'It was a brand new world': Ferlyn Wong recounts first foray into stunts and fight scenes in new fantasy drama , Entertainment News
In a recent interview with AsiaOne, the 33-year-old shared her experience preparing for her role as Hua Cheng Feng, a swordswoman with a life purpose — to give back to her god-uncle after he saved her life.
Ferlyn said: "It was a brand new world for me, learning how to handle a sword and look cool doing it. Training gave me a space to focus, to make the sword feel like an extension of myself. It is definitely not as easy as it looks."
The drama also stars Hong Ling as Tian Nana, a 20-year-old girl burdened to carry a toy sword infused with the spirit of Jian Ling (Richie Koh), which curses her to see supernatural entities that she must defeat.
She told us she spent two months undergoing stunt training in Singapore two to three times a week, while also filming Emerald Hill — The Little Nyonya Story in Johor.
Initially, she thought juggling both characters would be difficult since her roles in Emerald Hill and The Spirit Hunter were "vastly different".
In the former, she plays Zhou Hongyu, who works in a brothel until she discovers she was born Anya, a member of the wealthy Zhang family.
However, once it became her routine, she realised training for two hours after shooting the drama became a "therapy session" for her.
She elaborated: "It actually became an avenue for me to escape the environment and mental state of my character in Emerald Hill. It gave me the space to recalibrate and return to the Emerald Hill set with a clearer, healthier mindset." 'Strangle me, just strangle'
Once she began filming The Spirit Hunter, Ferlyn sustained a fair share of bruises but they became her badge of honour: "Since I'm usually fighting against men, I often end up with bruises. They hurt for days, but secretly, I'm proud of them, especially when the fight scenes turn out really well."
Many of her action scenes were with Tyler Ten, who plays Zhou Jie.
She told us she was "quite relieved" she would be acting opposite the 29-year-old, as they have worked together on two other dramas, Emerald Hill and I Do, Do I?.
"(We have) an unspoken relationship because we grew up together. So when I knew it was with Tyler, I knew that our chemistry was going to be there."
Ferlyn added that in one particular scene by the poolside, she gave Tyler "permission to go full force".
"We had already built a strong level of trust, and we knew our fight choreography would sync perfectly. Of course, I ended up with the most bruises after that scene. Hitting him is like hitting a huge rock."
In another scene, Tyler had to act like he was choking Ferlyn.
She didn't want it to look like he was withholding his strength so she told him to "just go for it, strangle me, just strangle".
Due to his strength, Ferlyn did have to remind him to let go while they were doing the scene.
Although a dance background from her time in the now disbanded K-pop group Skarf helped her memorise the choreography and execute the moves, fight choreography requires a little more control, she said.
"You have to exert the force, but right before you reach them, you have to stop a little bit, just so the impact is not as big as the real move," she explained.
[[nid:719279]]
Ferlyn's first fight scene was with supporting actor Mark Valentino, and it got off to an intense start. "In my first few fighting scenes, I literally punched him in the face, but we just continued the scene," she recalled.
When the director yelled "cut", Ferlyn asked Mark if he was okay and thanked him for not stopping the scene.
To her surprise, he replied: "No, thank you for continuing." Wired scenes
Ferlyn was suspended in the air for some of her action scenes, assisted by a professional team from Hong Kong.
"There weren't any moments when I felt scared or unsure. I believe that in every action scene, trust is crucial. Trust between the stunt team, your scene partner, the crew, and yourself," she told us.
"Once that level of trust is established, you know everyone is looking out for each other's safety. That's why I never had any doubts and I would usually just go for it."
Ferlyn said she had no problems doing wired scenes alone. However, when it came to doing them with other actors, like Elvin Ng, she admitted there were some difficulties.
"There were times when his speed was faster than mine because of the weight difference, and it took a few more takes to get the perfect take. But he's very professional," she said, adding that he would often tweak his movements and acting after checking the result.
"So that's why I said the cast is very important. When I saw the cast list, I was very confident that we won't waste time. All very intelligent actors and actresses."
The Spirit Hunter is available on demand for free on Mewatch. It will also premiere on Channel 8 on July 3, airing weekdays at 9pm.
[[nid:719451]]
liv.roberts@asiaone.com
No part of this article can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.
