[09/11/23](MSN.SG)Was it easy to work with Nicholas Teo?

Akina55299

Original Topic :Belinda is on the rise!
The TV host talks to us about her latest acting affair and future plans


You may have seen the beautiful BELINDA CHEE cracking jokes on TV or turning an event from a bore to a blast as an emcee, but it’s her recent acting gig that’s got us paying more attention.

The small-town girl from Kuching, who’s definitely got big things in store for her, took some time off her busy schedule to talk to us about her new show, Love In Seoul. Belinda stars opposite singer/actor NICHOLAS TEO in the TV series, which is about a photojournalist who travels to Seoul only to fall for a girl as his departure date approaches.

Belinda settles comfortably into her seat before she spills on the experience of shooting in Seoul (“To be honest, I didn’t quite enjoy the food because it was very spicy and I’m a lousy Malaysian, I can’t take spicy food”), acting as a career, what she likes to do in her free time and more.

Tell us more about Love In Seoul.

This is actually my second mandarin TV series but it’s going to come out on 8TV first. I play the character Yuna who is half-Korean and half-Chinese. Not only did I have to memorise my Mandarin lines but I had to memorise some Korean lines as well. There is a slight love story involved but, I feel the main character is still Seoul, the city. It’s like a music idol series and travel show and love story all in one [laughs].


Was it difficult to learn Korean?

It wasn’t that difficult because I didn’t have that many lines in Korean but of course it’s totally different, it sounded a bit Indian to me at first. I think the big challenges were, firstly, Mandarin. I can speak Mandarin but I can’t read. I had to ask my teacher to Romanise the Mandarin script and then I would memorise it. I’m also quite new to acting. This is my third TV series and I play the main character so it was quite hard for me to emote as well as memorise. It’s quite a challenge but it was very fun and I hope I have a chance to do it again.


Will there be a sequel?

You never know. This was sponsored by Tourism Seoul and the first season was actually a travel show. They had a host who would introduce different places but they wanted to do it differently this season so they put in an Idol series element. Maybe next season they might want to continue with it?


What was it like filming in Seoul?

I’d been to Seoul once before with my family so it was my second time there. I wasn’t expecting that much because I’d been there already and I’ve seen all the tourist spots. But this time around, we actually went to a lot of the more localised places like coffee shops and tea houses and I really enjoyed it. I think Koreans know how to enjoy life even though Seoul is a big city, like KL; they know how to separate work and play. That is now my impression of Seoul.


Did anything weird happen there while you were filming?

Everything went very smoothly, there was nothing strange or weird. I’ve shot one or two TV series here in Malaysia and most of the time, we’ll choose a location and shoot every scene in that location to finish it in a day. But in Korea, I don’t know why, we went back to the same location two or three times just to finish the scene. I guess it’s their shooting culture.


Was it easy to work with Nicholas Teo?

At first I was a little bit intimidated because I didn’t know him. I had heard of him and I knew he was a singer and has experience in acting. I wasn’t sure if he was going to be angry if I did a wrong take. But after a while, we got to know each other and we are both from Kuching so we have that in common. He is actually a really silly, funny and relaxed kind of person. It made it easier to be around him.

Do you see yourself going far in acting?

To be honest, I haven’t actually tried out for acting stuff because a lot of people know me as a TV host but I would like to try it out. I think a lot of Chinese girls would agree with me that it’s quite hard to get a role in a Malay TV series or a movie as a Chinese girl. There is quite a lot of competition in that area so I’ll try to break into the Mandarin market. I have never heard of anyone who started out in the urban market and broke into the Chinese market. I’d like to try although I still feel my Mandarin is at primary school level.


With all the success and travelling, do you find it difficult to stay humble?

Honestly, I’m still the same me from my university days. I think my family doesn’t treat me any differently and [my husband] has known me since I was in college. I guess I was never up in the air in that sense, I mean, I’m not famous, I’m just working and I just happen to be on TV. I’m not a celebrity and I don’t like that title. Of course there are perks but I never felt like I was up there. I still feel like I’m a regular person and deep down inside, I’m still a small-town girl [laughs].


What do you like to do when you are not working?

I’m such an auntie because, if I’m not at work, I’m at home either watching TV or surfing the internet. I like to go watch movies. I’ve stopped going to clubs, I go to bed by midnight if I can and I wake up early. I don’t do much, I just relax and stay at home. I’m such a homebody.


You have a blog. Do you think it’s important to keep in touch with your fans?

Sometimes I just update my blog for fun [laughs]. I don’t know how many fans I have out there but when I started the blog it was for my friends overseas to share in what’s happening in my life. When I started out in the industry, it became more like a self-advertisement if you will – like, watch this and this is coming out – and until now it’s still part of selling the brand Belinda Chee [laughs]. It might sound a bit bad but in this industry we are selling ourselves to get jobs. I think it’s important to just update and let people know what I’m doing. At least when I don’t get covers or write-ups in magazines, people can still know what I’m up to.

From : MSN Singpore (Entertainment)

MAYCHAN

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仔仔金

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TCH

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sunnywongwwy

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katrinayan26

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justwantnichola

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