Chen Hanwei’s dedication to his craft is no secret and his attention to detail has brought to life all of his characters, including his latest: Super Dad's Chen Kai.

Taking into account how the character would have problems reintegrating into society after spending almost two decades in jail, Hanwei told 8days.sg that he put hours of research and thought into the role and everything from his physical appearance to his manner of speech were meticulously pieced together for the Mediacorp drama.

“He’s an ex-convict that’s coming back into a world that was very different from what he remembered it to be,” the 51-year-old explained. “My character doesn’t look people in the eye, and he doesn’t talk much because he’s afraid of saying the wrong thing. He isn’t well educated as well, so he doesn’t speak in full sentences. I got a tan and put on weight so that I’d look more convincing, and I’m glad that I've gotten positive feedback saying that I remind them of someone who just got out of jail.”

The weight gain — all five kilos of it — was a “painful” experience for Hanwei, who sheepishly admitted that he’s used to looking good. “I’m pretty vain,” he laughed. “I like to go out looking good. In the past few years, I’ve been getting mostly ‘uncle’ roles where I’m usually dressed sloppily. It’s a weird experience for me because I dress up before I leave the house, but once I get to work, I have to dress down, and I dress up again when I leave.”

“For Super Dad, apart from the clothes, I felt that Chen Kai needed to have a big belly, so I ate four-to-five meals a day, didn’t exercise much and stopped looking after my skin. I ended up with a huge belly and a really rough complexion. It was pretty painful looking at myself,” he went on. “After filming the drama, I went for my annual health checkup, and my doctor told me that I have fatty liver. That’s when I realised I had to do something. The doctor said that it’s a good thing that we caught it early.”

These days, Hanwei is eating clean and hitting the gym as much as he can to lose the weight — and the fatty liver. He’s all but cut out meat from his diet, and loads up on vegetables and simpler fare instead.

The actor was reminded of the importance of being healthy about two weeks ago, when his sinus affected him so badly he had to undergo day surgery to correct it. He revealed, “I was okay right after, but my nose kept bleeding for about a week after and I had headaches and fevers that came and went. I didn’t have a voice either. Thankfully, I’m feeling much better now.”

Although he’s neck-deep in work filming longform drama Recipe Of Life, where he plays a line dance instructor, Hanwei shared that he still counts his blessings every day. “I enjoy going overseas after a drama wraps to recharge, because I can totally relax. I can’t do that right now, but I think that’s a small issue. There are so many problems that others are facing all over the world. So many people have it worse than I do, and I always remind myself that I’m very blessed to be where I am.”

Super Dad airs weekdays 9pm on Ch 8.

The first 18 of Super Dad are available for free on meWATCH, and episodes 19-23 are on meWATCH Prime.

Photos: Chen Hanwei’s Instagram, Mediacorp

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