Emerald Hill actor Xiu Jie Kai recognised by tourists in Taiwan
Especially not Taiwanese actor Xiu Jie Kai who played Zhang Jin He, better known as the er shao ye (second son) of the Zhang family.
In a video posted on YouTube, the 42-year-old was out shopping with his wife, Taiwanese actress, Alyssa Chia, 50, when a woman suddenly exclaimed in Mandarin, 'Little Nonya?'
Emerald Hill is a spin-off of the 2008 mega hit The Little Nonya, and it appears that this group of fans, likely Singaporeans, instantly recognised Jie Kai.
Caught off guard, Xiu gave an embarrassed smile while Chia smirked and playfully confirmed their suspicions, teasing, 'Yes, you guessed correctly! Go get his autograph quickly' before cheekily stepping aside to let her husband deal with the excited fans.
Of course, it was all in good fun as Chia was seen helping them take pictures as Xiu proudly introduced her as his wife.
Wait, shouldn't Chia be in the shot too? She is also an established actress in her own right, even winning a Golden Horse award for Best Actress in 2021.
As she walked away, Chia mused with a laugh, 'Wah… Xiu Jie Kai is very popular now. Being with him, I feel the pressure.'
A proud-looking Xiu then caught up with her and said: 'Now you know how happy you will feel when we go out together?'
With Emerald Hill now airing on Taiwan's TVBS 42, and continuing to be a major hit much like in Singapore and Malaysia, fan encounters like this might become the new normal for Xiu.
The series has already racked up more than 1.77 million views on TVBS' social media platforms since it debuted on Apr 6.
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But it is when he talks about film, including his mother's love of cinema, that his baritone voice perks up the most. He recalled: "Jalan Kayu used to have pasar malam (night markets) on Friday nights, and there were Tamil movies on Fridays too. "I remember my mum rushing us all back home (from the pasar malam) by 10pm so she could watch her movies on the TV. She would scold us and get us to hurry onto the bus. "It was an important part of our lives." Today, Mr Rajagopal is best known for his 2016 debut feature film A Yellow Bird – which follows a Singaporean man of Indian ethnicity navigating life after prison, grappling with the fractures he created within his family and being marginalised by society. The film premiered at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival's Critics' Week and was also screened at noteworthy festivals in Russia, South Korea and India, among others. 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That teacher, Ms Marilyn, gave the young student a role in a play, which eventually drew good reviews in the newspapers of the day. This both excited and emboldened him to audition for more roles. The arts had stuck. "The whole idea of making theatre and acting shaped me. That's what art does to you, it opens up your mind to various things," he said. Even though he discovered this talent for storytelling early on and had an obvious love for all things cinema, it was only at age 30, while working as a manager for an American firm in the arts industry, that he put two and two together and decided to make his first film. He wrote and directed I Can't Sleep Tonight in 1995 after being inspired at his evening job moonlighting at a motel in Little India where he met a whole host of people: refugees fleeing their countries, a woman conned into becoming a sex worker, a druggie backpacker trying to evade the law. 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