Long-time fans of Mediacorp Ch 8 dramas would definitely remember Huang Biren and Xie Shaoguang’s amazing chemistry before the latter retired from showbiz to become a monk. Biren, 51, gave viewers a rare glimpse into their friendship in this week’s episode of Quan Yifeng’s talkshow Hear U Out.

The duo first worked together in 1996 drama Marriage Dollars And Sense, which was followed by 1998’s Stand By Me, for which she received the first of her three Star Awards Best Actress trophies.

It had been a decade since she started acting, and during her acceptance speech, she called it the “best and most precious gift” she’s received. “You have no idea how nervous I was. I really wanted to win that award, laughed Biren. I can’t understand why some people say in interviews that they would be okay if they didn't win. I couldn’t say that, because I really wanted it.”

From then on, Biren and Shaoguang were often paired together in dramas. “We didn’t even need to rehearse our scenes when we were on set, said Biren. I think he’s the one whom I had the best chemistry with even if we didn't communicate.”

In 1999, they went to Taiwan to film the drama Ai Qing Wu Ma. The trip started off well enough, with Shaoguang helping Biren through the first few months of her pregnancy.

“I only found out I was pregnant after I arrived in Taiwan. [Shaoguang] went with me to buy my pregnancy test kit, and he was also the first to find out the result, revealed Biren. At that time, we had finished doing the imaging [for our characters] but filming hadn't started yet. The pregnancy came as a surprise and I ended up having morning sickness for the first four months of it. It was pretty tough, but he was with me all the way. During meals, he would give me all the good stuff and pick the bones out of fish before giving me the flesh.”

Little did she know that his generosity would help her avoid one of the worst earthquakes to hit Taiwan.

“He knew that I was having a hard time filming while pregnant, so he requested that all my scenes be given priority. I wrapped up earlier than he did and came home. I took the 7:30pm flight [on Sep 20] and arrived in Singapore around midnight, Biren said. Less than two hours after midnight on September 21, the devastating Jiji earthquake struck.

“I didn’t have my phone or pager with me as I went to the hospital to visit my sister-in-law, who had just given birth, recalled Biren. Everyone was trying to contact Shaoguang and I. When I finally got to my phone, they asked me if I knew about what happened in Taiwan. After they told me about the earthquake, I cried as I couldn’t contact Shaoguang. We were staying at Hotel B in Taiwan and the building just across it had collapsed. I thought that the worst had happened. Thankfully, I managed to contact him after a few days. He was in the hotel the whole time but was uncontactable because all the telephone lines had collapsed.”

While he was physically unharmed, there were reports that claimed that Shaoguang was mentally affected by what he went through.

However, despite how close they were, Biren never asked him about it because she wanted to give him space. She explained: “I felt guilty for a long time but I couldn’t broach the subject because he didn’t talk about it, and I wanted to respect his wishes.”

Watch Part 1 of Biren's interview on Hear U Out.

Photos: Mediacorp