Remember how Taiwanese actress Yao Yao, 33, was photographed Facetiming someone while strolling home alone in Taiwan last September and it turned out to be local actor Zong Zijie, 28?
Though the pair, who play a couple in new supernatural movie The Chosen One, denied dating rumours at that time, they do seem suspiciously close to each other.
Yao Yao recently flew to Singapore for the premiere of the movie, reuniting with her castmates, Zijie, Gurmit Singh and Malaysian Singapore-based actress Angel Lim.
During her time here, the actress spoke to Chinese media Zaobao about her experience filming her first Singaporean production.
She recalled how she had time to go shopping in Penang when they were shooting there. Zijie, on the other hand, was busy slogging on set every day.
“He was either getting beaten up or having emotional scenes. I couldn’t help but wonder: ‘Oh my God, how pitiful is he?’,” she said, adding that Zijie’s scenes with her were relatively “sweet and relaxing”.
Zijie went on to talk about how tired he was filming the movie, as he had to travel between Malaysia and Singapore, where he was filming a drama.
“Luckily, the theme of the movie motivated me a lot and the crew took very good care of me, and my co-stars were all great actors,” he said.
“And though it seemed like I went through a lot of hardship, [Yao Yao] was indeed my only source of warmth in this show,” he added.
Did he just confess his love for his leading lady?
Zijie quickly clarified: “In the show, Ah Jiao [Yao Yao’s character] really is my character Ah Jie’s only source of warmth.”
Yao Yao also said she became dependent on Zijie during the shoot.
To portray how needy her character is, her acting coach advised her to “act like [she’s] reliant on Zijie” during the time they worked on the movie, and yes, that included when they were not on set.
“Zijie helped me carry my luggage and would buy me breakfast, drinks and even daily necessities. He would even ask me if I needed anything when he goes to the supermarket,” she shared.