Parents of actors can be quite opinionated about the roles they take. In fact, when local actress Rebecca Lim landed the role of a law trainee in 2010's The Pupil, her dad told her: "That's great, you're no longer playing the third party, the mistress, the prostitute."
Paige Chua's mum, however, had a surprising response when the 42-year-old asked her if she could take on sexually explicit roles.
The actress was interviewed by actress-host Jernelle Oh on #JustSwipeLah and asked if she had seen fellow actress Gini Chang playing a sex worker in the English historical drama Last Madame: Sisters of the Night, and if Paige would consider such a role.
"It's a little difficult," Paige responded. "It's not my preferred kind of drama, unless I have my dream team with a partner and director whom I trust a lot, plus a good script and a good team."
Jernelle, 30, asked if Paige's parents would be accepting of her taking on a sexually explicit role.
Paige said: "I did ask them before, so my mother said, 'At your age, when would you film such scenes if not now?'"
While Paige's mum is supportive of the roles she takes on, her dad supports her in other ways.
"I know that, during the filming of The Heartland Hero, your parents came to fetch you very frequently," Jernelle said.
Paige confirmed it, saying: "My dad is in charge of driving and fetching me, since I entered showbiz."
Jernelle asked if this meant that Paige felt like she didn't have "much contact" with her co-stars.
"When I'm on set, besides doing my job well of course, I also hope that everyone is working with a relaxed and happy mood," Paige responded.
"I won't feel distanced from them, but I think being friends depends on fate."
Though Paige thought it was the best possible scenario to be friends with her co-stars, "having a certain distance" also felt beneficial as an actress.
"I don't want to have a stereotype that 'Jernelle is so gentle' that if you played a psychotic killer I'd feel scared," she said as an example. "I don't want to have that feeling, I want to let you have the chance to transform.
"So I think that having a certain space is healthy for me."
This article was first published on AsiaOne and republished on theAsianparent with permission.