If you thought Taiwanese actor Xiu Jiekai, 41, playing 30-year-old Tasha Low’s dad in upcoming Mediacorp series Emerald Hill was a stretch, wait till you find out who’s playing Richie Koh’s mum in his next project.
In upcoming AI-themed Mediacorp series Coded Love, the actor, who turned 31 recently, plays the son of Carrie Wong, who is a year younger than him in real life.
The show revolves around Richie’s lone wolf character Lu Xiao Ming using artificial intelligence to construct an image of his late mother played by Carrie.
While that might sound hard to digest, the 30-year-old actress had no qualms about playing the mum of someone older.
In a recent interview with Shin Min Daily News, Carrie said she actually feels good about this new pairing. FYI: Both stars got their start in showbiz via beauty contest Hey! Gorgeous.
It’s her first time acting opposite the Star Awards 2023 Best Actor, and Carrie said she was looking forward to it even before filming began in Malaysia last December.
“When Richie called me ‘mum’ for the first time, it was actually very heart-warming. I still remember how I was moved to tears… it felt very real,” she gushed.
That said, Carrie admitted that it has been a challenge playing a mother.
“Maybe it was because it’s the first time I’m acting as a mum. Plus the character went through a lot of hardships, it was hard seeing life through her,” she explained.
Richie also seemed unbothered about having such a young onscreen mum. The tough part, he joked, was their height difference. Richie is 1.7m tall, and Carrie, 1.75m.
When asked how he and Carrie formed their chemistry, Richie said: “The production team arranged for a mentor to give us lessons. If the audience could feel our mother-and-son bond, that means we’ve succeeded.”
Guess we’ll just have to watch the show when it airs in October to find out then.