'Insects deserve some form of respect too': He Yingying's philosophies on life, death and reincarnation , Entertainment News
AsiaOne spoke to local actress He Yingying recently about her role in Mediacorp's upcoming drama Perfectly Imperfect, and she told us about her philosophies on the cycle of life.
The 29-year-old plays one of the series' main characters Jingjing, a ghost who resides in the underworld but has a human lover Lu Yiming (Zhang Zetong).
"Because of this relationship, she goes through many trials and tribulations and over time, she grows to be someone I'm very proud of," said Yingying.
"I feel like people might think simple characters don't really have a story, but I feel Jingjing does have her own story and point of view, which I hope I translated well to the screen."
Drawing inspiration from Chinese mythology, Perfectly Imperfect tells the story of the underworld's new CEO Yan Wang (Jeffrey Xu) who fails to earn recognition from Pei Lao (Cheng Shucheng), a veteran official from the Weavers' Palace.
Weavers hold the power to determine whether the underworld's residents are reborn into good or bad lives, and thus yield more influence and wealth over Yan Wang's office. The underworld faces a crisis when its resident souls are unable to get reincarnated as humans choose having pets over children.
Yan Wang decides to have the residents be reincarnated as cats and dogs instead. When Pei Lao incites them to protest, Yan Wang enlists Yiming's help to persuade them to be reborn as pets.
With all the fancy dynasty costumes and tension in the underworld, viewers might think they're watching a period drama. Yingying agreed: "I love watching them, especially all the ones with infighting in the palace, but we don't really have that in Singapore anymore.
"Ever since I entered showbiz, I've always been told that I have a face that's suitable for the genre - but we'd never know unless there's such a production. But here, we get to see Paige (Chua) in her beautiful outfit, which was very exciting for me even if I'm not the one wearing it."
Paige portrays Hua Niang Niang, a sassy subordinate of Pei Lao alongside Di Ju De (Bryan Wong) in the Weavers' Palace.
Considering this light-hearted depiction of Hell, Yingying felt that the drama brings forth a positive message that "your choices will influence your life".
She elaborated: "There are some regrets Jingjing has because she died when she was very young, so she was a gentle reminder to myself to not take things for granted.
"Be conscious of what you're doing on a day-to-day basis - whatever you do now will affect your future."
But with ever-changing societal standards, the line between making "good" and "bad" choices in our lives is now blurred, which begs the question - what is a good benchmark for deciding people's fates, if Yingying were a Weaver?
She said: "To be logical, I would give them a questionnaire of maybe 10,000 questions and they have to sit there and fill it up -- if you ask me honestly, my judgement won't be objective, it'll be subjective. If they can't even bear to sit through it and fill it up, they're going to get a bad fate."
While Hell is mostly perceived as frightening, it gives Yingying a sense of peace and curiosity instead.
"When I was young, I visited Haw Par Villa and saw the 10 Courts of Hell and for the longest time I thought that was really what would happen [in the afterlife]. But as I grew up, I've experienced many different thoughts as to what happens after you die, so I'm not sure what's gonna happen anymore," pondered Yingying.
"But I hope it can be as fun as what we portray in this drama, because it really looks like you're just continuing your life - just in a different form, in a different realm." 'Human suffering is beautiful'
When asked if she would rather be reborn as a pet or human, Yingying chose the latter.
The owner of five pets - four cats and one dog - explained she would love to experience this "rollercoaster" again.
"I feel like human suffering is beautiful. It's through suffering that we grow and become a better version of ourselves - without it, there's no growth. So maybe if I were to be reborn as a pet, I'll be the best damn cat and know a lot of tricks.
"But if I were human again, I'd get the potential to learn from things that I didn't in my previous life. Maybe I'll even be a man in my next life!"
Yingying's open-mindedness about life and death extends to creatures in our environment, down to creepy crawlies.
"When I see dead insects on the floor, sometimes I try to pick them up and put them on the grass instead. I don't like to see them being dead and squished," she shared.
"Recently, there was a beehive near my house that was exterminated, and you know how they're going extinct? So when I saw a bee that died outside my door, I picked it up and put it in a flowerpot."
When asked if she was afraid of insects, Yingying replied: "Not really, I'm mostly scared of cockroaches because they can fly. But in general, insects all have a life. They are also part of this world. Maybe they'll get reincarnated. But in any case, I feel like insects deserve some form of respect as well."
Even before filming this drama series, she held the belief that life and death are just "temporary".
"I feel it's just a pit stop, and this script reinforces this same idea I have about life and death. Maybe time is not linear - it's a circle. You can just keep going until you learn what you're supposed to."
Perfectly Imperfect, which also stars James Seah, Cheryl Chou, Benjamin Tan and Nick Teo, will be available on demand for free on Mewatch from Aug 18 and premieres on Channel 8 on Aug 21, airing on weekdays at 9pm.
[[nid:721355]]
kristy.chua@asiaone.com
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