't care what others think of my image. I am not ignoring the audience, I don't care because I don't want to be bound by the so-called 'artiste image'. If I am bound, I would lose myself.

"I said this recently, 'Losing yourself is the most terrifying thing.' If I care too much about everyone's comments and expectations, then I am not Christopher Lee anymore.'"

Christopher added that he noticed netizens commenting on his looks, such as his beard, on social media a few years ago, but did not respond to them because he felt that it would be "meaningless".

"Whether I should grow a beard, cut my hair, leave my hair long or short, I never respond because that's my personal life," he said.

He added that pursuing a glamorous appearance or keeping up with his best looks are the past to him now.

"Now that I am in my middle age, I want to play a variety of roles. As an actor, I don't want to be bound or limited by the looks I pursued in the past. I want to follow a path that allows me to play a variety of roles," he shared, adding that he can also be clean-shaven depending on the character he plays.

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Christopher also believed that the idea that an artiste "should take good care of their image" is "outdated" and hoped that he can act in more projects to dedicate to the audience.

"I hope that the audience won't pay too much attention to how I look on social media. That's my private life or I could be preparing for my next role," he said.

In the recent episode of Dishing with Chris Lee, he chatted with veteran actors Chen Shucheng, Zhu Houren, Richard Low and Marcus Chin about their acting careers and family.

Christopher was teased by Houren, 69, that he was "terribly afraid" of local actress Fann Wong, whom the former married in 2009, even before he pursued her and would skip rope in the hotel room corridor when they were filming the drama The Return of the Condor Heroes (1998) in Beijing to get her attention.

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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com