When local actor Nick Teo received his script for the currently airing drama Highway to Somewhere and saw that there is an intimate scene with his co-star Jeanette Aw, one of the first things he did was to inform his wife, actress Hong Ling.
The 36-year-old told AsiaOne while promoting the drama recently that they make it a point to inform each other about such scenes beforehand and who they would be filming with.
This is to ensure they are not caught by surprise if they see each other in such a scene, or when asked by reporters about it.
Not just that, Nick, who married the 31-year-old in 2023, believes in open communication.
“I think it’s not healthy to have secrets in a relationship, because secrets can create barriers in a relationship. Hong Ling and I would try to speak openly with each other… I think communication is very important in a marriage,” he said.
Being in showbiz gives them common topics to discuss and they also understand each other’s situation better.
Nick’s new drama Highway to Somewhere centres on the strained relationship between Nick Zhang (Romeo Tan) and Jane Liu (Jeanette) after 15 years of marriage, where they find themselves clashing frequently due to their demanding careers and rebellious daughter.
To save their crumbling marriage, they embark on a road trip to Malaysia upon the advice of their friend, marriage counsellor Apple (Sora Ma), but the trip soon takes a sinister turn when Jane’s acquaintance York (Nick) stalks them. While Jane tries to keep York’s obsession with her a secret from her husband, the latter is hiding his own secrets from her as well.
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Nick said he was attracted to York because of the depth of the character.
“I felt I was waiting for this role. When I first received news that I had gotten this role, I was quite happy, because it is something very different from what I usually play,” he shared.
He performed his own motorcycle and stunt scenes during the two-month filming period in Malaysia and the drama also marks the first time he worked with Jeanette.
Nick recounted the first time he saw the 46-year-old: “She had a very strong aura and I was afraid to approach her.
“But she turned out to be very friendly, and she even got my number and said we could discuss our characters together.”
Playing York is not without its challenges, as Nick found it hard to portray the role initially.
“He doesn’t have many lines and I need to perform more through my eyes. Because eyes are the window to the soul, I thought I have to tell a story through it, just by looking at Jane in the drama,” he shared.
To improve his acting with his eyes, he studied York’s backstory meticulously to understand the character’s motivation, which he concluded essentially begins with love, albeit twisted.
Nick and Jeanette also have an intimate scene in the series and he was worried he wouldn’t be able to portray the chemistry with her character.
But Jeanette’s openness in discussing how to perform the scene together helped to assure Nick, and they completed the filming successfully.
Highway to Somewhere, which also stars Herman Keh, Bonnie Loo, Jasmine Sim, Seow Sin Nee and Gladys Bay, is now available for free on Mewatch and airs weekdays at 9pm on Channel 8.
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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com
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