SINGAPORE — What do Rui En and Dora The Explorer have in common? Well, the former thinks the latest character she plays is very Dora-esque. In the upcoming MediaCorp TV Channel 8 drama Life Is Beautiful, the actress plays main protagonist Chuyi, a happy-go-lucky, selfless ingenue whose life is affected by illness. According to Rui En, her character is so upbeat she’s “almost like a caricature of a person”. When which cartoon character Chuyi resembled the most, she replied with a laugh: “I’m not very sure, but ... Dora The Explorer?”

But playing it cute is really harder than it looks. “I love the bloodthirsty (roles) so the happy, cute ones are the challenge for me,” she said. “You don’t want to be overly cute. You don’t want to overdo it. You don’t want to be naggy about the message you’re trying to put (across). It’s about learning how to get it just right.”

She added: “I came into this (after acting in Against The Tide), a show that was dark, depressing, and full of revenge and blood. And I just thought, ‘Thank God I’m doing a show like this now, because I’d probably lose my mind if I had to do another (dark role).”

Revenge and murder earned her a Star Awards Best Actress nomination this year, but ideally, Rui En wouldn’t want to play too many intense roles back-to-back. It’s working out well so far — the character is so angelic that her worst quality is bugging others to make healthy eating choices.

Rui En’s particular about what she puts into her system, too — she only wants the yummy stuff. “I’m picky about good food. I’m a very typical Singaporean. I would queue for food,” said the self-professed chicken rice fan. “Hawker food, of course. There’s nothing better than our hawker food.”

Supported by the National Kidney Foundation, the show also stars Pierre Png, Ya Hui, Ian Fang, Jeffrey Xu, among others.

Catch Life Is Beautiful starting March 5, weekdays at 9pm on MediaCorp TV Channel 8.