'My socks became very soggy and disgusting': Hong Ling reveals hard truths about filming romantic scene in idol drama

Someone always ends up running foul of the other in a love triangle — but something else foul was running around the set of this drama.

Hong Ling shared with AsiaOne in a recent interview for her new drama Fix My Life that acting in a romantic rainy scene isn't as dreamy as it appears.

Describing it as her first time filming a raining scene, she shared that the crew used water pipes and machines to spray water over the set, with the equipment covered to prevent damage.

Because it's an idol drama, she had to "look good".

The 28-year-old actress elaborated: "So you have to keep re-doing [the scenes] — and I was wearing socks, so that became very soggy and disgusting. That wasn't a very good experience." 

She added: "We have to dry our hair, touch up our makeup and change our clothes before continuing to film. After the rain and everything, the smell was not good."

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Still, despite being soaked to the bone, she enjoyed filming that scene quite a bit. 

Hong Ling plays Yuan Manying in Fix My Life, a 'slashie' who works multiple part-time jobs to make ends meet.

As she is working for a magazine, Manying interviews Fan Shede (James Seah) who makes a name for himself as a 'declutterer', helping others get rid of items in their homes.

But as they work with each other and form stronger emotional ties, romance blooms between them and many heartfelt moments are shared, including a romantic scene in the rain.

For that scene, Hong Ling had to remain in the rain for approximately half a day, not only due to re-takes but also because preparation work was needed to handle the rain machines and create an optimal amount of 'rain'.

It was also her first day shooting the drama and she had to portray feelings for James' character.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLSgFYdjxBY[/embed]

She said: "It felt very difficult because the scene had to look very romantic — but I wasn't even close to him back then!"

Once she looked at an edited version of the scene, however, she couldn't help but express appreciation.

"I saw the scene edited with slow motion effects added to it — it was very nice," Hong Ling happily added.

Fix My Life also stars Peter Yu, Cavin Soh, Desmond Ng, Liu Lingling and Aileen Tan.

It is available free on demand on meWATCH with new episodes shown on Channel 8 every weekday at 9pm.

ALSO READ: 'You don't know if they want to be friends': Aileen Tan doesn't want to be 'a nuisance' to younger actors using handphone on set

khooyihang@asiaone.com