Rebecca Lim on why she prioritises work over relationships now

Rebecca Lim is on a winning streak. And we’re not just talking about her bagging the Top 10 Most Popular Female Artiste award for eight years running. Throughout her 10-year career, Rebecca has swept multiple acting awards, locally and regionally.

She’s a regular face on television screens, and holds court on Instagram with over 380,000 followers. She’s inked long-standing deals with brands like Mercedes-Benz (seven years), Goldheart (six years), and Swisse (six years). She’s everywhere – from our screens to outdoor ads and magazine covers.

She has the ROI to back it up too. When she appeared on our May cover sporting a Longines DolceVita stainless steel watch with an orange leather strap, women flocked to the boutiques asking for “the Rebecca Lim watch”.

It’s easy to see the key to her bankability. It’s how Jennifer Aniston popularised “The Rachel” haircut – with her girl-next-door appeal. This label is one that Rebecca readily accepts, although she points out that at 34, she’s hardly a girl anymore. But there’s no denying that she is extremely relatable.

She’s close to her family. She laments about how difficult dating is because of her focus on career. She confesses that she practically lived in three sets of pyjamas during the Circuit Breaker. She then laughs about how she’s still struggling to lose the 4kg that she gained during it.

Yes, she is a celebrity, but she could very well be your best friend too.

What does being a brand ambassador mean to you?

Traditionally, being a brand ambassador means having your name and face next to a product. But, personally, I feel like it has to be authentic to my lifestyle – I need to believe in the brand, and there must be synergy.

I carry my Huawei phone, drive my Mercedes, and take my Swisse supplements every day. I wear Goldheart jewellery and give them as gifts.

And Longines (she became a friend of the brand this year) was the first watch that I bought for myself. There’s meaning behind who I choose to partner with, and because of that, there’s longevity in the relationship.

Brand ambassadorships are usually only for a year, but I’ve had pretty long partnerships, which is very rare in the age of social media. I’m very thankful.

You must get a lot of these offers. How do you decide if you should take up the deal?

I do receive a lot of offers. Say you have a deal with a company, and then its competitor comes around and offers you more. But to me, there wouldn’t be any authenticity in accepting that, so I’d give it a miss.

Also, I feel like it’s not fair to my followers. I learnt that the hard way when I previously endorsed something that I didn’t fully understand. I just went into it blindly, and got hit pretty badly. That’s when I learnt that it’s very important to be authentic about who you partner with.

Speaking of brands, what do you think is your brand?

I’m very boring (laughs)! My work is what makes me exciting.

We think you're the quintessential Singapore girl-next-door. Do you think that is true to your identity?

I think it’s sort of true, which is why I never really try to get away from this association. I’m very comfortable with it, even though some people might say that there is no star factor in being the girl-next-door. But the truth is, I’m not a star most of the time.

I mean, we’re having chwee kueh at Bukit Panjang while doing this interview (laughs)! When I’m not at work, I can really just be at home, or at my grandparents’ place, for the whole day. When I meet my friends, I’d rather just go to their homes for pot luck.

Do you consciously try to portray that image?

I have to say, everything just fell in line. Thankfully, the roles I’ve played have all been quite likeable, like a police officer in C.L.I.F., and a nurse in You Can Be An Angel Too. They’re also very Singapore hero-driven roles, so that helps. But no, I don’t make a conscious effort to portray that girl- next-door image.

How to you define success?

Success to me, when I first started out, was quantified by how many magazine covers I had, how many lead roles I got, and which row I’m placed at during Star Awards. Very superficial things, but they are metrics of success in this industry.

ALSO READ: She's one of the top female celebs in Singapore, but Rebecca Lim says she doesn't need to be called Ah Jie

But success to me now is the feedback that I get from my work. After every show, we’d have a post-mortem, and so far the feedback has always been “no complaints about Rebecca”, “her performance was good”, “there’s no attitude from her”.

That is success to me now. These things will last, as opposed to being a pretty face or the girl of the moment.

Does your work as an actress define you?

As a woman, no matter what industry you’re in, I think it’s important to allow your work to define you. We feel like we need to downplay the successes in our career just to be a “good woman”, and to fit into that mould of having a good work-life balance.

But what’s wrong with having a strong career but a not-so-smooth personal life? A lot of people will say, “Oh, you’re so busy with work that you have no time to start a family”, but to me, it doesn’t matter because right now my heart is in my work. It doesn’t necessarily define me, but I’m fine if people define me by my work.

You said it took a compulsory quarantine to force you to take a break from work.

For the past four years, I’ve just been working non-stop. So during the Circuit Breaker, I didn’t do anything at all. I was in my pyjamas every day – I had three sets on rotation.

My brother was trying to master making sourdough, so I was eating so much bread and food. I put on 4kg and it’s so hard to lose. It’s still there! I stay with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law, so I spent a lot of time with my niece. She’s seven months old now; she’s very cute, and a joy to have around.

So you've had some time to reflect and recharge. Did you emerge with a new outlook?

I used to put a lot of pressure on myself on set, because with all these awards and titles that people give you, you have the responsibility of performing well. So when I didn’t do a good take, I’d beat myself up. I’m very hard on myself.

But after the Circuit Breaker, when I returned to set, and I NG or make mistakes as a normal human being would, I would just let it go and try harder the next take.

My latest drama is A Jungle Survivor, where I play a jilted wife who goes back to work in her husband’s office in a bid to win him back, and she starts getting involved in office politics. It’s my first project after the Circuit Breaker and it’s, emotionally, my heaviest role yet.

I enjoyed it so much, and I think I was a lot more free and relaxed on set because I didn’t give myself that pressure to ace every take.

You said that you've never been in love. Does that still apply? Do you put yourself out there?

No, I mean I was at home for two months (laughs)! I’m not looking for it either. I think what’s pulling me back is that I know it’s not going to be easy. Am I ready to spend time developing something else when I’m still working on my career? I don’t know.

And it’s very difficult to find someone who understands why I put so much time into my work. I’ve tried. It’s all good during the honeymoon period, but after that, there are so many complaints about why I’m not there for certain things, or why I’m cancelling last minute. I don’t want to deal with that.

What would being in love look like to you?

If I really think about it, I have been in love. But it was so painful that I choose not to believe that it’s true love. It didn’t work out, not because of the lack of love, but because of external pressures like work and family.

Everyone thinks they know what’s best for you, but at the end of the day, when you want something and everyone else is telling you that you deserve something else, that’s when love becomes very painful.

Is that why you don't talk about your relationship?

Yes, because then everyone will feel like they are entitled to say something, or they become so invested. What people don’t realise is that their statements or actions might impact me or my potential partner a lot.

It’s not easy for me to tune that out, so I just choose not to talk about it. I’ve never spoken about any of my relationships before, and I’d keep it that way.

ALSO READ: 9 things to know about Rebecca Lim

This article was first published in Her World Online.