Local actor Pierre Png faces rejection in his new drama No Other Way, but it’s not something he isn’t used to.
No Other Way is a 20-episode crime series about Chow Keying (played by Hong Ling), a prosecutor haunted by her past.
As she investigates a string of brutal crimes — from domestic violence and a gruesome celebrity murder to a public slashing attack — long-buried truths from her life gradually come to light.
Pierre, who turns 53 in October, plays private pilot David Wong, who often assists with police investigations and later falls in love with Keying.
A memorable time for Pierre on set was a burial scene filmed both in the day and night, which he said will be shown in different episodes.
He can’t reveal spoilers on which character was getting buried but recalled the crew having to take “preventative measures” such as rituals to “appease the spirits” prior to filming.
“I’m not superstitious, but it’s just that there’re some things you should pay attention to or some things that you should be aware of. So burial, of course, you have to dig into the ground first. You have to find a place where you’re going to do it. You have to block off the area, and there’s also sound recording,” he told us.
“So when you’re filming on set and just digging, you don’t want to be too close to the sea where you hear the ships sounding their horns, or you don’t want to be by the roadside, so it has to be a secluded place. So that, for me, was a big scene, and I’ve not done that in a long time.”
The show has a PG13 and M18 version, with the latter only available for streaming on Mewatch.
Pierre had scenes filmed for the latter, and while he couldn’t tell us in detail, he said the mature version exists as they covered “sensitive issues”.
Regarding another difficult scene he had to film, he picked one where David finds out Keying doesn’t reciprocate his feelings.
“That was quite tough. It’s not that I’m not used to being rejected in real life, but it’s just the stuff that he had to do. He went on a downhill spiral, so that took a bit of internalisation,” he explained.
Pierre, used to rejection? We had to know more.
He sheepishly told us how he found someone he “really liked” in secondary school and gave her a present, only to have it returned to him.
“Everybody goes through a heartbreak, everybody goes through some form of rejection when they’re pursuing someone,” he waved off.
Teen Pierre would be happy to know he’d find the one in his 20s.
He reportedly began dating former actress Andrea De Cruz in 1999 and they tied the knot in 2003.
‘I thought too much about my characters’
Talent-spotted through the local musical film Forever Fever, Pierre entered the entertainment industry after winning talent search Fame Awards in 1998.
He made his small screen debut with the beloved sitcom Phua Chu Kang Pte Ltd, starring as architect Anthony Phua Chu Beng.
His other notable works include The Little Nyonya (2008), The Journey: A Voyage (2013), When Duty Calls (2017) and of course, hit Hollywood film Crazy Rich Asians (2018).
Despite the stacked resume, Pierre humbly remarked he’s “not that experienced” as he explained how he doesn’t let heavy scenes affect his mood in real life.
“I’m not that experienced, but I’ve been playing different roles. It’s a lot easier if you just commit to the character, and when you go back home, you’re a different person,” he said.
“I’ve built the infrastructure such that I go back home to my dog, I go back home to my wife, I go to church, so it’s a lot easier now. Before that, I thought too much about my characters, but now I just play it the way it is.”
Pierre has also ventured into the radio scene, joining Gold 905 last January.
While it’s been “really fun”, he said DJing requires an entirely different skill set from acting.
“DJs don’t just play music — they have to plan the talk sets and think on the fly, but [also] speak in very short sentences. They have to get the point across and speak fast enough, but clear enough,” he said.
He hasn’t had any bloopers but he admitted he still gets nervous before going on air. “[I’ve done] over 20 years of acting, but whenever I do an interview or a press conference, I still get butterflies in my stomach,” he added.
As for whether the radio gig will continue for a long time or remain a stint, Pierre said there are plans for him to get more involved but it’s all still in the talks.
“We’ll just have to wait and see,” he said.
No Other Way also stars Nick Teo, Guo Liang, Yvonne Lim, Cynthia Koh, Zhang Zetong and Sheryl Ang. It’s available on demand for free on Mewatch in PG and M18 versions, and on weekdays at 9pm on Channel 8.
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syarifahsn@asiaone.com
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