10 Voices Interview: Dawn Yeoh | Singapore Actress
Leaders in Asian entertainment weigh in on the past, present, and future.
Dawn Yeoh broke onto the Singapore entertainment scene in 2006 with the television drama Shining Star (co-starring with Pierre Png).
That same year, she was named as one of the “Seven Princesses of MediaCorp.” Members of this young group, which also included Fiona Xie, Joanne Peh, Jeanette Aw and Felicia Chin, went on to become a generation of stars that continue to define Singapore television to the present day.
Following a break from MediaCorp, a stint breaking into Taiwan's entertainment industry, and ultimately a return to Singapore where she’s now starring in shows like Loving You and Jalan Jalan, Dawn came to visit the Sibyl Entertainment office to share her experiences, the industry’s challenges, and her dreams for the future.
Theo Sanders (L): How did you get started? Was this something you always wanted to do?
Dawn Yeoh (R): To this day, I think I’ve lived a Cinderella story because of my background, coming from a very average family.
Growing up, Fann Wong was my idol. I used to watch all her TV shows and interviews. I dropped out of school wanting to pursue my dream of being involved with TV just like Fann. I felt that through television, I’d be able to share with people that they too could pursue their dreams if they tried.
Fann is someone I look up to even now, as she’s now building her own family. Eventually, I got to where I am now, where I’m working together next to her.
(ed: Fann and Dawn are both signed to Taiwanese agency Catwalk Asia)
I guess it wasn’t easy for you in the early days? You got into this business as a teenager.
I signed a 10-year contract with a Japanese manager when I was still underage. I didn’t know anything about acting, and hadn’t gone to any academy to study it.
I don’t know why I was so bold to sign a 10-year contract, I guess it was just a gush of dreams and ambitions. So I started acting with MediaCorp under a co-contract. But five years in, I had a major change in career direction. I was falling out with my Japanese manager, and we got into very serious contract issues.
So I started travelling a lot and searching for my purpose in life and continuing with my hobbies. It wasn’t until a few years later that I came back.
I got a call from MediaCorp, asking me to start acting again. I guess in my journey, I’ve been blessed in sense, because as someone who didn’t know anything about acting, I was constantly being given opportunities.
I guess it’s the genuine affection I have for my work, that passion, that until today is sustaining this whole thing. I feel so gratified when someone tells me they’ve watched my shows and they give me good feedback. It’s all I could ever ask for.
Did you have a mentor in the industry to show you the ropes?
I wish I had someone like that, but clearly I wasn't well guided. I was quite lost in between, and during the hiatus it was a complete mess.
This is the period you went to Taiwan to try and break into that scene?
Yeah, that was prior to me signing with Catwalk. I was based there for less than two years. But it’s weird, something I’ve realised in my life is that opportunities only come when you’re away. When I was in Singapore, I didn't get any jobs. But the moment I moved out, that’s when people started calling, asking to do this casting, audition, or role.
Opportunities kind of appear when and where you least expect them.
It’s always been the case for me.
So you worked with MediaCorp twice. What’s the “process” of being a MediaCorp star?
It functions like Hong Kong TV stations where they sign the artists, their own in-house celebrities, and engage them like full-time employees. Remuneration varies from one actor to another. You’ll be cast for suitable roles, mostly within in-house productions.
So there’s relatively little choice as to what kind of projects you’re cast for? It sounds like a system that won’t match one’s passions to roles very often.
It’s true you may not get as much choice when you’re getting started, nor the roles you want. But it’s a good training ground to understand the whole ecosystem of film production, and to mold your craft for people like myself who didn’t go through acting courses.
But it’s also why, now, I’ve chosen to sign with agencies or be on my own rather than sign with the station. It gives me the opportunity to explore the world outside.
With OTT players like Netflix, HOOQ, and MeWatch now on the scene, has that changed things for acting talent in Singapore?
Yes, definitely. From an actor’s perspective, we definitely get a lot more jobs and casting calls now. Before, the TV stations just couldn’t create the volume of productions needed to sustain a pool of artists.
But it’s not just OTT. There’s a lot more co-productions happening, with projects overseas and not just in Singapore. It’s creating more international exposure.
