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We've always thought of Mediacorp actor Ayden Sng as being mature beyond his years.

Who knew the 29-year-old, who plays power-hungry He Jian Zhi in Mediacorp blockbuster All That Glitters, also has a child-like side to him.

When 8days.sg met Ayden at the drama's press conference at GV Vivo's Gold Class theatre, he was busy munching on biscuit piring wafers. Yes, those colourful frisbee-shaped snacks from our childhood. 

They had given those out during the press con and we're not exagerrating when we say the actor went to town on them. Like a kid devouring his Halloween candy.

Even when our cameras started rolling, Ayden wanted to continue eating the wafers because, according to him, it would be "like mukbang". 

In stepped his manager, whom we could tell, wanted to yank those wafers away from him. She eventually had to assure him that the whole bag is his and that he could have it after our interview.

It was only then that Ayden, with a lot of hesitation, we must add, put his beloved wafers away.

And just like that, he snapped back into no-nonsense Ayden mode, with his thoughtful answers and deep dives into the machinations of his work. 

Now we wonder how the interview would have turned out, if he had those piring wafers with him.

Catch Ayden in All That Glitters on meWATCH below or on weekdays 9pm on Ch 8.

8DAYS.SG: Thanks to a collaboration between Mediacorp's The Celebrity Agency and China's Huanyu Entertainment, you, Chantalle Ng and Hong Ling were picked as the three local stars to be represented by the Chinese agency in China. Do you know what was the selection process like? 

AYDEN SNG: I was actually not privy to that but I was informed that the selection was done by the China side. I heard that they looked through our portfolio and selected those who would be a better fit for their company as well as the China market. 

You were the only guy selected. What do you think differentiated you from your peers?

I've been told that my look is slightly more Pan-Asian, perhaps they feel that I'm more suitable looks-wise?

Something else that I'm very proud of is that I'm somebody who's extremely passionate and involved in Chinese culture. I play the erhu and I love everything traditional. Maybe these things, if they were in the profile, would be traits that the Chinese representative found attractive? It's great that I like Chinese culture and I hope this means something to them. 

Is there anyone in China you really want to work with?

I watch a lot of Chinese projects so the list is really long. Many of the actors there are professionally trained and studied at acting conservatories. I feel like seeing what their acting process is like or how they analyse a scene or their scripts will give me a lot of perspective into what are the steps I can take in order to improve my performance. 

I would love to just be involved in a project there, regardless of how big or small the role is. 

But since you're asking me this question, I'll set my hopes higher. I'd like to work with someone like Sun Li. I watched all of her productions. Or Zhou Xun or Qin Lan. They have very good shows and their acting is solid. There are also many male actors that I like, such as Huang Xuan, Zhu Yawen and Zhang Ruoyun.

What are you hoping to achieve if you get to work in a Chinese production?

If I do have this opportunity, I hope to improve as an actor, that's first and foremost. If I can get one foot in, hopefully it leads to even more projects there. I think the biggest difference between the Singapore and Chinese market is that they have a lot more genres, like period dramas.

I think any actor would love to be part of a market where there is more to explore because that's where you can perhaps find a certain niche for yourself. The types of projects we do here is rather limited due to budget and culture.

Ayden as He Jian Zhi in All That Glitters

Do you know if you have fans in China now?

What's interesting is there's a segment of audience who are from China and they love watching meWATCH shows. Over the past few years I do have certain supporters from China because they just happen to really love watching Singaporean productions. 

But I do hope that maybe one year down the road, if we're having the same interview, I'll be able to say that I've been involved in a Chinese production (laughs).

Are you worried that nobody knows who you are if you go there?

That's perfectly fine. I don't have any expectations of people knowing who I am because I've nothing to be known for. This is the start and I have no baggage. You don't need to have such expectations for yourself 'cos it's not healthy. At the end of the day, you're somebody who has some experience in filming. You just want to go there and if they're willing to have you, the role can be very small but you always got to start somewhere. 

You don't expect people to treat you like a star because you are not one. You go there and work hard because you're an actor. And if people like your performance, perhaps it will lead to something else.

How do you think you can make yourself stand out in a sea of Chinese actors?

Unfortunately I think with most types of roles, universally, a lot of it is reliant on typecasting. In what way, or in what universe, would I be more suitable for a role in China than a local? It will be if that character happens to have studied abroad, or is from Singapore and is fluent in both English and Mandarin. 

Casting nowadays is as accurate as possible, so we do what we can as actors to hone our craft and expand our skill sets but beyond that, you're just hoping for a role that's suitable for you.

You don't stand out by being hyper aggressive. You get selected because there really is just a role for you. When that opportunity does come, you want to make sure you're ready for it. You want the person who is working with you to enjoy your performance enough to want to use you again. 

If you have to give up your career in Singapore to be based in China, would you?

At the end of the day, decisions are driven by desires. What do you want for yourself? I want to become a better actor. I want to work in projects that are on a different scale. I want to work with people of all sorts of nationalities and working styles. If going to China can give me these types of opportunities, then of course I'd say yes.

But if you ask me if I would uproot myself and go there and wait around for a year without a role then I wouldn't because that's not beneficial for me nor my career. 

I'm someone who's driven by reality, so I'm very glad that we have this opportunity but at the same time it has to be rooted in realistic expectations of this collaboration and a realistic assessment of myself.

Ayden at the All That Glitters press conference Photos: Medicorp Photo Unit