Who doesn't forget easily and who doesn't gossip? Hong Huifang, Cynthia Koh and Pierre Png, cast of new Singapore-Thai thriller, talk people politics
Pierre Png told AsiaOne that despite how he feels very naive and forgiving, his peers call him a "typical Scorpio".
The 51-year-old elaborated: "So far, it seems like it's true — once a friend, always a friend. Once an enemy, good luck to you."
When asked if he bears grudges, he replied: "I don't forget. I used to think that I would wait 10 years to take revenge, but now I think god is the best person to mete out punishment and normally, that punishment is just right. When I take matters into my own hands, I might go overboard or cause myself more harm.
"So yeah, as easily as I make friends, I forgive and just let it be. But I remember things."
The trio were speaking to us recently on the set of Decalcomania, an upcoming eight-part thriller series that is a collaboration between Singapore content studio Mocha Chai Laboratories and Thailand's entertainment giant The One Enterprise.
In the series, two women with identical faces — Neungdeaw, a hardened owner of a nightclub in Bangkok and Leia, a sheltered Singaporean socialite — suddenly have their souls swapped after a car crash. Neungdeaw must now learn to survive a world of high-society manipulation, while Leia must navigate a criminal underworld unknown to her.
Both Neungdeaw and Leia are played by Thai actress Mookda Narinrak, 28.
While Pierre, Cynthia and Huifang don't move in such cutthroat and vicious social circles as the drama characters, we were curious how they handle people relations.
When it comes to matters of gossip, they die down with someone like Cynthia, also 51.
She said: "I always believe if someone gossips about me and I hear about it, I'll go to the person directly. I won't go anywhere else. And if I hear gossip about someone else, it stops with me. I don't create any tension, and neither am I accepting any tension. That has been my work ethic for many years."
Huifang, who has been a veteran in the entertainment industry since her mid-1980s debut, was surprised by the question and shared: "I don't know if I'm good at navigating people politics. I've never handled such situations before. Maybe if I had to, I might not be able to handle it? I'm not so sure. But I prefer to be peaceful."
On encountering gossip, the 64-year-old said: "I can listen to gossip, but it's because I cannot move away from it. I'll just keep quiet, because if I add my words in, people will point at me and say that I contributed to the gossip, even no matter the extent." A transnational collaboration
Part of a three-generation family unit on the Singaporean side of the thriller, Pierre plays Mark, a policeman who is also a doting husband and emotional "punching bag" to his domineering wife Sue (Cynthia). The latter runs a restaurant with her bitter mother Granny Lu (Huifang), who suspects that her son-in-law is in an affair with Leia.
The youngest member of the family Fei Li is portrayed by Gladys Ng, who is half-Singaporean and half-Thai and fluent in the Asian language. A reflection of many youths in our current society, the Star Search 2024 finalist's character is a fanatic when it comes to Thai pop culture.
Having recently become a mother-in-law who adores her son-in-law, Huifang is not so similar to her on-screen counterpart. "The more dissimilar my character is from me, the more I enjoy playing them. Granny Lu is too much of a diva — she takes one look at you, and she'll start cursing you out."
Although Cynthia is currently single, she resonates with several aspects of her character. "If I were in a relationship, I think I'd talk quite similarly to my partner as Sue — a bit kanchiong , a bit 'grr'!" She continued: "Sue is someone who probably wears the pants at home a little bit. I'm quite a control freak in real life, and I can be quite impatient. To calm me down, I must mindfully and with full awareness say, 'Okay, do not rush. Calm down.'"
Decalcomania is the first Thai production for Cynthia, Pierre and Huifang, and there weren't any expectations initially for them to pick up bits of the language.
This eventually changed for Pierre however, as he explained: "Initially, nothing was written for me in Thai. But then we had a script-read and a discussion afterwards where we all agreed to have some of the cast members speak a bit of Thai.
"Mark speaks a little bit of it because he's been following Peter Woo (Leia's adoptive father played by 'Chai' Chartayodom Hiranyasthiti) throughout his career. And because Peter throws an obstacle in his career path, it eventually takes Mark to Thailand in a back-and-forth investigation where he has some encounters with Thai people."
In a 2023 interview with Lianhe Zaobao talking about her role as Lee Soo-jung in Oppa, Saranghae! (2023), Cynthia shared that she was frantic upon realising she had to speak entirely in Korean for a long scene in the drama.
Between Korean, Thai, and any other unfamiliar languages in between, the sound therapist revealed her secret formula to navigating the unknown: Phonetics.
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She explained: "You record the lines and listen to it like a song. And then once I can recognise the romanisation of the language, I will record myself saying the lines and send it back to my language coach and they would tell me what parts of my intonation I need to change." Expanding horizons
Huifang, who starred as the main character in the Singapore-South Korea drama film Ajoomma, is looking forward to her involvement in this project. She said: "It's especially because I don't know how to speak Thai that I'm curious how everything's going to work — how the Thai cast and crew will act and work on set, how their industry works. As long as it's something I've never done before, the more excited I am."
In 2018, Pierre received acclaim for his role as Michael Teo in the Hollywood film Crazy Rich Asians, where he starred as Gemma Chan's on-screen spouse. Now, working with Thailand's up-and-coming entertainment scene, he reflected: "Any time you get the opportunity to expand your horizons and work with different people, it's always a good thing. You cannot be too complacent staying in one place for too long.
"My take from doing international productions is that you see not only the crew — you see the actors and directors from both countries and you realise that what you've learned here in Singapore actually transcends all nations; you're well-equipped and well-prepared."
Cynthia also shared the waves she hopes Decalcomania will bring: "I really do hope with my heart that with this co-production, we have more opportunities to open our gateway to more Asian artists, production crew, producers and directors who have so much talent, but feel like an uncut diamond.
"Now, it really feels like back in the 1990s or 2000s when singers would have to go overseas and return home to get raving reviews. And now with all the competition, like online streaming, TV can get a little bit rough."
Decalcomania is set to debut on Thailand's TV channels One31 and OneD application streaming worldwide in December 2025, with its Singapore broadcast on Mewatch to follow.
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kristy.chua@asiaone.com
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