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AsiaOne
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People aren't boycotting SingLit, they just don't know about it, say insiders on poor readership, Singapore News
An avid reader of fantasy and dystopian fiction, 27-year-old Megan often turns to social media platform Goodreads and TikTok sub-community BookTok for recommendations on what to read next. Both platforms have become go-to resources for book lovers to discover trending reading lists and reviews on popular titles. "I haven't come across much Singapore Literature (SingLit)," said Megan, who declined to give her full name. She told AsiaOne that the only SingLit titles she had encountered were from English class during her schooling years. Many readers have similar experiences with SingLit, and are largely unaware of the vast range of titles and genres published by the literary community in Singapore, as seen in the results of the National Library Board's (NLB) National Reading Habits Study 2024. Only three in 10 adults had read a SingLit book in the past 12 months, according to the study released on June 26 which surveyed 3,725 Singapore residents. Among the 2,575 respondents that were non-readers of SingLit, over half said that they were unaware of local authors and literary works. 25 per cent of the group also said that they were not interested in Singaporean themes, and 18 per cent said that they were unable to find SingLit books in the genres that they like reading. Lack of awareness, not lack of interest "I have friends who are otherwise big readers but have basically no awareness of what titles are being released in the local scene," said local author Lee Wen-yi. Speaking to AsiaOne, the 26-year-old recounted a time working in a SingLit-focused bookstore, where "someone came in and said they didn't even realise Singapore had authors". Though that experience was definitely "on the extreme end", it "still speaks to the wider condition", saying that the results of the NLB survey did not surprise her. "It's not like people are actively boycotting SingLit — most times they genuinely don't know what books exist to interest them, or where to find them," she said. Alex Chua, Co-founder of Book Bar, an independent bookstore that features local and Asian literature, echoed Lee's sentiments and said that he has encountered his fair share of "people who walk in not knowing there were so many Singapore authors". Chua thinks that interest in SingLit has been picking up over the years however, adding that he has noticed a constant flow of newcomers in attendance at Book Bar's events, which range from book launches to poetry readings. 'Same themes or subjects' The lack of interest in SingLit may also be attributed to the common misconception that SingLit works are "always about the same themes or subjects", said 27-year-old poet Laura Jane Lee. Laura and Wen-yi agreed that the misconception may be due to "what's being put in the school syllabus", since most readers' first impression of SingLit is through literary texts in school. While such texts "have a lot of literary value, they aren't always what will hook everyone into searching out more local writing," Wen-yi told AsiaOne. The necessity to study such texts on a deeper level may sometimes lead readers to think SingLit is "boring". Sceptics may also think that local literature is "not as good as international authors" and that "the quality of the writing is not good", said Book Bar's Chua, sharing that there are many internationally published local writers, such as Amanda Lee Koe and Low Ying Ping. Laura shared similar thoughts, adding that there is a "tendency for the average Singaporean reader to look towards anglophone centres of literary production as a metric of literary merit", suggesting the need for a shift in perspective towards SingLit. 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"Just in terms of scale, it is hard for the much smaller number of SingLit titles — with much fewer marketing resources behind them — to break through the noise," she said. "It takes a much more concerted effort, or a stroke of luck and virality — like with Teo You Yenn's This Is What Inequality Means — for a SingLit title to gain the same kind of traction," she added. Internationally published books, under household names like Penguin Books or Harper Collins, understandably get more attention and "are supported by much bigger distribution and publicity networks than local indie publishers have", Wen-yi said, which unfortunately result in "a disparity in the support behind each title". Apart from traditional marketing efforts, Book Bar's Chua also said that SingLit books could be better promoted by Singaporean politicians, of whom many are known to be book lovers. "I think that we like to talk about our sports stars, but there isn't as much talk about our literary stars, like Jemimah Wei who clinched a US$500,000 (S$636,935) book deal," he told AsiaOne, adding that there are often so many new titles published each month that he struggles to find space to display them in store. Wen-yi also highlighted a visit to mainstream bookstore, Popular, during a recent trip to Malaysia where she noticed "a whole bookshelf section of local Malaysian authors". Similar displays of SingLit at mainstream bookstores locally could provide the needed boost for local works, she said. Speaking to AsiaOne, Assistant Professor Ann Ang from the English Language and Literature Department at NIE also said that there could be greater efforts by NLB and government agencies to promote SingLit. While they do a "stellar job", she believes that more could be done to bring literary works on permanent display in public places. She raised Poems on the MRT — a collaboration between the National Arts Council, SMRT and Sing Lit Station that displays excerpts of Singapore poetry throughout SMRT's train network — as a good example, though "unfortunately temporary" as it will only run till the end of October. Bringing SingLit to the public space could also take the form of "an excerpt from a book in place of a mural", or "quotes set into the facade of our cultural institutions, universities and libraries", she added. SG Culture Pass: Will it boost readership? As