PUBLISHED ONFebruary 18, 2025 4:33 AMByYeo Shu HuiWhile Dai Xiangyu impressed viewers with his performance as Japanese photographer Yamamoto Yousuke in the local blockbuster The Little Nyonya (2008), the same could not be said for his recent performance in a Chinese acting reality show.
The 40-year-old former Mediacorp actor, then known as Dai Yangtian, is a participant in the latest season of Everybody Stand By, which aired its first episode on Feb 14.
The reality show gathers actors, producers and directors mainly from the Chinese entertainment industry, where actors are mentored by showbiz veterans to compete and emerge as "The Best Actor".
When Xiangyu made his first appearance in the show, he greeted the other contestants shyly before choosing a seat at the far end of the room.
As the other contestants told him to sit closer, he responded with a shake of his head: "It's quite troublesome, those seated in front have to speak up and it's tiring. I am an introvert."
In the first segment, he and the other 45 contestants were brought to a Chinese Republican Era drama set where they could design their own characters and choose the location they want to perform to impress the judges, which consisted of Chinese director Chen Kaige, Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi, Hong Kong actor Francis Ng and French actress Isabelle Huppert.
Other contestants include Hong Kong actor Alex Fong, Taiwanese actress Esther Liu and Taiwanese singer-actor Danson Tang.
Xiangyu chose to portray a poor father begging for money to save his ailing child. To prepare for his performance, he wore a long black robe and rolled on the ground to get dirt on his costume.
Despite his preparation, he did not impress Francis, 63, and Ziyi, 46, with his performance.
He began by kneeling in front of them and as tears rolled down his face, he begged: "I wish to borrow some money from you. Can you lend me $300? I promise I will return it."
Francis threw him an impromptu question: "Do you have Alipay?"
Caught off guard, Xiangyu hesitated before shaking his head wordlessly.
"Then how do you expect me to give it to you?" Francis asked curtly, before walking away.
Reflecting on his performance, Xiangyu said in a separate interview later: "I think he was trying to give me an opportunity [to enhance my performance], but I didn't manage to catch it."
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