Paige Chua’s sexy new look

SINGAPORE — We’re totally loving Paige Chua’s new look — the bobbed hair and bold lips she sports in her new drama, Against The Tide — but in her characteristic understated fashion, she’s merely “relieved” to be getting “positive feedback”.

Oh, Paige, you’re so Zen.

Crime thriller Against The Tide sees her playing Zhang Jingxuan, a successful lawyer who, sadly, doesn’t always get her man — in this case, leading man Christopher Lee.

“In my previous shows, I’m always the docile damsel in distress,” Chua said. “But in this one, just looking at her, you know she’s a confident, bold go-getter — red lips, red nails. It’s me trying to look sexy, I guess!

“I do enjoy trying out different looks,” she divulged, adding that to play the character, she chopped off her long locks for the first time in years. “I was very apprehensive about cutting it short,” she said. “I had been wanting to get a new look but I was thinking shoulder length. But when I started this drama, they wanted something fresher because they felt I had looked the same for the past four or five years. Thankfully, people have said that I can carry it off.”

On top of the new hairstyle, Chua also bought a lipstick to help her get into character. “I went shopping for my own lipstick and I saw this colour, called Lady Danger. It suited the character and I really like how vibrant it looks,” she said.

But she doesn’t wear it on her own time. “It would go well in fashion spreads, but it’s not me,” said the actress, who will also appear in next year’s dramas, Mindgame and Good Luck. “Maybe my alter egos.”

Ooh. We’re curious: What is her alter ego like? “I guess whatever you see in this show, I have a bit of that. I try to magnify it for particular moments.”

In the show, her character has a history with Lee’s crime novelist character, so he alone gets to see her confident character’s weak side. “I think the biggest challenge was to show her vulnerability only towards one person … She crumbles in front of him,” Chua said. “I’m sure that in real life, you’ll be totally nice towards your boyfriend, but sometimes, you’re a bit rebellious towards your mum. But you’re still the same person.”

Catch Against The Tide on weekdays at 9pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 8.