Despite being in showbiz for almost a decade, local actor Shawn Thia found filming new drama Lost and Found a whole new experience.
And it wasn’t just because it was shot in Japan, where he was based between September and October this year.
“I think this is my first cross-cultural project actually, because I had filmed in Malaysia, Thailand and other nearby countries, but nothing like this where I had to dive into Japan’s culture and it was quite a bit of culture shock for me at first,” the 29-year-old told AsiaOne in a recent interview.
What impressed Shawn the most while working on the Japanese set was their attitude and appreciation towards each other’s work.
‘Every morning, everyone would greet each other ‘ohayo gozaimasu’ (good morning) to start the day. They don’t just say it to the actors, but to everyone, including the production assistants.
“That’s how they start their day right, and everyone is very respectful towards each other. I really like that,” he recounted.
He also shared how the crew would thank each other for their hard work at the end of filming every day. While the practice made him feel “uncomfortable” at first, he was comforted by those words later.
“I could have had a long day, but when someone tells me that, I will feel, ‘Thank you for respecting my work and my craft, I also respect your contributions, and I hope I made your day good as well.'” Shawn said.
The appreciation and positivity that everyone showed towards each other on set made Shawn feel like he “wasn’t working”; instead, “I was excited and I learnt new things every day,” he said.
In Lost and Found, Shawn plays introverted online gamer Richie Chiang who has a tense relationship with his father Chiang Boon Teck (Chen Hanwei) due to his mother’s death.
The series is co-produced by local production companies Mocha Chai Laboratories and Empire of Arkadia, along with Japanese production company, TV Man Union.
Richie’s life is thrown into chaos when his online girlfriend Sakura disappears one day. Desperate to find her, he travels to Tokyo, where he meets his new gaming partner Yuka Uchida (Anna Yamada), who harbours secrets of her own.
As they search for Sakura, they get entangled in the underworld, and find themselves involved in scams, human trafficking and illegal labour.
While Shawn had a basic grasp of Japanese due to his love for anime, he attended lessons and hired teachers online to teach him conversational Japanese three months before filming started.
“I am very lucky, blessed and privileged to be given this opportunity to be able to represent Singapore in this co-production,” he added.
Shawn, who tied the knot with local actress Xenia Tan last November, also shared how they supported each other while they were apart.
The 31-year-old had travelled with him to Japan in September and she’d intended to stay there for two weeks to help him settle in.
However, while there, she received news that she had been cast in the movie Game Not Over and had to travel to Taiwan for filming.
It turned out to be a blessing in disguise due to the proximity between Japan and Taiwan.
He said: “We felt it was better than having one of us be in Singapore because we were actually nearer to each other. We tried to call each other every night and share our day. That’s how we kept a sense of intimacy without being physically present.
“Of course, there were times where I wished she was there [to share the experience] with me, but I think it was also quite nice to have that alone time. I think it helped me [explore my] creativity [in performance].”
Anna Yamada reflects on young adults’ state of mind through role
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For Anna, portraying Yuka Uchida in Lost and Found was her first time working in an international collaboration for a series and her first time working in Singapore.
The 24-year-old Japanese actress, whose notable works include Netflix’s adventure-action film Golden Kamuy (2024), told AsiaOne: “Yuka is a girl who is very average in Japan; she reflects the current state of mind of the young adults there, so it was really interesting to try to present this character in a way that people can relate to. She also becomes more mature as the series progresses.”
On working with Shawn, she told AsiaOne that she was nervous at first, but found him to be a very “honest, sincere and friendly” person while working with him, which dissipated her worries.
“In the story, Yuka and Richie are depicted as companions, and in the real world, we became buddies too while working on the series, because he is so gentle and kind and made me feel relaxed. I really appreciate being able to work with Shawn,” Anna added.
She also shared that this was her first visit to Singapore. And while she hadn’t had the chance to explore the city at the time of this interview, she had passed by Marina Bay Sands and Merlion Park the night before and found Singapore to be a “beautiful country”.
Anna also expressed her eagerness to try different Singaporean dishes, including laksa and bak kut teh, and gave with a resounding “Yes!” when asked by this reporter if she enjoyed spicy food.
Lost and Found will be released on Mewatch and Japan broadcaster NHK Japan and NHK World in 2026.
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yeo.shuhui@asiaone.com
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