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CNA
5 hours ago
- CNA
The big interview with Yvonne Lim: From ‘McChicken girl' to Cannes award-winning director
Set to receive the All-Time Favourite Artiste award at Star Awards 2025, the 48-year-old Singaporean actress looks back at nearly 3 decades in showbiz – and it all started with a McDonald's ad.
CNA
5 hours ago
- CNA
'Fearless and resilient': Actress Yvonne Lim looks back on nearly three decades in showbiz
When you think about megawatt, headline-grabbing celebrities, perhaps Yvonne Lim might not be the first to come to mind. After all, for the past 10 years, she's hardly even been on television, instead baking chiffon cakes and raising children in Taiwan, where her husband is from. But, some lights flare and some burn steadily. It's a testament to her staying power that she hasn't been forgotten. At this year's Star Awards, she's set to be crowned with the coveted All-Time Favourite Artiste award, officially cementing her status as one of Singapore's most loved actresses as a result of being voted into the Top 10 Most Popular Artistes register 10 times. Popularity, she opined, is 'not about fame or being on TV'. In actuality, it simply means that "people can relate to you, and they want to be with you and around you.' Why is she gravitated towards? Is it her doll-like features and girl-next-door energy even at the age of 48? Is it the fact that in person, one of the things that stands out about her is her sociability? Or, is it her ability to make others feel cared for? The fans who have followed her for many years would say so. 'Sometimes they do share their problems with me, and I become an agony aunt,' she quipped, adding that losing her mother at the age of 13 has helped her understand how others might be feeling when they tell her their concerns about relationships, health or loss. There's also, of course, her on-screen prowess, which has earned her recognition across roles in dramas such as Stepping Out, Portrait Of Home and Metamorphosis. Throughout her absence from Singapore entertainment, 'I got messages saying, 'We miss your work. We love your acting. Please come back.'' Although taking a break to be a full-time mum to her two children, aged 10 and eight, has been fulfilling – she couldn't even cook an egg before, she divulged, and now she's known for her skills in the kitchen – she did miss her identity as Yvonne Lim the actress, not to mention her friends and colleagues. Her initial plan was to stay in Taipei for two years; two years turned into 10. 'We'd watch every Star Awards ceremony together,' she recounted, and 'I remember my son asking me, 'Mum, why are you not there on the red carpet?' I said, 'Because mummy has to take care of you. If you let mummy go back, mummy will be on the red carpet.'' With her son's blessing, she and her family moved back to Singapore for good half a year ago. And, no doubt, he's eagerly awaiting seeing her walk the red carpet come Jul 6. She's working on her acceptance speech for that night, but, after all these years in showbiz – 28, if you want to be exact – she still has a phobia of the stage, she shared. 'I think my past speeches weren't that fantastic, because I was really nervous. All eyes are on you, and you're in in the limelight, and everybody's waiting for you to say something classic or funny. When I took part in Star Search, we had to perform a musical on stage. I did fumble because I was so scared.' She mused: 'To be very honest, I don't think I had it really easy, to get to where I am now. It wasn't like year after year of Top 10 trophies. Some people just take 10 years. It took me 28.' DESTINY It comes as a bit of a surprise hearing Lim say that being in the limelight makes her nervous. Didn't she, after all, get her start by joining her polytechnic's beauty pageant, back when she was an electronics engineering student? 'It's not that I wanted to join. They didn't have enough contestants,' she giggled. 'The student union leader spoke to me and said, 'Can you just join?' I said, 'Okay, I'll just make up the numbers.' Somehow, I was the first runner-up, and that led to me being signed to Carrie Models.' One of her first successful auditions was for a McDonald's television commercial, she recalled. 'There was a really tight shot of me eating a S$2 McChicken burger. I did have to do a lot of takes, honestly. But, they had a way of dressing the burger to make it look juicier from the front, so actually, I was eating plain buns!' The commercial aired and, 'after seeing myself on TV for the first time, I thought to myself, 'Not too bad. I think I do look okay.'' Star Search came along in 1997, while she was waiting for admission to university in the UK to study business. 'I had nothing to do. And my hair stylist encouraged me to join.' Out of six or seven audition hopefuls, Lim was the only one singled out to have her profile shot. But, she didn't get a call back for the second round of auditions. What she didn't know, however, was that a producer had seen potential in her. 'He went through the profiles of all those who didn't show up for the second audition. And he pointed to my picture and said, 'Where is this girl? Why was she not at the audition?'' When they called me up, I said, 'I didn't know I was called back.' It turned out that they'd sent the invitation to the wrong address.' When she returned to audition again, she impressed the judges by not just answering the questions she was asked, but also asking questions back. 'I was so young. What was there to lose?', she recalled. 'I guess, in a way, looking back, I think it was sort of destiny.' Her one regret is not having gone on to earn her degree. 