Taiwan screen icon Chin Han returns in Mandarin drama 'Forget You Not'

The Star

6 days ago

Chin Han, a well-known romantic hero of 1980s TV dramas, plays an old man with dementia in Netflix series 'Forget You Not'. Photo: Handout
After 24 years away from Taiwanese dramas, Taiwanese screen legend Chin Han is back on the small screen. He stars in Netflix series Forget You Not , which was directed by singer-actress Rene Liu.
The 79-year-old Chin is known for playing the romantic hero in hugely popular TV adaptations of famed author Chiung Yao's romantic novels in the 1980s. They include Lovers Under The Rain (1986), Deep Garden (1987) and One Side Of The Water (1988).
In his latest outing, Chin sheds his romantic leading man trappings to play an old man with dementia.
Golden Horse Award-winning Taiwanese actress Hsieh Ying-hsuan ( Born For The Spotlight , 2024) plays his daughter, an aspiring stand-up comedienne named Le-le.
The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Liu, 55, and producer Aileen Lee, 53, told Taiwanese news outlet Central News Agency in an interview published on May 24 that many people around them thought it would be 'mission impossible' to get Chin to star in the series.
He has cut down on work in recent years. While he has starred in Chinese dramas such as Cambrian Period (2017), his last TV drama appearance was in 2020. And his last appearance in a Taiwanese series was in 2001, a period drama about Qing Dynasty emperor Qianlong.
Liu had tailor-made the role for Chin, though when she first approached him for a casual chat about it, she thought he would turn it down. He had told Liu then that he would not like to play a bedridden or forgetful old man.
Lee said: 'We were like, 'oh no', because the series will go into his character's deteriorating memory.'
But Chin was eventually convinced. And once he took on the role, he was fully committed to it, Liu said.
He asked for his hair to be messier and his clothes to look more crumpled, in an attempt to show the decline of his character's mind.
'People have seen how handsome and charming he was in his younger days, so they will feel pained when they see him in this role,' Liu added.
In a separate e-mail interview with Singapore's Chinese tabloid Shin Min Daily News earlier in May, Chin said he did not like to play sickly characters.
'To play someone sick is quite a painful process because you have to live with that mindset for months while filming is ongoing. I don't like to be unhappy,' he said.
But he agreed to do the series as Liu told him he would be playing a sea captain.
'I thought I'd have a chance to wear a suave white navy uniform, so I agreed. In the end, when we began filming, I realised the character is a chief engineer on a ship, so I didn't get to wear a uniform,' he said.
Still, he was glad to have taken on the challenge.
'My character seems so ordinary, but he loves his daughter with all his heart and is always quietly supporting her. I am rarely approached for such ordinary roles,' he added. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network