While Andi Lim has been in local showbiz for close to three decades, playing Lim Boon Kiat in local director Anthony Chen’s new film We Are All Strangers provided him with many firsts as an actor.
The 53-year-old told AsiaOne in an interview recently: “Boon Kiat is my first leading role and he also gave me a lot of my first experiences as an actor, including script-reading, and meeting with the artistes before filming begins to know each other more and discuss our dialogue.
“This is something I had never experienced before, because from my past experiences acting for television, they (the production team) look for me when the role is too small for their own full-time artiste… Most of the time, all I needed to do was just memorise the lines, go on the set, listen to what the director wants and deliver, there’s no soul in it.
“So, I feel blessed [being able to play Boon Kiat].”
Andi, who began acting in 1998 after clinching second male runner up in Star Search 1997, mostly played supporting and cameo roles in local series, including as Yin Zhiping in Return of the Condor Heroes (1998), Cai Qingyang in Hainan Kopi Tales (2000), Zhao Di’s father in Devotion (2011) and Mingjie in If Tomorrow Comes (2024).
He revealed he left the broadcaster in 2002 to pursue other jobs because of the working environment.
Andi claimed that male artistes used to play basketball with an influential figure at the broadcaster to be seen and remembered for better opportunities, which wasn’t something that he wanted to do.
He added that other challenges, including working with senior crew members from Hong Kong, had made him feel the environment could be “unhealthy”.
Being recognised for his acting after 2 decades
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We Are All Strangers centres on Lim Junyang (Koh Jia Ler) and his hawker father Boon Kiat (Andi), whose lives unravel when Junyang and his girlfriend Lydia (Regene Lim) are forced to confront unexpected adult realities.
Their household core relationship dynamics are further disrupted when vivacious beer lady Lee Bee Hwa (Yeo Yann Yann) joins their family.
The film is the final in Anthony’s Growing Up trilogy, which began with Ilo Ilo (2013) followed by Wet Season (2019), both of which starred Yann Yann and Jia Ler.
It premiered at the 76th Berlin International Film Festival in February and was the first Singapore film to be selected for the festival’s top award Golden Bear.
The film also served as the opening film in the 50th Hong Kong International Film Festival in April and the 28th Far East Film Festival in Italy later that month.
A gala premiere was held at Marina Bay Sands on Aug 7, with President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and his spouse Ms Jane Ittogi, as well as Minister for Digital Development and Information Josephine Teo in attendance.
Andi revealed that local veteran actress Hong Huifang had a part in helping him clinch the role and he is grateful. She was his acting teacher in Star Search 1997.
He said: “The casting director [for this film] didn’t have my number and got it from Huifang, because he was also the casting director for her film Ajoomma (2022).
“Huifang texted me and asked if I was keen, and I contacted the casting director to ask more about the character.”
He was told Boon Kiat is a hawker and “doesn’t have to be good-looking”, which made him more confident in auditioning for the role.
Andi explained: “If they are looking for someone good-looking, I wouldn’t even go for the casting call because I have tried so many.
“I know myself well that I don’t look good on screen, but I look like someone who had very good life experiences, or someone who has been through a lot because of my haggard looks.”
When he received news that he would be playing Boon Kiat, Andi recounted: “I was so happy. When I shared it with my wife, I had goosebumps and I almost teared up because it’s finally something I wanted to act in and was given a chance.”
Andi recalled a good experience at the screening in Berlin: “Most of the people in the audience are foreigners. They don’t understand the language and watch the film through subtitles. After that, some came up to me and told me I did a good job and they liked my acting.
“I was very shocked at first because nobody has said that to me before in my entire acting career.”
He was also very surprised when a viewer approached him after the local premiere and told him his performance was unexpected.
Not just at the theatre, Andi was also recognised on the street: “I went out the day before and while waiting at the traffic light junction, a man came up to me and said, ‘Hey Andi, can I take a photo with you?’
“I am surprised because he remembered my name… For 20-over years, when people approached me, nobody called my name, nobody remembered my name at all… This is the first time and I’m very happy and grateful.”
Tapping on real-life encounters as a volunteer
To bring Boon Kiat to life, Andi tapped into various experiences in his own life, which he credits as his “greatest acting school”.
As he plays a Hokkien mee hawker, he learnt to cook the dish briefly from a hawker. When asked if he had tried his own cooking and what he thought of it, he said he did and “liked it”.
To portray the vulnerability of human beings, he referenced his volunteering experiences at Ren Ci Community Hospital as a certified healthcare assistant and phlebotomist.
Andi, who sometimes assists his stylist wife for television commercials, volunteers there for about two days per week in the past four years. He shared that he’s a caregiver to end-of-life patients including helping them in bathing, changing diapers, going to the toilet and feeding those on a soft diet.
“I see these patients and their sufferings, especially those who have no means to live anymore. They don’t want to eat; they just want to end their life,’ he added.
“I don’t have a lot of cash to donate, so why not donate my time and ability to help those in need? The hospital is always in need of volunteers because they are always so busy.”
Grateful to Yann Yann for acting guidance
Andi also expressed his gratitude to Yann Yann, who had guided him and Regene from acting for TV screens to performing for film. This marked the first time they worked together.
He explained that in the former, actors need to be more dramatic in their reactions and facial expressions because the screens are smaller and there are also a lot of distractions.
However, as cinema screens are bigger, Anthony wanted their performance to be more subtle to be natural.
Andi recounted: “Regene and I were not used to it, so we had a hard time adjusting. In the first three or four days of filming, we were totally lost because we didn’t know what went wrong.
“Luckily, Yann Yann was there to guide us. She’s just superb. She had her own part, and she also had to worry about our parts for us, because she wants us to do well. A good movie is not about one part; it’s about everyone doing their work and making it look good.”
We Are All Strangers is showing in Singapore cinemas.
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