The ‘villainous’ sides of the Hero stars

SINGAPORE — Next year marks the 35th anniversary of local Chinese dramas, and Channel 8 is kickstarting the commemorative period with year-end blockbuster Hero, a 30-episode drama with a star-studded cast and countless familiar faces in cameo roles.

Headlining the lineup are Shaun Chen, Chen Hanwei and Jesseca Liu, who play a trio that grew up together in Dakota Crescent, one of Singapore’s oldest public housing estates which is slated for redevelopment by the end of this year. The story follows their various adventures — and misadventures — as they interact with the other residents.

Thanks to the characters’ colourful personalities, Hero will be a programme that is wacky, light-hearted and full of laughs: Zhou Fa Da/Big Brother (Shaun Chen) is an overzealous vigilante who causes more harm than help, Ye Xiao Ying (Chen Han Wei) is a smooth-stalking slacker who is not exactly winning in life, and Zhang Wei Xiong (Liu) is a timid girl pretending to be tough and strong-headed on the outside.

Together, they are the “three musketeers” of their neighbourhood as they become the titular Hero(es) that uphold justice. However, the actors may actually have a “villainous” side in real life.

Chen Hanwei: The eraser-loving kleptomaniac

Chen revealed that when he was a boy, he loved to steal erasers, especially those with special illustrations and scents. He finally stopped when he entered secondary school, but by then, he had already amassed a collection of two or three boxes — which he still keeps to this day. “I’m setting a negative example!” he chuckled.

However, the 47-year-old veteran actor is just as heroic now as he was, um, itchy-fingered. “When I see someone disrespecting another person, I must step in and speak up for them,” he said, adding that even his fellow artistes are not spared from his reminders to treat everyone equally.

Chen, who is apparently known as “Doctor Tan” in showbiz circles (and who suspects he was a physician in a past life), also revealed his ability to diagnose illnesses, a skill that stems from his love of reading medical books in his spare time.

“My mother once told me that her stomach wasn’t feeling well, but after learning of the other symptoms, I suspected it might be a gallbladder problem instead,” he said. “When we went to the hospital for a check-up, it really turned out to be a gall inflammation.”

Actress Hong Huifang has also benefitted from his talent. “She was coughing for three or four months but cough medicine and lung check-ups were not helping. I asked her a few questions and realised that it was not a problem with her throat or lungs, but with her stomach. A doctor’s visit confirmed my suspicions, and after taking stomach medications, her cough went away.”

Jesseca Liu: The girl who broke mum’s heart

The Malaysian-born beauty clearly has a soft spot for animals, especially of the feline variety. In addition to being a “mum” to two pet cats at home, the 37-year-old has a history of rescuing strays, even when she was a little girl.

“When I was in primary four or five, I heard a kitten crying after it had fallen down a deep ditch, and I mustered all my courage to go down there and save it,” she recalled. In more recent years, she nursed a poor cat with a broken leg back to health.

Even her dream superpowers are that of Japanese robot cat Doraemon. “You can have the whole world with that 4D pocket!” she gushed, referring to the character’s magic pouch that can produce all kinds of futuristic gadgets and tools. “You can use the Anywhere Door to travel wherever you want to in the world, and the Time Cloth to make yourself look 18 forever. Doraemon is amazing.”

Her own mother, however, has borne the brunt of her not-so-gracious side. “I used to fight with her and talk back to her a lot; I think I broke her heart quite a few times,” she shared.

While she talked freely and happily about these subjects, the fiercely private actress immediately clammed up when asked about her beau Jeremy Chan, saying she “can’t think of anything” when asked about the heroic things the couple has done for each other.

Shaun Chen: The boy who hung out with gangsters

Chen unabashedly labelled himself as a hero in real life thanks to his status as a father. “It’s not easy to take care of a wife and daughter and to manage a household; it’s a huge responsibility,” said the 38-year-old actor, who welcomed baby Nellie into the world with wife Celine in December last year.

Even as a child, Chen displayed qualities of bravery.

“When I was in secondary school, I stood up for a friend who was being beaten up by two bullies,” he recalled. “I used a chair to hit them, but I got in trouble with the principal and was caned for it (laughs). I guess I was too heroic!”

On the other hand, he admitted that he “doesn’t feel like a hero” when he gets into rows with his mother. “She’s getting older so sometimes she says unnecessary things, (and) I tell her off,” he said. “On days when I’m tired or busy, I may sound a bit too harsh, so I don’t feel like a hero when I don’t take my mum’s feelings into consideration.”

Other than that, the closest he has ever been to becoming a “villain” was during his childhood growing up in a village in Malaysia, where he would partake in risky bicycle races and hang out with friends whom he said were part of a gang.

“Thankfully, I never got into fights,” he said. “One day I saw them holding knives and thought I shouldn’t hang out with them any more.” TAMMI TAN/TOGGLE

Hero debuts Nov 29, 9pm on Channel 8. Watch it on Toggle-It-First.