Ex-MP Carrie Tan joins Jack Neo's acting class 'just for fun', wins 'Best Actor award'

Seven months after retiring from politics, former Nee Soon GRC Member of Parliament Carrie Tan is keeping herself busy.

She recently dabbled in a new craft, acting.

In a series of Facebook posts, the former politician documented her experience at Jack Neo's acting bootcamp, which culminated in her clinching the "Best Actor" award.

Trying something new

In a Nov. 10 post, Tan remarked in disbelief that she had won a "Best Actor award" before going on to reveal that it was part of the bootcamp's "gala event".

Neo's acting bootcamp is touted as an experience where participants get to practice their acting craft under the guidance of celebrity mentors.

Recreating scripts from Neo's films, participants will get to take home four "professionally edited" videos.

Tan's foray into acting began about four months ago when she signed up for the local director's programme around July and August, she wrote in an Oct. 14 post.

She wanted to "try out something new and to discover [herself] in a new way".

"After five years in politics, I’ve met so many different types of people and empathised with so many different personalities that I thought it might be useful experience for acting!" she added.

Carrie Tan as Sergeant Ong from "Ah Girls Go Army"

During the class, Tan stepped out of her usually poise character as a former politician and into roles from several of Neo's films.

In a scene from Neo's "Ah Girls Go Army", Tan acted as Sergeant Ong, fiercely interrogating and disciplining her subordinates.

She also played Ah Kun from "Long Long Time Ago" and Ah Hua from "Money No Enough 3".

As Ah Kun from "Long Long Time Ago", Tan commented that it was a male character which was "aggressive and unreasonable" and "quite the departure from who I am in real life".

Meaningfully occupied

Reflecting on her achievement from the bootcamp, Tan wrote that she had discovered the fun of acting and cheekily boasted that she "[seemed] to be quite good at it".

She also revealed that her celebrity mentor was Maxi Lim, of "Ah Boys to Men" fame.

Apart from Neo's acting class, Tan revealed in September that she had taken on an extra role in a dementia awareness video, starring alongside veteran actress Tan Kheng Hua.

The former politician has been actively documenting her post-politics life on social media, and acting was just one of life's quests that she had embarked on.

Since stepping down in April, she has been giving talks on parenting and emotional-awareness and joined non-profit social consultancy, Tri-Sector Associates.

Top image via Carrie Tan / Facebook