It seems to me that shows are getting made now that simply couldn’t have existed five years ago under the government duopoly. A lot more stories are getting told.
That’s the thing. It’s not a complaint, but we used to have a lot of restrictions, and still have some even today. For example, imagine I’m on set and involved in a scene where I get into a car accident. If it’s being shown on national TV, we are restricted with the volume of blood that can be shown.
As an actor, I’d definitely want some of these boundaries to be broken. But as much as we’d love that to happen, we all know it’s a national thing.
But now with online TV we have more space for creativity. I appreciate that it’s pushing us out of our comfort zones.
It appears Singapore is recently starting to look abroad more often. It’s not just about producing the next scripted drama for Channel 8 anymore. People are asking themselves what can we do in the region, or even across the world?
When Crazy Rich Asians hit, it sparked a lot of excitement and hopes for Asian actors.
In both the US and Europe, Asians are now getting cast in most films. Even in Marvel blockbusters, you’ll usually see an Asian actor or two. They’re looking to reach out to new audiences, so now more Asian faces and Asian culture are being integrated.
I wouldn’t lie that for many people, people like me, we’re now starting to have hidden dreams of Hollywood. There’s that potential to dream big now.
But it’s not just here. It’s happening in China too. People (everywhere) are watching Chinese dramas these days.
I must confess, I haven’t watched many of those.
There’s a pattern. The ones that are really popular - and it’s true for K-dramas too - are those set in the Imperial Age. People enjoy the historical stories. It’s escapism from the modern world we live in.
Parasite just won Best Picture. How close are we getting to being able to make a film like that in Singapore? Is social stratification too touchy of a subject here?
Television and film restrictions are far apart. Films are more of a creative space than TV content. So in terms of censorship in films, I think that’s OK.
(Bong Joon-Ho’s ‘Parasite’, 2019, (c) CJ Entertainment)
For more about the SE Asian movie industry, check out the 10 Voices interview with film producer & financier Gin Kai Chan.
You sound less optimistic about a Parasite-equivalent in television, then?
Over the past five years or so, I’ve seen tremendous improvement in the technical parts of production. Be it on the manpower side, the technology, or the equipment we can get hold of.
The recent dramas from Singapore I’ve watched, I want to say they’re quite close to the Korean productions now. We have our talent pool, and I think we’re able to produce something as good as the Koreans have.
But what’s holding us back is content and budgets. It’s a chicken and egg thing. Audiences complain they’re not fans of local content, because national TV always features traditional story-lines which focus on family values. So instead people look outside to other cultures to learn about.
That leads to limited budgets, lack of social support like ratings, and us not being welcome on many filming locations.
I can see how that would kind of self-perpetuate into a negative spiral...
Right. This is our biggest problem.
It’s very different from entertainment in the West. You’d be surprised how many people and businesses give us a cold shoulder, and reject us filming in their spaces. Even though it might do them good for exposure and advertising. But they just don’t see that.
As for budgets, I dare say Singapore does some of the fastest productions in the world. To put it into perspective, a one-hour episode has about 25 scenes, give or take.
From personal experience, in Singapore, we shoot an average of 10 scenes per day, whereas other Asian countries shoot 3 scenes per day. But it’s not a good sign. It’s a huge challenge to all the talent and crews. We’re constantly chasing after time to avoid incurring another day of production costs.
Because we have limited funds, we’re trained for speed. But how can you produce Parasite-quality under those circumstances? It’s more like Mission Impossible!
When we don’t have sufficient funds to produce good, quality work, we don’t get good ratings. And without good ratings, little sponsorship or funding comes in. That’s the chicken-and-egg situation.
From the perspective of content, Is Singapore too sterile of a place for great stories to be told?
Honestly, just from my own perspective, I think I have to agree with that. It’s only been in the past few years I’ve had more of a growth mindset, to get out of my comfort zone.
I think I represent most Singaporeans my age, in that we probably only get out of our comfort zones at a later age compared to other people out there. Travelling and moving to other countries for work opened my eyes to the struggles people have in their lives. You can see how people are molded into who they are today because of their background and experiences.
Having had those experiences now, if you could somehow give advice to your younger self, what would you tell her?
