'We wanted to try everything, so we did': Carrie Wong and Tay Ying get hangover while filming new drama in Canberra

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, or in this case, what happens in Canberra stays in Canberra.

Carrie Wong and Tay Ying were filming Mediacorp's new drama Shero in Canberra, Australia, between late February and early March this year, when they had a "bad hangover" after having one too many during one of the days.

Speaking to AsiaOne at the press conference for Shero on Tuesday (March 30) afternoon, Carrie said that one of her fondest memories in the capital of Australia was getting a hangover with Tay Ying when they finished their shoot early one day.

The 29-year-old actress shared: "We grabbed lunch and went to a brewery to try different beers after that. The beers were specially brewed in Canberra with many different varieties. We wanted to try everything, so we did and we tried a lot."

She added that although they were not drunk by the end of the session, both of them woke up with a terrible headache the next day.

She said: "We looked at each other and were like, 'Wah, want to grab coffee?' It was quite funny and very fun, because we don't usually do this in Singapore, we can only do it in Canberra.

"That memory to me is very precious and we still laugh about it now. Even though we had a bad hangover the next day, if we get to choose one more time, we would still do it again."

In Shero, Carrie plays Zhang Yinxi, the owner of a female bodyguard company with the titular name, who went missing in action. Her sister, Yinchen (Joanne Peh) joins Shero as a bodyguard to continue her legacy and look for her sister.

Ruixiang (Romeo Tan), who is a CEO of a shipbuilding company and worked together with Yinxi before her disappearance, teams up with Yinchen to find out the truth behind Yinxi's disappearance. In the process of finding out the truth, their relationship slowly blossoms from partners to lovers.

Carrie also said that she loves going for overseas filming as she felt that the cast and crew always bonded and became closer during and after the trip.

She gushed about her experiences in Canberra: "I love the dynamics there. People just helped each other and bonded with each other. Every time I go for an overseas shoot, I don't want to come back because I enjoyed it a lot.

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"The filming schedule was very packed and we only had a limited time to complete so many scenes. I would usually have a lack of sleep. But although I was tired, I didn't want to sleep because I wished that I could do something after filming, so no matter how tired we were, we would go around and try different restaurants and cafes. It was very, very fun."

Tay Ying, who plays bodyguard Lin Xinya, shared with us at the same press conference about her good experiences in Canberra and that staying together in the same hotel helped all cast and crew to bond well together.

She said: "There were some nights when we would gather in someone's room and just talk over snacks. That was nice. I think that really bonded us because we finally got to catch up with each other on different levels. When we are in Singapore, everybody just goes home after filming. But when we were in Canberra, we all went back to the same hotel."

She added that she took separate outings to different places with Carrie and co-star Nick Teo during the trip.

"Nick and I went to a museum and cafe. With Carrie, we went to some place nice to eat and took a 30-minute walk back to our hotel. There was another time when Joanne arranged a really nice dinner for us after filming," she said.

Tay Ying also shared: "The supermarket was the most interesting thing there. Because everything closes at about 5pm and the supermarket was the only one that closes at 9pm, we would all go to the supermarket there after filming."

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Carrie added that as she had many "emotionally draining" scenes in Canberra — including jumping into a river, crying and running away from a killer — her way of distressing after a long day of filming was to get a drink.

Carrie said: "Tay Ying and I will buy a bottle of wine from the supermarket and we will go to either one of our rooms to sit down and talk about random things. It was very relaxing and that helped me a lot."

At the end of the day, despite the challenging scenes, Carrie felt that the shoot and the trip was fulfilling for her.

"Every night when I lay on my bed in the hotel, my heart was very full and I couldn't wait for the next day to come. It was really an amazing experience," she said.

Shero premieres June 12 and airs on weekdays at 9pm on Channel 8. It will also be available on demand for free on meWATCH from the same day.

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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com

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