'Do I still consider myself an actress?' Sheila Sim almost didn't audition for role in Emerald Hill after 3-year hiatus

For the past three years, local actress Sheila Sim has been mostly a stay-home mum taking care of her two daughters Layla, four, and Skyla, one.

So when she received an invitation to audition for upcoming drama Emerald Hill, she was hesitant to go for it at first.

"I just didn't feel confident enough," the 40-year-old told AsiaOne at a visit to the period drama set at Iskandar Malaysia Studios in Johor Bahru last Saturday (Sept 21).

In addition, Sheila said the idea of travelling for work felt "impossible" as she was mostly with her daughters during that period, so she used it as an "excuse" to tell executive producer Loh Woon Woon that she wasn't up for it.

However, Woon Woon's response motivated her to reflect on her future career plans.

"I was very grateful to the producer. She said, 'You're not even going to try?' I took two days to reply her. I was really thinking about whether I want to try or not. Do I still consider myself an actress, or do I want to just be a full-time mum from now on?" she said.

After two days of consideration, she shared candidly with Woon Woon that she "don't feel good enough" to be part of the blockbuster drama, and the latter told her: "An actor gets better by trying, not by not trying."

And Sheila felt deeply about what she said.

"There's so much truth to it. If I don't ever step out of my comfort zone and take this step, then I would never enter [acting] again," she said.

Taking the leap of faith, she went for the audition and got the role of Zhang Yinniang, the youngest daughter of the Zhang family, which the drama centres on.

New beginnings

Emerald Hill also marked the first time that Sheila is acting in a period drama.

When asked how it felt coming back to acting again, she shared: "My brain was very rusty when I first started and it really made me very nervous."

She recounted a pivotal scene with actress-singer Tasha Low, who plays Zhang Xinniang, where she was fully prepared to perform, but ended up having many NG (no-good) takes.

"My audition was that scene, so I had the lines at the back of my mind, but it was so stressful because the lines were very long. I felt like I was having an anxiety attack or something like that. I NG so many times and I really panicked," she recounted.

Despite that, Sheila enjoyed returning to the set again.

It also marked a new beginning for her as it changed the way she handles parenthood.

"I've learned to trust. My husband has to step up, my mum has been helping me a lot in taking care of the children, my helper as well. I have a good team, it's just that I never felt that I could trust them before.

"I've achieved a lot, and I feel that there was a huge change in my mindset… I am grateful to have that 'me' time, I'm grateful to have the time fully focusing on my craft and it's been really amazing," she told us.

'I'm ready for the change'

At the time of the interview, Sheila also said she would complete filming on Sept 23 and expressed her reluctance for it to end.

"I really, really enjoyed my time with the cast, director and producer. We had so many good times together… I will miss seeing all of them and the time that we spent," she said, recalling her time exploring Melaka with actors such as Elvin Ng, Romeo Tan, Aileen Tan and Zoe Tay.

Sheila added that she would also miss Yinniang.

"Yinniang is so different from her time. One thing I also love about being in a period drama is that we get to experience how it was like in the past, where women really didn't have much of a say and were always submissive. And it is because of people like Yinniang who paved the way for women of today," she explained.

"We are very blessed to have an education. We are very blessed to be able to have management roles, that we are leading a team and our words matter. All this is because of our foremothers who paved the way for us, and so it's very meaningful to be playing her."

She also looks forward to taking a short overseas trip with her family after filming ended and going on a separate solo trip with Layla.

"At the same time, I hope that new opportunities for filming will come up. I feel that I'm ready for the change," Sheila added.

Emerald Hill centres around Zhang Xinniang, who roams the streets with her adoptive mother Ah Zhu (Chen Liping), cheating others to survive.

When Xinniang is around 10 years old, Ah Zhu brings her to the wealthy Zhang family living on Emerald Hill and claims that she is Li Shuqin (Jesseca Liu) and Zhang Jinhe's (Hsiu Chieh-kai) long lost daughter Anya.

As Xinniang (Tasha Low) grows up in the family, she secretly remains in contact with Ah Zhu, sometimes stealing things for her, unaware that Shuqin knows of her deeds and she is not the real Anya.

Watch out for more of our E-Junkies videos with Sheila, Zoe Tay and Priscelia Chan in Iskandar and the actors in Batu Pahat and Melaka soon!

Emerald Hill also stars Dawn Yeoh, Aileen Tan, Chen Huihui, Chantalle Ng, Elvin Ng, Romeo Tan, Ferlyn Wong, Zhu Zeliang and Zhang Zetong with Jeanette Aw reprising her role as Yamamoto Yueniang from The Little Nyonya. The series is expected to premiere in the first half of 2025.

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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

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