'I do think about what would it be if I had pursued my studies. Seeing my family portrait, I'm the only one without a graduation gown,' she said, adding that she is thinking about taking up an online course so she can eventually fulfil that dream. HIGHS, LOWS, LOVE Then again, no one can say she hasn't lived a full life. The Yvonne then 'was really fearless. Fearless and resilient,' Lim mused. As an actress just starting out, 'I got scoldings. I knew nothing then about acting. My highest record of takes was 58. But, I know the director was trying to help me, so I'm thankful to her for pushing me.' In filming, there are 'long hours and really hard times', like shooting period dramas in multiple layers of clothing under the blazing sun. Recalling her time on the set of 1998's Return Of The Condor Heroes, she said, 'Even Christopher Lee as Yang Guo couldn't take it. But, I was there, hanging on.' She acknowledged: 'I did get opportunities. I'm thankful for the roles that I had, thankful for people casting me in period dramas, and people realising I can actually do period dramas. That led to me venturing overseas.' When she was posted to China to develop her acting career, her fanbase there began to grow. Her makeup artist recalls travelling with her to a village outside of Beijing for a commercial shoot, where there were no lavatories. Lim suggested knocking on villagers' doors to ask if they could use their bathrooms. The team was skeptical. But, when she appeared on people's doorsteps, she was instantly recognised and welcomed into homes. Even recently, shooting in a kopitiam in Singapore, tourists from China approached her to ask for a photo, she told us. But, it hasn't been successes and smooth sailing all the way. Before she worked in China, there was a period in time when the good roles dried up and she found herself cast in fewer dramas. And, after winning her first Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes trophy in 1998, she subsequently didn't make the Top 10, all the way up until 2009. She started wondering what had gone wrong. 'That was when I seriously considered that maybe my time was up, and I should try something else,' she recalled. But, while in China for 'a good half a year of not going home, living alone, moving from one drama to another', 'the light bulb went on. I started to understand the art of storytelling.' And, when she returned to Singapore, 'that was when I started getting acting awards', like Best Supporting Actress for her work in Portrait Of Home in 2005 and Best Actress for Metamorphosis in 2007. International endorsements and magazine covers stacked up. 'And that's when I met my husband,' she smiled. Alex Tien was then a member of the boyband BAD and the two were introduced when the band was invited to perform at a charity show in Singapore. 'He was interested in me. But, I was not into good-looking boys,' she said. 'I knew it was tough being in the limelight and I didn't want to be with another person who was also in the limelight.' Was it because she dated someone in showbiz before? 'Sort of, but it didn't work out,' she said. After 10 years of staying in touch as friends, 'He was no longer in the boyband, and he was a normal person. Before, he was young, good looking, and all the female fans were always chasing him wherever he was. He had bleached hair. I was like, 'Ugh. Not for me.'' But, since he had now 'put on weight and had a tummy, I said, 'Okay. This is good! Maybe we can give it a shot'.' EVOLUTION Subsequently, motherhood changed her in subtle ways. 'You realise that the world is no longer about you anymore. It's about how we are going to move together as a family. You see things with a different perspective. I think I have much more to give, as well.' For instance, she moved from in front of the camera to behind it, making her directorial debut with the short film Hope. It won her the Best First Time Filmmaker award for short films at the Cannes World Film Festival, on top of multiple accolades like winning the Grand Jury prize at the SEE Asian Film Festival 2023 and making it to the 'Official Selection Digital' lineup at the LA Shorts International Film Festival 2023. 'People do think, 'You are just an actress. What do you know about directing?',' she mused. But, even better than the validation of winning an award at Cannes was the validation of her crew. 'On the last day of our production, one of them asked, 'When are you going to do your next one?' That touched me a lot and meant so much to me.' While we don't know when she is going to do her next one yet, she is set to act in a short film for SG60, produced by Eric Khoo as part of an anthology called Kopitiam Days. 'Now that I'm back, I do hope to give back to to my country, to to where I started,' she said. Being in Cannes and seeing Singapore represented made her feel 'a sense of pride – that, I think, I did contribute to the country. I think many people do know that I am very patriotic. I love Singapore very much. I was very happy that I was able to do something for my country.' Turning to us at in the course of our chat, she said: 'You've really made me think about what I have done all these years. Being me, I would just be like, 'Oh, what have I done? Looking back, I won't say that I have come a really long way, but, I have actually done a lot of stuff.' Not blowing her own horn is something her mother taught her, she shared. 'I tell my kids as well, to be humble, to not be boastful and to be grateful for whatever you have. If they do well for their exams and get awards, they learn to be quiet about it instead of talking about it.' Similarly, getting recognition at the Star Awards 'is not about being popular or famous. It's more like a pat on the back; that my hard work has paid off.' Popularity, she said, 'can come and go. One day you might be very famous; one day, you might not. I told myself to always have balance and be down-to-earth.' One of her immediate goals outside of her career has to do with her other passion: Cooking and baking. 'I have a dream of maybe one day setting up a live cooking line where I can cook for the public,' she divulged. Does she still eat McChicken burgers? 'Oh, it's still my favourite,' she gushed. 'If they have another S$2 McChicken promotion, maybe they can cast me in the ad, and put then-me and now-me side by side.'
CNA
12 hours ago
- CNA
Singapore Hour - Adventures Around The Lion City
47:03 Min Your guide to late-night eats, and explore Joo Chiat, a heritage town full of character. Meet a Mexican taco master and get exclusive access to one of Singapore's top attractions. Singapore Hour About the show: Welcome to Singapore Hour: your all-access pass to the city that never stops surprising. From iconic eats to cutting-edge tech, vibrant culture to hidden local gems – we bring you the best of Singapore through the eyes of those who know it best. Whether you're here to travel, work, or just soak up the vibe, Singapore Hour is your definitive guide to what's hot, what's next and what you absolutely can't miss.
