'My sweat seeped through the seams': Zhang Zetong on 'suffering' and working with new virtual technology for drama Perfectly Imperfect

AsiaOne

a day ago

In this Hell, instead of flames and heat, it's all LED screens and "funky" getups.
AsiaOne spoke to local actor Zhang Zetong recently about his experiences filming the upcoming drama Perfectly Imperfect.
The 32-year-old portrays one of the series' main characters Lu Yiming, a filial son who works with his father Lu Chenggong (Wang Yuqing) as livestreamers selling milk powder for the elderly.
After a close shave with death, he briefly visits the underworld and thereafter, gains the ability to see ghosts, reuniting with his dead crush Lau Jingjing (He Yingying). Yiming tries to get back together with her in what becomes an eccentric human-ghost relationship.
To depict its otherworldly scenes and supernatural landscapes, the drama employed the use of virtual production (VP) in its filming process - a technique that uses computer-generated imagery and LED screens to outline the main visuals and actions before shooting begins to define how the script will be visually presented.
Zetong filmed several scenes using VP, one being a car crash scene with James Seah, who plays Law Haoliang in the drama.
He shared: "We were both placed in a stationary car, and there was a props man and a helper shaking the car on set so that it gave us the vibe that we were going to crash into a tree.
"That was fun, because behind the car you could see an arc of LED screens that made it look like we were actually shooting in the real world. So I quite like that, because we didn't have to imagine anything unlike with green screens, which we also have a fair bit of in this production as well."
In a heartbeat, Zetong said he prefers working with VP over green screens. "It's one less thing to imagine for this production. With green screens, the director has to tell you what they have in mind and generally, the visual assets are not ready.
"So what they can provide is mostly just a reference - it's what the director is envisioning. And then only from there, we try to act out the same vision, which is tougher compared to VP where the props, screen and visual assets always coincide with one another."
Zetong also recalled to us on how he "suffered" when he had to wear a down jacket for a day on set. That's because in the drama's version of the underworld, its temperature must not deviate from zero degrees Celsius otherwise it risks getting blown up.
"Because Yiming is still a human soul travelling around the underworld, he could still experience the zero-degree coldness. So that's why he was smart enough to wear a down feather jacket so that when he goes into Hell, he won't feel as cold," he explained.
"But that doesn't mean we get cold studios during the shoot. I perspired a lot on my first day of filming. I suffered from heat exhaustion and food poisoning, because we were shooting outdoors at Cosford Container Park. The sun was so hot and I kept drinking water, but I didn't pee because I kept sweating. And wow, I really suffered.
"The food poisoning was so bad, the heat exhaustion was so bad and the next day, I had to call in sick. It was really bad - my sweat seeped through the seams. Everything couldn't help."
Besides the car accident, Zetong's character deals regularly with life and death throughout the course of the drama.
"One of the rawest and most emotional moments that I had is with my on-screen dad. There was this scene where Yiming loses a loved one and enters into such a very depressive state that he wants to take his life.
"His dad stops him and gives him a very tight slap. There were many bits and pieces of the scene where we did not follow the script - we just went with what we felt was true to our hearts." 'Can I be a dog?'
In the drama, the underworld faces a crisis when its resident souls are unable to get reincarnated as humans choose having pets over children.
Thus its CEO (Jeffrey Xu) decides to have the residents be reincarnated as cats and dogs instead. When Pei Lao (Chen Shucheng) incites them to protest, the CEO enlists Yiming's help to persuade them to be reborn as pets.
Raised with Buddhist and Taoist-leaning beliefs by his parents, Zetong is a believer in reincarnation himself. He shared: "I think the values they inculcated into me and my siblings from young were along the lines of how good deeds generate good fortune, and bad deeds get bad karma. So I do want to believe that there is a place after life."
For many people here, one of their first introductions to Chinese mythology, especially of Hell, is through a visit to Haw Par Villa.
"When I was a kid, my parents took me there and the scariest thing about Hell is that, they have all these very insane torture stories, and you have to suffer there for eternity," recalled Zetong.
"They'll cut your tongue, they'll pierce your body with a giant spear and you'll be put in boiling oil - so these things terrified me as a child."
And with good karma comes a higher chance of living a good afterlife and being reincarnated with a pleasant fate, as is how it goes in Chinese mythology.
When asked if he would choose to be reborn as an animal or a human, Zetong quipped: "I keep telling people if I get to choose, I want to be a rich family's dog. I mean, nowadays you see on TikTok and other platforms, the dogs there are really getting treatment that's way better than many of us.
"And it's not just those cute pet outfits and everything - it's their food. Recently, I saw this owner who made a wagyu don (Japanese beef steak rice bowl) for their dog - nicely plated! And it finished up the entire bowl in a few seconds. I'm like, can I be a dog?"
Although the underworld is generally perceived as frightening, Zetong shared that Perfectly Imperfect portrays a lighthearted fantastical take on the subject matter, and viewers won't be seeing garish, ghoulish makeup — instead, they will be greeted with "funky" makeup and costumes.
"The one that is really the most striking to me is Nick Teo's character Ma Lifei, who has the entire setup of a horse. So whenever I see him I'm like, 'Bro, your hair cannot,'" he laughed. "He's basically got a horse head, but luckily, he's not wearing that rubber horse mask."
Currently, Zetong is shuttling between Singapore and Malaysia filming the upcoming dystopian-crime series The Leftovers, which is slated for release in October 2026.
Perfectly Imperfect, which also stars Bryan Wong, Paige Chua and Cheryl Chou, 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.
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