Zoe Tay learns muay thai for new drama series Dark Angel, nearly falls ill

For her latest drama series, local TV 'Ah Jie' Zoe Tay doesn't just have to contend with acting — she also needed to go for muay thai practice.

The 54-year-old veteran actress revealed to media last Thursday (Sept 1) that her schedule for filming her latest drama, Dark Angel, was packed to the brim because of it.

"It's tough, it's definitely tough, especially when the schedule for filming got really tight," she said.

"Before we started filming, I told production staff, 'Don't arrange the training when I have a lot of filming to do, if not, I would go crazy and have to take medical leave the next day. If I did that, what would happen to filming the show?'"

Dark Angel is Mediacorp's latest thriller drama series following Zoe's character, He Ziyuan as she becomes a lawyer and attempts to uncover the entities that have destroyed her family.

Her daughter goes into a coma while her son and husband die after an attack by a mysterious assailant.

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The drama series also features a stellar cast of actors such as Qi Yuwu, Aileen Tan, Rayson Tan, Chew Chor Meng, Lina Ng and Jeffrey Xu — all of whom are Star Search finalists or champions.

Where there's a violent criminal organisation involved, you can expect things to get physical and Zoe didn't shy away from learning muay thai for her role.

She said: "I actually quite enjoy doing things that are challenging, and muay thai is very different from basic boxing, so it's a new experience."

Co-star Aileen, 55, added: "I really look forward to this show because the two of us (Aileen and Zoe) have had it rough — we've both had to learn muay thai. But she's had it even harder, because she'll have to go one-versus-five!"

In an interview with AsiaOne on Sept 1, Zoe revealed more about her role and shared that around 70 per cent of the show depends upon her character's actions and decisions.

And while the veteran actress has more than sufficient experience to play such a crucial role, this one is different.

"My role is very intense, which includes more internal and emotional acting, as well as [a lot of action sequences]. It exhausted my body and focus to the point where I nearly fell ill… I lost my voice," Zoe said, adding that she managed to miraculously recover thanks to health supplements and medicine.

"For every month I film, I have about one or two off-days," Zoe shared. "But it's still all right, because they're also afraid that I'll fall sick, so they'll constantly ask if I'm doing well, to which I answer, 'I'm okay!'"

"If I'm not filming today, then I'm filming tomorrow. As long as I don't have any conditions, I'll be fine."

The NC16 version of Dark Angel will stream on meWATCH, while the cleaned version will air on Channel 8 beginning on Sept 12, 9pm.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com