Local actress Tasha Low filmed in a prison for her new drama Yes Captain! and in a recent interview with AsiaOne, she told us how that experience was like.
The 65-episode serial follows three fresh graduates, Kheng (played by Clement Yeo), Sani (Zhin Sadali) and Charlize (Tasha), who join the Singapore Prison Service (SPS), each driven by different goals.
While it was easy for her to get into character because of the environment, Tasha, who turns 33 in October, said it felt restricting.
“We can’t bring our phones in and we can’t tell the time. It’s just completely isolated from the outside world, so I think that’s the more challenging part for us,” she explained.
Out of curiosity, she tried sitting in one of the cells to experience how it felt like being behind bars.
“I went into a cell, closed the gate and I sat there for a moment… It’s very traumatic because there’s no ventilation and the walls are thick. It’s just not a very nice place to be in. It’s very quiet, and you can’t really see the sky,” she said.
‘I should really be thankful’
The drama also tells the stories of inmates such as Chan (Tommy Wong) and Venesh (Kishore Kumaran), as well as counsellors Russell (Noah Yap) and Belle (Cassandra Spykerman).
Tasha shared that many of the stories touched her as Charlize interacts with all the inmates.
One of them was played by veteran actress Xiang Yun.
“She’s called Mui. She’s an older inmate, and she is in and out of prison because of drug abuse. Her story made me realise that there are quite a number of people like that out there; they just keep abusing drugs to come back in because this is the life that they’re familiar with,” said Tasha.
“Once they go out, they can’t survive. They can’t function because they’re too used to the life in prison, and so they just keep coming back in.”
Belle’s struggles and relationship with her family also touched Tasha.
“It made me realise that I should really be thankful that I can call my mum as and when I like and spend time with my family,” she said.
While the cast felt Tasha has the most similarities to her character compared to everyone else, she disagreed.
“We are not similar at all. I think for one, Charlize is a very high-energy person, and personally, I am a very low-energy person,” she said.
Charlize is also “very optimistic and idealistic”.
“She just wants to keep going and she likes to help people. I do like to help people too, but in a more reserved manner. For Charlize, she pushes the boundaries,” she explained.
“Like, ‘No matter what, I’m gonna help you, even if it breaks the law. Even if it hurts other people, I’m gonna help you.'”
‘A fresh pairing’
Tasha’s last drama was Last But Not Least, where she played actor Tyler Ten’s romance interest for the third time.
They previously starred as lovers in the dramas Hope Afloat (2024) and Emerald Hill – The Little Nyonya Story (2025).
In Yes Captain!, Charlize’s love life is a little more “complicated”.
“Actually while playing this character, I was very confused because we don’t film chronologically. So on days I can be with this boy, the next day I can be with this other guy, so I was pretty confused like, what is Charlize thinking? Who does she actually like?” said Tasha.
She anticipated that the audience may also be confused about who Charlize really loves as she has two love interests in the show.
“One of them being Noah [who plays Russell], which is a very fresh pairing,” she added.
Stunt training, memorable moments
At the media preview session on Aug 5, the cast shared that some of them went through stunt training for the series.
While Tasha couldn’t reveal the details, she said she had “quite a lot” of stunt scenes.
“Before we started filming, we came to Singapore Prison Services (SPS) for training to learn how to use all the force options, and when to use them, like how much distance we need to have with each inmate,” she shared.
These trainings were one of the most challenging parts of her role, she added.
She recalled a scene where she had to fall and land on Clement.
“We did a couple of takes and came out with a lot of bruises, so that was quite memorable,” she said.
Filming with Clement and Zhin, Tasha said they had numerous moments where they would laugh over “random things” and not be able to stop.
She recounted a scene where Clement’s character Kheng falls to the ground.
“Zhin and I had to look at him and when they took our shots, the camera was on the ground, so we were trying our best not to show our double chins,” she laughed, adding that they had fun trying to angle their faces so they “wouldn’t look so ugly”.
‘They still deserve a second chance’
At the media preview, executive producer Jean Yeo said the stories in the series are inspired by real-life prison officers and inmates.
Yes Captain! was in the works two years before production, and Jean, who is from the production house Ochre Pictures, said it took eight months before the show was greenlit and commissioned.
During the session, cast members — including Tasha — each shared why they think viewers should tune in to the show.
“It’s very relatable for everyone, it’s very easy to watch and you get a little bit of insight on how the prison actually works,” said Tasha.
In our interview we asked Tasha what she felt is the message Yes Captain! is trying to deliver.
She told us: “Even though people make mistakes, they still deserve a second chance… Don’t just judge [someone] based on a mistake and label them as that forever. Give people another chance to show you what they can do.”
Yes Captain! airs from Mondays to Thursdays at 8.30pm on Channel 5. It is also available on demand for free on Mewatch.
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