announced during Budget 2025, eligible Singaporeans will receive $100 in SG Culture Pass credits in September. Apart from tickets to local performances and exhibitions, credits may also be used to purchase SingLit titles, said the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY). According to the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) website, SG Culture Pass credits will also be valid to purchase festival passes and selected ticketed programmes at the festival in November. When asked if the SG Culture Pass would boost SingLit readership, Chua said that it would "definitely allow people who might have been unwilling to spend on a SingLit book to give it a chance". While optimistic that the credits would provide the much-needed push for some readers, Wen-yi also said that "it's unlikely to make that much of a difference specifically for SingLit, unless it's accompanied by big marketing pushes for the books". [[nid:713288]]
AsiaOne
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'It was a brand new world': Ferlyn Wong recounts first foray into stunts and fight scenes in new fantasy drama , Entertainment News
Local actress Ferlyn Wong jumped into new territory with The Spirit Hunter, a local fantasy drama series that required her to be suspended in mid-air, fight with swords and use martial arts. In a recent interview with AsiaOne, the 33-year-old shared her experience preparing for her role as Hua Cheng Feng, a swordswoman with a life purpose — to give back to her god-uncle after he saved her life. Ferlyn said: "It was a brand new world for me, learning how to handle a sword and look cool doing it. Training gave me a space to focus, to make the sword feel like an extension of myself. It is definitely not as easy as it looks." The drama also stars Hong Ling as Tian Nana, a 20-year-old girl burdened to carry a toy sword infused with the spirit of Jian Ling (Richie Koh), which curses her to see supernatural entities that she must defeat. She told us she spent two months undergoing stunt training in Singapore two to three times a week, while also filming Emerald Hill — The Little Nyonya Story in Johor. Initially, she thought juggling both characters would be difficult since her roles in Emerald Hill and The Spirit Hunter were "vastly different". In the former, she plays Zhou Hongyu, who works in a brothel until she discovers she was born Anya, a member of the wealthy Zhang family. However, once it became her routine, she realised training for two hours after shooting the drama became a "therapy session" for her. She elaborated: "It actually became an avenue for me to escape the environment and mental state of my character in Emerald Hill. It gave me the space to recalibrate and return to the Emerald Hill set with a clearer, healthier mindset." 'Strangle me, just strangle' Once she began filming The Spirit Hunter, Ferlyn sustained a fair share of bruises but they became her badge of honour: "Since I'm usually fighting against men, I often end up with bruises. They hurt for days, but secretly, I'm proud of them, especially when the fight scenes turn out really well." Many of her action scenes were with Tyler Ten, who plays Zhou Jie. She told us she was "quite relieved" she would be acting opposite the 29-year-old, as they have worked together on two other dramas, Emerald Hill and I Do, Do I?. "(We have) an unspoken relationship because we grew up together. So when I knew it was with Tyler, I knew that our chemistry was going to be there." Ferlyn added that in one particular scene by the poolside, she gave Tyler "permission to go full force". "We had already built a strong level of trust, and we knew our fight choreography would sync perfectly. Of course, I ended up with the most bruises after that scene. Hitting him is like hitting a huge rock." In another scene, Tyler had to act like he was choking Ferlyn. She didn't want it to look like he was withholding his strength so she told him to "just go for it, strangle me, just strangle". Due to his strength, Ferlyn did have to remind him to let go while they were doing the scene. Although a dance background from her time in the now disbanded K-pop group Skarf helped her memorise the choreography and execute the moves, fight choreography requires a little more control, she said. "You have to exert the force, but right before you reach them, you have to stop a little bit, just so the impact is not as big as the real move," she explained. [[nid:719279]] Ferlyn's first fight scene was with supporting actor Mark Valentino, and it got off to an intense start. "In my first few fighting scenes, I literally punched him in the face, but we just continued the scene," she recalled. When the director yelled "cut", Ferlyn asked Mark if he was okay and thanked him for not stopping the scene. To her surprise, he replied: "No, thank you for continuing." Wired scenes Ferlyn was suspended in the air for some of her action scenes, assisted by a professional team from Hong Kong. "There weren't any moments when I felt scared or unsure. I believe that in every action scene, trust is crucial. Trust between the stunt team, your scene partner, the crew, and yourself," she told us. "Once that level of trust is established, you know everyone is looking out for each other's safety. That's why I never had any doubts and I would usually just go for it." Ferlyn said she had no problems doing wired scenes alone. However, when it came to doing them with other actors, like Elvin Ng, she admitted there were some difficulties. "There were times when his speed was faster than mine because of the weight difference, and it took a few more takes to get the perfect take. But he's very professional," she said, adding that he would often tweak his movements and acting after checking the result. "So that's why I said the cast is very important. When I saw the cast list, I was very confident that we won't waste time. All very intelligent actors and actresses." The Spirit Hunter is available on demand for free on Mewatch. It will also premiere on Channel 8 on July 3, airing weekdays at 9pm. [[nid:719451]] No part of this article can be reproduced without permission from AsiaOne.
AsiaOne
2 days ago
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