Sandra Ng paid daughter $18 for special appearance in new comedy Chilli Laugh Story

It was meant to be a lesson in hard work.

That is why Sandra Ng paid her 16-year-old daughter just HK$100 (about S$18) for her special appearance in the Hong Kong actress' newest film Chilli Laugh Story, 8World reported.

The movie, helmed by first-time director Coba Cheng and produced by Sandra herself, was meant to be released during Chinese New Year but had its opening delayed till this month due to the rising cases of Covid-19.

Although HK$100 is admittedly a paltry amount, Sandra revealed that her daughter Jillian — whom she shares with long-time partner, director Peter Chan — was still very pleased with the token sum.

And it appears Jillian may be following in her famous mum's footsteps. She had appeared in the 2021 sports drama film Zero to Hero in a cameo role before volunteering to be an extra in Chilli Laugh Story. 

In promotional interviews with the media, 56-year-old Sandra shared that she'd allowed her daughter to have a bit part in the movie as she wanted her to know the difficulties that actors face.

Sandra added that as Jillian goes to an international school, she has a limited understanding of Cantonese culture. Hence she hoped the on-set opportunity could be a good learning experience for her.

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The movie, which co-stars Ronald Cheng, Gigi Leung as well as Edan Lui from boy band Mirror, chronicles the work-from-home shenanigans of a family forced indoors due to Hong Kong's Covid-19 measures.

With the movie touching on familial relationships, Sandra also shared that with her teenage daughter now "very independent", she is no longer the strict disciplinarian she used to be.

Ronald, 50, also revealed in interviews that Sandra is quite the open-minded mum, having discussed the birds and the bees with her daughter when she was just eight years old.

Turns out, it was spurred by an incident where Jillian told her mum that a boy from school wanted to kiss her.

Retorted Sandra: "You may think they're still young but they know everything, so we just talked about it. I often ask her if she has any relationship problems and encourage her to get to know more people and let nature take its course."

candicecai@asiaone.com