'It's not because I hate her': Joanne Peh shares why she didn't want Carrie Wong on set during filming

Actors may not want to see each other while on set, but it may not be for reasons you think.

Recently, AsiaOne spoke to actress Joanne Peh at the press conference for Shero regarding the challenges and preparation for her role as bodyguard Zhang Yinchen, who goes in search of her missing sister Zhang Yinxi (Carrie Wong).

The greatest difficulty for Joanne, 40, was in ensuring that there was continuity in her emotions, as many scenes were shot out of sequence. Specifically, as she deals with the ebb and flow of grief, it took her much effort to get into and stay in character.

To ensure that she stayed in character, Joanne mentioned that she had requested for Carrie to not be around on set.

She elaborated: "I did speak with her to ask her to not appear on set. It's not because I hate her or anything, but for the sake of our scenes.

"We only shot in daylight due to the limits of our location. Once they are ready, I need to be in character, so I try not to interact with anything outside of this character. If she was on set, it would be weird as I was looking for her in the story."

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Joanne asserted that she would do this for the other cast members and "not be there if she was not supposed to be there". She added that she would also avoid chatting before going on set so as to stay immersed in her role.

In action-thriller drama Shero, Joanne's character Yinchen takes over her sister Yinxi's (Carrie) bodyguard company after the latter vanished. 

To find Yinxi, Yinchen collaborates with Yue Ruixiang (Romeo Tan), the CEO of a ship-building company who was collaborating on a project with Yinxi before her disappearance.

'I wanted to be in tip-top condition'

Joanne brought her own cooking utensils to Australia, where certain scenes were filmed, to make sure she could have proper home-cooked meals amid energy-consuming fight scenes, and it turned out to be a blessing for others on set too. When Romeo and a few members of the crew fell sick, Joanne bought rice and made porridge for them.

"I wanted to be in tip-top condition and not fall sick so that we can save time… As Romeo and I have many scenes together, it benefits me if Romeo gets well sooner [as that means minimising delays to shooting]. So, taking care of him is also taking care of myself," Joanne explained with a chuckle.

It is the third time they are working closely on a drama together and even have a revealing bed scene together. Joanne shared her thoughts about whether it was easier as they were already familiar with each other.

"It's really because of his personality. He is easygoing, nice and gentle. The trust we have built from the past helped us spark chemistry on-screen… And of course, we communicated a lot."

'I wanted my body to look more like a bodyguard'

The challenges did not end there. As Joanne was playing a bodyguard, there was much preparation required for her to appear physically convincing as one.

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Specifically, Joanne wanted her body to look more like a bodyguard. She had observed that bodyguards have "a certain aura about them that makes you feel they know some [form] of martial arts, and you wouldn't want to mess with them".

Joanne elaborated: "I asked my trainer, 'How can I look like that and make it believable?' He told me I am naturally more 'flighty', and that I tend to walk with a bounce. So when someone pushes me, I will topple.

"The exercises I did are focused on grounding the lower body and improving agility, as guards have to respond fast to threats. All the preparation helped me learn stunts faster. Sometimes we have to learn the choreography within a short time.

"I did feel stronger during the filming period."

Shero airs on weekdays at 9pm on Channel 8 and is streaming for free on meWATCH.

ALSO READ: 'We wanted to try everything, so we did': Carrie Wong and Tay Ying get hangover while filming new drama in Canberra

jolynn.chia@asiaone.com

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