While his personal life was being discussed on social media and in the media recently, James Seah is glad to have the support of his loved ones.
“What is important to me is that people around me — my family, friends and fans — believe in me and support me,” the 35-year-old local actor said in an interview on Aug 12 while promoting his new drama series Brighter Days.
In May, rumours surfaced that James’ marriage with influencer Nicole Chang Min is on the rocks when netizens on Reddit noticed they haven’t been posting photos of each other on social media. The couple married in 2022.
A netizen also posted a photo of a man with blond hair appearing to be James with another woman, allegedly at Changi Airport.
In response to the speculations, he released a statement on Instagram Story, writing that the allegations and assumptions are “baseless, inaccurate and taken out of context”.
He added then that he would not share further details on their private and personal matters, and hope that their privacy would be respected.
When asked if he had read the reports and netizens’ comments, James told AsiaOne: “Yes, of course I read them. You cannot control what people want to say. What I want to say, I have said before. I am not going to comment any further.”
Similarly, when asked if he is currently staying at the couple’s newly renovated flat in Boon Keng, he responded: “I think this is quite private, so I would refrain from commenting. Thank you.”
These days, James, who is currently filming a new local series Sooner or Later expected to premiere in January 2027, focuses on himself to keep his peace.
“Thankfully, work has been keeping me busy and for now, my focus is all on work and doing what I should be doing. It’s about being very sure of who I am and what I am doing and willing to detach from things that create unnecessary buzz and stay focused,” he added.
While he hasn’t been posting much on social media due to his busy schedule, he maintained he would prefer to post things that “spark joy” to him.
That for James would be golfing, which he picked up about two months ago.
He shared: “To me, it’s a sport where I am responsible for what I do. It’s a game of self-improvement… you just need to focus on yourself, focus on your stroke… and everything will go smoothly. I think there’re a lot of qualities in that and I enjoy it.”
Portraying 2 characters in a drama series for the first time
In Brighter Days, James plays two roles, father Soh Seng and his son Soh Daping. The series centres on childhood friends and neighbours Lee Yiwei, Lee Jiewei, Fang Ying, Daping and Kumar, who are avid TV fans who dream of serving justice.
Soh Seng is a famous TV host who fall from grace after he is accused of sexual misconduct. His wife Fang Seowyen (Sheila Sim) is left helpless, while Daping, who admires his father, loses faith in humanity.
Over time, as the families move away from their HDB estate because of different reasons, the five friends lose contact with each other.
Three decades later, Daping, Yiwei (Romeo Tan) and Fang Ying (Felicia Chin) reconnected. As Yiwei and Fang Ying grow closer, Daping, who is struggling financially, is consumed by jealousy seeing their personal and relationship successes, and schemes to sow discord between them.
This series marks the first time James portrayed two characters in the same drama.
He revealed his ways to get into the respective characters: “When playing the father, I just imagined I was (local host-actor) Guo Liang and that he possessed me… He was my teacher for language and drama before, and I tried to channel him [when portraying Soh Seng].
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“As for Daping, I just tell his story as a broken and poor guy who wants to find love and acknowledgement in his life.”
He added that Daping’s hairstyle is also a reminder of his character.
“I had a wig that I had to clip on. That was a physical reminder because it hurt and sometimes, I got a headache while filming because it constantly tugged at the back of my head. That was a physical reminder to me that I was playing the son, so I had no problem switching between the characters,” James said.
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As the Chinese name of the series Jia De Shou Hu Xing directly translates to “guardian of the home”, we asked James who the guardian in his family is, and he said it is his mum, who is in her late 70s. He also has two elder sisters.
He shared: “I am very thankful to my mum. Growing up, we didn’t have the best relationship. I was an angry kid; I had a lot of pent-up angst and I didn’t know why.
“As I grew up, I saw things from my mum’s perspective. I came to understand why certain things happened and turned out the way it did, and I understood her perspective. I became more understanding and forgiving. Through that, I learnt more about the hardships she went through.
“Even now, she is the one who supports me through everything. She is someone who doesn’t know how to express herself well. I used to compare myself to other families, but when I grew up, I finally understood her intentions and it wasn’t that I didn’t have a family like others, it’s just the way of expression is different. It gave me a lot of understanding and closure.”
Brighter Days will be available on demand for free on Mewatch from Aug 24 and premieres on Channel 8 on the same day, airing on weekdays at 9pm.
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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com
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