Kids cried watching his scenes, getting scolded in public: Screen baddie Richard Low talks about his 35 years in showbiz

Nowadays, local veteran actor Richard Low plays mellow and fatherly characters on television, like his recent role as the head of the family in the English drama Tanglin and also in a comedic role in Spouse for House. 

However, many may remember him as an on-screen villain with his older love-to-hate roles like Wang Ah Pao in Living in Geylang (1998). 

As the 69-year-old — also famously known by his nickname 'Limpeh' — looked back on his 35 years as an actor, he reflected on how this on-screen bad-guy mystique came about and his career's most memorable moments. 

Becoming a TV baddie

Back in 1986, Richard went for his first acting audition, choosing to play a villain rather than the hero. Speaking with CNA Lifestyle, he revealed why he did so.

"I knew my capacity. I thought my face would suit the baddie role," he said. 

"There were other guys auditioning who weren't exactly the best looking, and they chose the hero roles. But I went straight for the bad guy. And I guess it worked, because I was accepted!"

In his next few years of acting, he arrived on film sets from his job in construction without grooming his hair or sun-weathered skin. He suspected that rougher look was why he kept getting baddie roles. 

His kids cried watching him

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Being a TV baddie, the characters Richard played often got into fights, like in scenes from the Chinese series Teahouse in Chinatown (1988).

Inevitably, his three children would sometimes watch him in these roles and he remembered one scene that got them screaming when they were very young. 

One character "came after me with a cleaver. The kids wailed! They didn't know what TV acting was," he recalled.

A school principal said not to watch his show

One of Richard's more infamous characters was a pimp in the series Living in Geylang. 

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To prepare for the role, the actor spoke to actual pimps who told him they often used harsh language. "I decided to give him (the character) the catchphrase 'Rotten eggs.' I didn't realise that it was phonetically similar to a Hokkien swear word," he said

When the show aired, Richard said he was criticised and even scolded in public for being a bad influence on children with the accidental swear word and hand gestures that looked vulgar. 

He added that his nephew came home from school one day and said he was not allowed to watch Richard's show. Apparently, at morning assembly, the principal had told the kids: 'No watching Living In Geylang.'"

Cast in a Spanish movie

Besides the dozens of local series and films under his belt, Richard said he also acted in the Spanish movie Wherever You Are.

He told CNA that its lead actress was a superstar and diva, and she became upset at his mispronunciation of English lines in their script. He recalled mispronouncing "deal" as "dew" and the actress could not understand what he said.

"That was when I realised just how bad my English was!" 

Never got an on-screen kiss

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Despite being cast as husbands, boyfriends, a pimp, and appearing in some cheeky scenes, Richard has never had a kiss on screen before. 

"I don't even think I've kissed anyone on the cheek," he said. 

The closest he's ever gotten, according to him, was when he was acting in a flirty car scene with a much younger actress. "I had to drink a lot of beer before I could do that scene!"

However, even with no kissing scenes and a late start to acting, 69-year-old Richard Low has still come to be one of Singapore's most popular and memorable entertainers.

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alexanderkt@asiaone.com