Sometimes you have to experience it to understand someone’s hardships.
In a recent interview with AsiaOne, local actor Zhai Siming shared his experience walking around with special makeup mimicking eczema for his new drama Last But Not Least.
The 29-year-old stars as Song Dongwei, actress Tasha Low’s onscreen brother, who mostly stays at home because of his insecurities over his skin condition. Whenever he goes out, he would wear masks and long-sleeved shirts as he’s “afraid of people’s judgements”.
Siming told us the makeup took one hour to get done and dried out his skin due to the amount of strong alcohol needed to put it on and remove it.
“The [filming] experience wasn’t very good, because I had the special makeup on during my lunch or dinner break and I really felt how it’s like to have skin conditions,” he shared.
“You get very conscious about people’s judgement. You get people staring at your face, asking you all these questions like, ‘What happened to your face?'”
He recalled going to a hawker centre to get cai fan and being asked the same by the hawker. “They wanted to call me shuai ge (handsome), but they can’t, you know?”
He added: “It was so bad that, the moment I put on the makeup, I’d just feel so sad for the whole day. Even when I tried to be positive, it still affected me.”
But whenever such situations arose, he reminded himself of how his character would feel.
“After playing this role, I feel I have more empathy for people with eczema.”
‘Don’t mix with the wrong company’
Last But Not Least follows Su Boming (played by Tyler Ten), who is in charge of Class 501, notoriously unruly with troubled students.
We asked Siming how he was like in secondary school, and he said he started off as a rebellious student with low grades and hung out with the “wrong people”.
His turning point happened in secondary three, when his mother’s words motivated him to study hard: “I said to my mother, ‘I can get first in class if I want to.’
“She was like, ‘You every time play basketball. First in class? Don’t joke with me lah. I don’t believe you. If you get first, or you get top three in class, you can buy whatever you want.’
“She said it like that and I was so triggered. I was so affected. I said, ‘What the hell, you don’t believe your own son? If I said I can, it means I can.’ Then she just ignored me and walked off. And that started the ‘fire’.”
After that, he would study hard every day, eventually finishing first in class for his exams, and was gifted an iPhone from his mother.
Siming said if he could tell his younger self something now, it would be to “hang out with the right company”.
“Don’t mix with the wrong company. The people you hang out with are very important,” he said.
Siming, who was one of the finalists in Star Search 2019, turns 30 in November.
While his 20s were filled with “a lot of failing, rejections and learning”, he thinks he’ll have a “great start” to his 30s.
“Because I’m more experienced and have adapted to this industry, it’s where I can start to try my best to break through,” he said.
His hopes for his 30s?
“To buy a car and a house, get married, have a stable career and good health, and then bring my parents overseas,” he said.
He also wants to improve his mindset, acting skills and financial knowledge.
“I want to learn as many skills as possible and film as many shows as possible. Just keep improving.”
Formerly titled Lost and Found, Last But Not Least is now available on demand for free on Mewatch and premieres on Channel 8 on Feb 6.
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