Actress Hong Huifang sports curly white hair and make-up to age herself for her role as a grandmother in a new Malaysian production. - THE_CELEBRITYAGENCY/INSTAGRAM
SINGAPORE: Veteran Singaporean actress Hong Huifang has unveiled her new look for the upcoming Chinese New Year movie Blooms Of Happiness.
In pictures and videos posted on Tuesday (Aug 13) by her management, Mediacorp’s The Celebrity Agency, the 62-year-old sports curly white hair and make-up to age herself for her role of a grandmother in the Malaysian production.
The family comedy, currently being filmed in Genting Highlands, is slated for release around the festive season in 2025.
Hong, who starred as the titular character in Singaporean-South Korea movie Ajoomma (2022) and was nominated for a Golden Horse Award for Best Actress for the role, ditches her younger “ajoomma” (aunty) image for a loving “ah ma” in Blooms Of Happiness.
The actress is married to local actor Zheng Geping, 60, and has two children with him – actress Tay Ying, 28, and singer Calvert Tay, 24. Hong does not have any grandchildren in real life.
Blooms Of Happiness’ co-director, Malaysian film-maker and screenwriter Ryon Lee, told Malaysian publication Sin Chew Daily in an interview published on Aug 13 that Hong is so “well preserved” that it takes about an hour of special make-up to make her look like an aged grandmother. He is the co-director alongside fellow Malaysian JY Teng.
Hong told Sin Chew Daily she has no qualms looking older on-screen, adding: “I’m an actress. I’m like a blank canvas – you can make me look whichever way you want.”
The film revolves around a convenience store owner (Malaysian singer Ah Niu) whose marriage and business both suffer amid the Covid-19 pandemic. He takes his mother (Hong), his wife and his kids up a mountain to celebrate the new year, but chaos ensues when his mother finds out about his impending divorce.
In an interview with local publication Lianhe Zaobao, Hong pointed out that this was her first time working with Ah Niu, 47, whose real name is Tan Kheng Seong, and that it was a “rare opportunity”.
She said: “We have many scenes together, and the script is quite challenging too.”
She also filmed home-grown director Ong Kuo Sin’s movie A Good Child in May, playing a dementia-stricken mother whose drag queen son (Richie Koh) returns home to care for her. - The Straits Times/ANN
