It’s been a hot minute since veteran actor Duan Weiming has starred in a Mediacorp Chinese drama, but the 63-year-old is making a comeback in the upcoming Hope Afloat.
In an interview with Chinese media Zaobao, Weiming revealed that he plays a wheelchair-bound father who lives alone with his daughter after his wife passed away from Covid.
The drama also stars Chantalle Ng and Tasha Low, as well as Zhang Zetong, Tyler Ten and Desmond Ng.
Though it’s been really long since he starred in a Chinese drama — his last was 2015’s Tiger Mum — the actor proudly said that there was “no difficulty” getting into character.
“I was just being myself. I also spoke Mandarin for the series, which made it very comfortable for me,” he said.
In case you’re wondering what he meant by “being himself”, Weiming, who suffers from diabetes, is also wheelchair-bound in real life after having his left leg amputated in 2022.
Post-amputation, Weiming starred in English drama 128 Circle as drinks stall uncle Larry. In the show, Weiming wore a prosthetic limb.
The actor, who rose to fame after playing Ah Cai in ’80s Mediacorp drama Neighbours, was also asked how he feels about the new generation of actors these days.
“They’re smooth like a pond loach,” he said sternly.
He added that they deliver their lines very well, but “lack emotion” and “have no cadences or inflections in their voices”.
Weiming said their efficiency in delivering their lines means there are very few no good takes and so they can end work early. However, after decades in the business, he knows that’s not how acting is supposed to be like.
“Back when I was acting in Neighbours, I thought shooting 10 scenes in a day was a piece of cake and that acting was so easy. Thankfully, there were seniors like Ke Sha Fei and Cai Ping Kai who reminded me to not be so ‘smooth’ when acting,” he recalled.
“It’s important to not stutter, but we need to know when to pause and add layers to our performance.”
Weiming went on to share that he was supposed to act in a movie a while back, but he turned it down because of the pay. He was offered $1000 a day for a role that has no lines.
“I remember a conversation I had with late local actor Wang Sha. Back then, he asked me how much I charge for my getai performances, and I said I would quote them $500 for hosting. [Wang Sha] sighed: ‘Silly child, if you only ask for $500 now, it would be very difficult for you to raise your price in the future. Even those with conscience will only pay you a little more’,” recalled Weiming.
It’s why Weiming has learnt to value himself more.
“Since they are willing to approach me, it means I still have value. I don’t have a manager so I need to fight for myself to be treated reasonably,” he said.
This is perhaps also why Weiming, who’s divorced and has two kids — a 37-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son with his ex-wife — doesn’t want his son to step into showbiz, though he was once approached to star in a drama.
According to the actor, he rejected the offer for his son as he didn’t want his son to enter the industry at such a young age.
When he was told that his son looks exactly like him, Weiming laughed: “He really resembled me when he was in secondary one or two. But now he’s so fat, he’s 100kg!”
“If he stands in front of me, he can block me completely. I beg him to lose weight and exercise more! How can he be so fat at such a young age,” he said.