Ex Mediacorp Star He Yong Fang, 53, Rejected Role To Play Mum Of Middle-Aged Man By Sending A Pic Of Herself To Casting Director

Former Mediacorp actress He Yong Fang, 53, whom you might remember for playing Huang Rong in Mediacorp’s 1998 adaptation of Return of the Condor Heroes, will be back on local screens very soon.

Yong Fang will be acting in upcoming Mediacorp drama Strike Gold, where she plays a chairman of a company, who is also a loving mother to her kids. Strike Gold will be Yong Fang’s first drama in three years.

In a recent interview with local Chinese media outlet Shin Min Daily News, Yong Fang shared more about what she’s been up to, including the roles that she’s willing to take on, and the roles that she will not accept.

Yong Fang in Return of the Condor Heroes.

Yong Fang, who has kept herself busy with charity engagements in recent years, shared that she wishes to set a good example for her two kids. Therefore, she makes sure to only engage in activities that will spread good cheer and a positive message to the public.

This also extends to the roles that she plays on-screen and she will not accept ‘negative' roles.

“There was once [I got] a role that required me to act as a rich taitai that kept a toy boy on the side, I rejected it,” she shared.

Other than that, there was another role that Yong Fang turned down as well — one that called for her to play the mother of a middle-aged man.

And her secret to staying youthful is...

According to Yong Fang, she didn’t even need to verbally reject the role. Instead, the youthful-looking actress sent the casting director a recent picture of her. Once the casting director saw the picture, they didn’t continue any further with their request.

And for good reason since Yong Fang honestly doesn’t look the part. She attributed her age-defying good looks to one thing — “self-discipline”.

Apart from watching her diet and exercising, Yong Fang places great importance on maintaining a positive mindset too.

However, this doesn’t mean that Yong Fang will not pick roles that require her to act as a mum. After all, she is a mother in real life, and will be playing one on-screen in Strike Gold too.

She also gave an example of another motherly role that she’s willing to take on — her pal Huang Biren’s role in Your World In Mine.

“[Roles like that], which shows the selfless dedication a mother has for her kids, I’ll definitely take those on,” she said.

Yongfang, Biren, and her two kids.

Finally, there was one other invitation from show producers that Yong Fang rejected.

She revealed that she was invited to appear on a variety show with her 17-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son. However, she declined the invitation as her kids have no intentions of joining showbiz.

“My two kids are very introverted, and have no interest in the entertainment industry," she said.

Celeb power.

Apart from acting, Yong Fang has kept herself busy with other engagements too. Just recently she planned, hosted, and performed at a charity gala dinner benefitting Singa Care Medical.

The event, which raised over $200K, was co-hosted by Marcus Chin, and saw a number of local celebs in attendance too.

Biren, who has remained close friends with Yong Fang, attended the event, along with Zhang Yaodong, Zheng Geping and his son, Calvert Tay, and former actor Nick Shen.

“The pressure was really great, and it was challenging too,” Yong Fang shared, when asked about the many roles she took on for the event.

“But since it’s for charity, I was very happy to do so,” she added.

“Biren even joked that engaging me [for the event] was very ‘economical’ 'cos I planned, performed, and hosted too,” she said.

Yong Fang performing at the charity event.

Photos: He Yong Fang/Instagram