Apart from having to deal with a completely different character change, the local actress is also worried that TV audiences might be sick of a Rui En-Pierre Png onscreen pairing again

Text & Photos: Joanna Goh
Videos: Fiona Lin

No doubt an acting chameleon, Rui En has proven her fine acting chops over the past two years and is unafraid of moving on to uncharted territories, just like her newest challenge where she plays a blind girl in On The Fringe.

She’s been making waves on television for successfully stepping out of her tough-cookie shadow and taking up different roles which ranged from woebegone (With You), and girlie (A Tale of Two Cities) to meek and docile in the upcoming Ch8 drama, The In-Laws.

While she still picks the crime-fighting Xiao Man from Unriddle as her personal favourite, she admits that her grieving widow role in With You helped “change the audience’s perception of me” and provided her with the much-needed breakthrough.

Scoring a Best Actress nomination at this year’s Star Awards for With You, Rui En is also currently leading in online polls for Favourite Female Character for her role in Happy Family. Speaking of her two nominations, she has “no expectations” and even has a few “ongoing bets” with friends that she wouldn’t clinch the coveted award.

At the press conference of The In-Laws held at Klapsons Boutique Hotel yesterday noon, she dubbed her onscreen character, Wang Jia Zhen as her “first damsel in distress role”.

Soft-spoken, demure and passive are certainly not words one would use to describe this plucky actress who sports a distinctive tomboyish streak. As always, she would feel “pressured” by new roles though she felt that this has been absolutely refreshing for her.

“When characters are different from a person’s personality, you have to be careful to not slip back into your own self because who you are is how you act,” she admitted in an interview with xinmsn.

As if she was still in character, Rui En spoke in a soft voice and said, “I would use her eyes and try to make sure her eyes are very soft… I would also use my voice because my voice is naturally very deep, so I thought of making the voice for this character a little bit softer.”

While the main challenge posed by the new drama was the constant need to “focus 100%”, admittedly, Rui En is worried about being paired with Pierre Png in two consecutive drama series.

Although she’s “very worried that people are sick of seeing us together”, Rui En believes that their different characters in the recently-concluded A Tale of Two Cities and the new show have a “different feel”, and hopes to give viewers a refreshing take on their onscreen relationship this time round.

Apart from this being her first submissive role, this is also her first time “doing a show where my husband is more afraid of his mother than me”.

“My nickname for this family [in The In-Laws] is The Addams family. They are terrible and so crazy! (Laughs).”

And what if she ever encounters such demanding, meddlesome and devious in-laws?

“I would run away to India. Seriously, I would just run,” she jokingly remarked, bursting into fits of laughter at the thought of it.

It’s Rui En vs. ‘The Addams Family’.

Which is Rui En’s favourite character so far?

The In-Laws debuts on April 12 and will be aired on weekdays, Ch8, 9pm.

The online awards for Star Awards 2011 is powered by xinmsn. Vote for your favourite characters and onscreen couples here!

Source: Xinmsn

Categorised in EN, Happy Family 过好年, Star Awards, Star Awards 2011, The In-Laws 麻婆斗妇, Unriddle 最火搭档, With You 我在你左右, xinmsn.