Hanwei in the New paper on 18th October
http://tnp.sg/show/story/0,4136,180447-1224367140,00.html?

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ZOE 'STRIPS'... HANWEI CHUCKLES
Veteran actress Zoe Tay gets 'intimate' with old pal Chen Hanwei for
new TV drama
By Maureen Koh

October 18, 2008


POOR Zoe Tay. She disrobed in front of her co-star Chen Hanwei - and
promptly got him laughing.

Not because of her figure.

But because she had stuck masking tape all over her body to cover
herself for the shoot of By My Side, a new television drama they both
are starring in.

Zoe, 40, said she had spent more effort on 'precautionary measures'
because she was uncomfortable undressing in front of her close friend
of 20 years, even though she was wearing a very thin bodysuit.

The drama was the first time they've been paired together as husband
and wife.

'I'd have no problem doing the scene with any other actor. Anyone but
Hanwei,' the Caldecott queen told The New Paper.

Explaining his guffaws, Hanwei, 39, said: 'She really looked very
funny... it was really ugly.

Like one wrinkled mess of tape plastered together.'

To which Zoe responded in mock protest: 'But no one can see what.'

But it wasn't like she expected Hanwei to turn lusty and get any
funny ideas.

Said Zoe: 'It's because we're such close friends that I actually felt
so uncomfortable about doing intimate scenes with him.'

The actress said: 'When I first read the script, I told my husband,
die, this time die, I have to kiss Hanwei!'

In By My Side, which starts on 28 Oct, Zoe and Hanwei play couple Lin
Xinya and Chen Bufan.

Married with a young daughter, the couple's blissful family life is
ripped apart when Bufan discovers he has Aids.

As they struggle to accept the harsh reality, their marriage nearly
crumbles.

Bufan finally gets a job at a factory and avoids going home,
preferring to spend the nights at his workplace.

'In a desperate bid to save her marriage, Xinya decides to have sex
with Bufan to convince him of her love,' said Zoe.

Hence, the scene.

It also didn't help that she was feeling unwell on the day of the
filming.

Zoe had been running a fever and suffering from a severe sore throat.

'My voice had gone so raspy.'

Thankfully, everything turned out fine and they managed to finish the
takes in under an hour.

Strange intimacy

Said Zoe: 'It just felt so funny to do intimate stuff with someone
you know so well.'

There were also some scenes where they had to kiss each other, though
thankfully, she added: 'It was nothing of the hot and heavy sort.'

Intimacy aside, Zoe admitted that their friendship added chemistry
that worked perfectly for them in other scenes.

Such as an emotional one where Xinya slaps Bufan hard on the cheeks.

Hanwei said: 'I told her not to hold back and to give it all she's
got. Only then would the slaps look real.'

Which Zoe did. And it took just three takes.

She said: 'It takes a shared closeness to be able to get the slaps
across accurately, without making it more painful.

'It's like he must know when to turn his face towards me so that the
slaps land just nicely.'

Zoe said the opportunity to work with Hanwei so closely also notched
up the level of respect she had for him.

'Because he is such a perfectionist, Hanwei became very focused in
his role,' she said.

'In doing that, we were more drawn towards the tragedy that Bufan
faced and it affected the rest of us.'

Zoe predicted that this would be another award-winning role for
Hanwei.

Hanwei won Best Actor for his role as a recovering coma patient in A
Life Of Hope at Star Awards 2005.

She said : 'I've worked with so many male leads and I can tell you,
Hanwei truly outdid himself in this drama.'

A modest Hanwei said: 'I felt we had an important role to play - this
being a docu-drama sort.

'We had a message to send out and because most people's knowledge of
Aids can be so abstract.

'There are too many misconceptions and I felt that we should take it
seriously to educate the others.'