Lin Meijiao returns to acting with short film on shelter dog
Local actress Lin Meijiao has agreed to take part in a short film after she was approached by two directors, whom she referred to as “shuai ge” (handsome man in Mandarin).
The 60-year-old will be acting in one of the stories in Homebound, an anthology of five shorts on the lives of street dogs in SOSD. The animal welfare group for dogs in Singapore is dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and rehoming stray and abandoned dogs.
Homebound is directed by Lawrence Wong, Rui En, Tejas Ewing, Jeremy Ng, Zhang Minhua and Jason Lee, with actors Wong and Rui En making their directorial debut.
“My mum has seen Jeremy and Minhua hanging in our house and she refers to both of them as ‘shuai ge’,” Lin’s daughter, local actress Chantalle Ng, wrote on Instagram Stories on Oct 7.
“I’m so happy mum said ‘yes’ when the ‘shuai ges’ asked her to be a part of their short film for SOSD.”
Ng, 29, said that her mother has retired from acting and was initially hesitant about returning to the screen.
“But I guess with the passing of Dasher (our dog adopted from SOSD) and the charm of ‘shuai ges’, she said ‘yes’,” Ng wrote.
Their 17-year-old miniature poodle named Dasher died in June.
Lin’s last major acting role was in the hit drama My Star Bride (2021). It was where Ng got her big break as Mei Fangcao – the Vietnamese bride of a Singaporean lawyer played by actor Xu Bin.
My Star Bride was Mediacorp’s most-watched Chinese drama in 2021. Its success spawned a spin-off telemovie for Chinese New Year in 2022, with former Mediacorp actor Shane Pow joining the cast. The telemovie was Lin’s last outing as an actress.
Homebound will premiere at a charity screening on Oct 30 at Conrad Centennial Singapore at 7pm, and will be streamed on SOSD’s website at a later date.
Beside Lin, other actors in Homebound include Andie Chen, Ya Hui, Yeo Yann Yann, Remesh Panicker and Shabir Sulthan.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now