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Known as actress Lin Meijiao's daughter, 25-year-old Chantalle Ng is one of the up-and-coming rising stars of Mediacorp.

Following in her mother's footsteps to become an actress after growing up around local artistes in a television station seems like a natural progression.

Since her official debut in Channel 8's coffee romance "96°C Café" in 2013, the 2018 Star Awards Newcomer awardee has acted in 15 Channel 8 television series to date, including the newly-released "My Star Bride".

First time acting with mum

Although Ng has established herself as one of the familiar faces on Channel 8, "My Star Bride" marks the first time she acts alongside her mother, Lin, on the same production.

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In "My Star Bride", the award-winning actress plays Mai Phuong Thao, a Vietnamese bride who leaves her small village to go to Singapore to look for her long-lost sister.

She marries a Singaporean in order to extend her stay in Singapore.

Lin plays the role of Ng's mother-in-law in "My Star Bride".

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In an earlier interview with Shin Min Daily News before filming commenced, Ng said, "This is the first long-term collaboration with my mother. Previously, we've only done advertisements and short dramas, so I'm looking forward to this one."

Ng was also particularly thankful for her mother who had watched her rehearse and given her a lot of feedback before the audition, "She is also happy for me, knowing that I have clinched this role."

When CNA asked Ng about the experience of working with her mother on-set, Ng replied, "I was happy about it. My role was quite challenging, and it was nice that she was next to me, helping me with my acting."

Ng cited an example of a time when she was filming a scene of her character phoning her mother back in Vietnam out of homesickness that required her to cry.

However, she "couldn't get the emotion right" until she called Lin and heard her voice.

Speaking to CNA, Lin shared that they were initially worried about "not being able to immerse" themselves fully into the roles or "breaking into laughter" during filming due to their close mother-daughter bond.

Lin added that unlike her previous roles, she had to get out of her "mum" role before getting into her acting role for this production, making it "doubly hard".

Intimate scenes

The intimate scenes with Ng posed a challenge to actor Xu Bin, who plays Ng's husband.

Xu disclosed to 8 Days that the filming process was quite awkward for him, as Ng's mother was also on the set.

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It took a little time for Ng and him "to warm up to each other" as it was their first time playing a couple.

He added,

"Having Meijiao-jie around during the kissing scenes definitely didn’t help. I was feeling a little awkward about being intimate with someone I see as a younger sister, but having her mum around made it worse!"

According to Xu, however, Lin remained unfazed by the kiss scene.

Xu remarked, “I think I was the only one who felt awkward. Meijiao-jie didn’t say anything before or after we filmed, and neither did Chantalle. I’m just glad I didn’t NG and had to do it all over again.”

Learning Vietnamese

Lastly, Ng had to undergo an intense Vietnamese language crash course with her co-stars as well, according to 8 World.

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Ng told 8 World that besides the language teacher's guidance, she had also taken the initiative to look for real Vietnamese brides in order to sharpen her pronunciation and improve her line delivery.

In addition, she revealed to Shin Min, she had similarly approached her Vietnamese friends to further understand and learn the way that Vietnamese people speak, in order to deliver a more authentic accent.

Lastly, Ng also learned to sing Vietnamese songs in the television series with lyrics that express her character's homesickness and longing for home and family.

Vietnamese brides are not common tropes in Channel 8 dramas.

However, loyal Channel 8 viewers may recall Ruan Mian Mian, the Vietnamese bride played by Jesseca Liu in the 2005 hit television series "Portrait of Home".

Ng acknowledged in her interview with Shin Min that the iconic character but shared that she sought to represent a different Vietnamese bride.

Ng added that she tried her best not to look at how Liu portrayed the role and relied on her own imagination to bring the character to life.

She also emphasised that her character does not adhere to the stereotypical meek Vietnamese bride image.

"Mai has a very strong personality and left her hometown to search for her younger sister on her own. She is innocent, funny, and very bubble and adorable."

"My Star Bride"

Available on Channel 8 and meWatch, "My Star Bride" aired its first episode on Jan. 25.

It occupies the 9pm to 10pm slot on Channel 8 during weekdays.

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Top images by @chantalleng on Instagram.