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The past year has been so fulfilling for Mediacorp actress Jernelle Oh.
The 29-year-old Star Search 2019 finalist received her first Most Popular Rising Star trophy at the Star Awards on Sun (Apr 21).
Last December, Jernelle was named Best Actress at the Asian Academy Creative Awards for her heartfelt performance as a resilient food delivery person with cerebral palsy in Mediacorp drama Cash On Delivery.
The same performance also earned her a Best Actress nomination at this year’s Star Awards but the title eventually went to Kym Ng.
On top of that, Jernelle also got engaged to her 30-year-old engineer boyfriend, Mr V, in Japan in November.
When 8days.sg spoke to Jernelle backstage after her win, the actress couldn’t contain her excitement and gave us a big hug.
She said she wants to go for a feast but would not be able to as she has work the next day.
“I still have to continue working hard tomorrow, because I have a radio show on Capital 958 in the afternoon,” she laughed, adding that she was looking forward to sharing this special moment with her co-host DJ Lin Linzhi.
We asked if there was anyone she had forgotten to thank during her acceptance speech, like her fiancé for example?
“I classified him under ‘family’. He wanted me to mention his name but I didn’t in the end,” she laughs.
“I told him I would just thank him together with my family because we don’t have much time for our speech and I was scared I would forget. But he still really wanted me to talk about him. So I said: ‘People don’t even know your name!'”
Like we mentioned earlier, Jernelle has been on a roll. Does she know what clicked?
“I don’t know! I don’t think I did anything special. I hope it’s because people are starting to see the hard work I’m putting in instead of thinking it’s just luck. Of course luck played a huge part, but hard work did too,” she said.
In her speech, Jernelle revealed that her mum gave her a five-year grace period to prove herself in showbiz. If she doesn’t, she would want Jernelle to find a proper job.
So did she have any back-up plan if she didn’t get her breakthrough role?
“Actually I’m quite a rebellious person,” she said. “My mum wishes the best for me but personally, when I set my heart on something, I would persevere no matter what,” she asserted.
Even if her acting career didn’t take off, Jernelle would continue to be an actress, though she might have to resort to working odd jobs to make ends meet.
“I can sell bubble tea or be a tutor just so I can realise my dreams,” she said.
Guess she doesn’t need to do that now.