The brutally honest answer is I’d ask my parents to not be so protective of me. To set me free, and not to set curfews. I’d tell myself to get out into the world, travel, and talk to different people and hear about the experiences in their lives. Maybe I’d be a “better me” today (if I had). Or maybe not, you never know.
But that’s what I see for myself in the future in the later part of my life. And I think that’s what my own parenting would be like.
Your newest show, Loving You, just started airing. How do you feel about it?
Loving You is actually a co-production between MediaCorp and a Malaysian production house. Because of that, there’s fresh visuals we don’t see much on Singapore TV like mountains, streams, and oceans. My hat’s off to the post-production people, they really enhanced the technical part of it and that really amps up the entire drama.
It’s a beautiful production, and I do hope we can produce more that’s this good. I actually got goosebumps watching the first few episodes. I was captivated because I’ve been living with Singapore entertainment, and this has moved so far from our traditional shows. I can see the whole transition happening and the improvements.
(Dawn Yeoh on the ‘Loving You’ set)
In Loving You, you play Wen Yu, a social media influencer. Has real-life social media changed things since you started acting?
Although I’m a millennial, I grew up between the pre-digital age and today’s social media era. So I’ve been able to see how we started with traditional media, and came to where we are now. The transition is huge. I’m still a bit old-fashioned, and not that savvy with social media.
There’s also a lot more competition now, so it’s actually even harder for a budding actor or actress to venture into the industry. We’re not just competing within our own pool of talents, but also with social media influencers. They are public figures too, so there’s competition from all over now.
I’m learning, but it’s definitely not what drove me to acting. But we can’t live without it now, so you just have to keep exposing yourself to, and learning, new things.
You can follow Dawn on Instagram here.
I’m stuck in the Stone Age with this stuff, but it seems like a mixed blessing.
We’re losing our connections with people, that human touch.
One result of social media is we don’t do as many open events to engage with fans as before. In the past, actors and actresses met fans in person more often. There are still a few roadshows, but for the most part television actresses just stay in the studio. We just don’t get out. But on the other hand social media is a platform for us to have our own voice, so there’s pros and cons.
So, what’s next in life for Dawn Yeoh?
Like I said, it’s only been in the past few years I really started thinking of my purpose in life. I imagine a shift from what I’ve been doing all this while. Maybe going into different fields and building my own, self-sustaining, financial freedom. So I’m looking into businesses already even outside of acting.
But I do actually see me growing with the entertainment industry. Maybe moving into directing and back-end work, not just frontline acting.
I read an article recently saying that we (in Asia) have the fastest-growing population of middle-aged people globally. It gives me a sense of responsibility even more that I have to do something now for the next generation. We have to set the foundation and stage well for them.
And if you had your choice of role as an actress?
Without a doubt, I’ve always hoped for a superhero role. Mulan is great, and I’m looking forward to that, but in the region we haven’t produced anything like that yet. A superhero film with all Asian representation.
(Scene from ‘Mulan’, albeit currently delayed by Covid-19, (c) Disney)
Seems like you’d be a good fit for an athletic role like a superhero. You’re a brand ambassador for Puma and a fitness advocate. That’s always been a passion?
I’ve been athletic since my school days, where I did track and field and did a couple of running competitions. I love sports and fitness, so I guess that’s one of my strengths. I’ve been involved with endorsing Puma for four or five years, but my friendship with them goes way back. They have been very supportive.
Before, it was about purely fitness and leading a healthy lifestyle. Now I’m more into body-shaping and body awareness. You know, about enhancements and looking good.
I feel more responsibility now to be social proof to others that I’m able to change from this shape to that. And that if you can see it on me, you can do it as well. I’ve been giving tips and guiding people along the way.
All challenges aside, It sounds like you’re optimistic about where Singapore and regional television could go from here. Is that fair?
Sometimes, I might be too idealistic even. But optimism and an open mind is how I started, not knowing if I could become an actress. You just have to do it, and try and find your way.
Thank you, Dawn. I’m looking forward to checking out Loving You. As long as there’s subtitles!
For readers in Singapore, you can catch Dawn on ‘Loving You’, which debuted on March 9, and airs every Monday through Friday at 9PM on MeWatch and Channel 8.
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(Dawn Yeoh at Sibyl Entertainment, March 2020)