Traditional drama heroines are usually likeable, long-suffering characters that sacrifice themselves for others.

But Singapore actress Rui En, who plays the accomplished lawyer Cheng Chu Ning in the upcoming legal drama “Sudden”, about the lives of a group of young lawyers and the complicated ties between them, says her character is no traditional heroine.

“I play the kind of lawyer who is incredibly professional, but that of course entails defending people audiences are not going to side with,” said Rui En.

She explained that one story arc even sees Cheng defending a talent manager who coerces the actresses he manage into trading sexual favours for acting opportunities, though Cheng eventually does the right thing in the cases she handle.

Cheng herself has a bit of an attitude as well, and it’s one of the reasons why Rui En loves playing her.

“I like the fact that it’s not your cut and dried female lead where you are supposed to be likeable.

“Right from the start, she is not likeable. It’s definitely my b****iest role so far!”

“It’s a lot of fun to not have to think about being likeable,” said Rui En excitedly, pointing out that anti-heroines are simply “more interesting to play”.

Law, justice and shades of grey

Rui En expressed that she actually didn’t expect to enjoy shooting the show this much, as all her early scenes for the drama were “lovey dovey crying scenes”.

However, she changed her mind when they started shooting the scenes highlighting Cheng’s personality and her work as a lawyer, something which she found “fascinating”.

“I have done four police shows, where it’s all about ‘I am going to catch criminals!’, but then I do this show and I realise there is a different world altogether.

“The police can do their investigating, but all it takes is one detail and the lawyer can make use of that one detail to get people off the hook,” gushed Rui En.

The actress went on to reveal that she had been watching legal dramas, as well as reading the autobiographies of top lawyers to prepare for her role, and also learned quite a bit about the legal profession along the way.

“This profession is not necessarily always about justice,” said Rui En, quoting a line from an autobiography she read, adding that the world of law enforcement is a world with only “black and white”, while the legal profession is filled with “shades of grey”.

“Sudden” which also stars Romeo Tan, Rebecca Lim, Zhang Zhen Huan as well as Ian Fang, will air in September.

Sudden 骤变 debuts 2 September 2013 9pm on Channel 8.

Source: Channelnewsasia, The Malaysian Times

Categorised in channelnewsasia.com, EN, Sudden 骤变, The Malaysian Times.